In the whole issue of Polish trade relations with Austrian Empire after the fall of the November Uprising, ie, after September 1831, the highest attention of the Polish administrative authorities caught the matter of so-called “customs chambers” throught which colonial goods were brought to the Kingdom.
According to the decrees of Russian tsar Alexander the1st, dated as of 13th and 28th of August 1822, as well as on the basis of regulations of the royal tsarist governor in the Kingdom of Poland general Zajączek (dated 26th of November 1822 and 8th of July 1823), any colonial goods brought into the Kingdom of Poland from Austria's Empire could be cleared only in the two “customs chambers of first class”. These were the customs chamber located in Igołomia and Wilczkowice on Polish-Austrian border.
In these circumstances the main problem proved fact that both of these chambers were literally located "/.../ on the one side of Cracow and in close proximity of each other," while in the area stretching from Igołomia to Krylov (where three borders of: so-called Constitutional Poland, of Russian Empire and of Austria itself met), i.e. on the approximate lenght of 60 miles or so, there was no chamber entitled to perform duty of customs clerance as far as coming from Austria to Polish Kingdom colonial goods were concerned.
Thus, driven by need to facilitate Polish-Austrian trade, and seeking at the same time to put an end to the existing in this area significant smuggling traffic, Warsaw’s main governing body - Administrative Council - on 21st of May 1833 decided to rename former Dołhobyczów’s “customs chamber of second class” (located near the border with Austria), as “chamber of the first class”, giving this unit the power of customs administration, provided for "/ ... / this rate of chambers", mentioned earlier in the decision of royal governor, signed on November 26th, 1822.
In view of the above, and assuming that the increase of importance of renamed Dołhobyczów’s “customs chamber” was mainly focused on facilitating trade relations with important from mercantile point of view town in Austrian Galicia (territory taken from partitioned Poland in 1772), namely with town Brody, Polish treasure ministry – Government Commision of Revenue and Treasury (KRPiS) applied on December 13th of 1833 to the Administrative Council for granting to that “customs chamber” any suitable and respective rights needed for clearing customs of colonial goods.
What was highly significant, even Warsaw’s treasury authorities acknowledged that huge number of smuggling “abuses” and “tresspassings” that could be especially seen on this particular scene of Polish-Austrian border, predominantly were “the result of compliancing with the requirements of “"necessity"”.
Finally, during its session dated 15th of December 1833, Warsaw’s Administrative Council approved the request of ministry - Government Commission of Revenue and Treasury, allowing Polish-Austrian trade in colonial goods not as yet in two “customs chambers”, but now in three locations on the border between two countries.
@copyright Marek Rutkowski
