y conquest, for instance Alsace
to Germany, the commercial treaties of the new supreme government take
effect. In administered territories, as Cyprus and formerly Bosnia, and
in protected territories, it depends on the policy of the administering
power how far the previous fiscal system shall remain in force. When the
separate Italian states were united into the kingdom of Italy in 1861,
the commercial engagements of Sardinia superseded those of the other
states, but fresh treaties were concluded by the new kingdom to place
international relations on a regular footing. When the German empire was
established under the king of Prussia in 1871, the commercial
engagements of any state which were at variance with a Zollverein treaty
were superseded by that treaty.

_Scope._--The scope of commercial treaties is well expressed by Calvo in
his work on international law. They provide for the importation,
exportation, transit, transhipment and bonding of merchandise; customs
tariffs; navigation charges; quarantine; the admission of vessels to
roadsteads, ports and docks; coasting trade; the admission of consuls
and their rights; fisheries; they determine the local position of the
subjects of each state in the other country in regard to residence,
property, payment of taxes or exemptions, and military service;
nationality; and a most favoured nation clause. They usually contain a
termination, and sometimes a colonial article. Some of the matters
enumerated by Calvo--consular privileges, fisheries and nationality--are
now frequently dealt with by separate conventions. Contraband and
neutral trade are not included as frequently as they were in the 18th
century.

The preceding statement shows that commercial treaties afford to
foreigners, personally, legal rights, and relief from technical
disabilities: they afford security to trade and navigation, and regulate
other matters comprised in their provisions. In Europe the general
principles established by the series of treaties 1860-1866 hold good,
namely, the substitution of uniform rates of customs duties for
prohibitions or differential rates. The disadvantages urged are that
these treaties involve government interference and bargaining, whereas
each state should act independently as its interests require, that they
are opposed to free trade, and restrict the fiscal freedom of the
legislature. It may be observed that these objections imply some
confusion of ideas. All contracts may