inhabitant, 1872 to 3 marks per capita, and from 1880 to 5 marks, after the Customs Union adopted a high tariff. The Aversum, therefore, was directly dependent on level of customs duties and tax rates. The provisions governing the payment of the Aversum justified the full voting rights of Hamburg and Bremen in the North German Federation. It was up to city states how they wanted to raise these sums. On account of its special circumstances, Lübeck found it well in 1868 to submit the application as foreseen in Article 34 and join the Customs Union. Relations with the Customs Union after 1867 In one respect the tariff treatment of the Hanseatic cities differed from that of the rest of the foreign countries. Offices of the Customs Union were set up in the free areas of Hamburg and Bremen to perform customs clearance, avoiding the need for it at the destination or an intermediate station. The fact that an area is excluded from the customs frontier does not in itself mean that it must also be outside the tax frontier. For example, the Imperial Stamp Duty, which was not a consumption tax, was applied in the Hanseatic states as well as the Customs Union. For consumption taxes the Hanseatic cities were treated like other foreign states. The brandy or sugar supplier in the Customs Union received an export remuneration upon dispatch to Hamburg. This was passed on to the Hamburg consumer who received the Customs Union product free of Customs Union tax and, the reduction was not negated by any high import tariff or consumption tax levied by Hamburg. Thus Hamburg consumers had lower prices than consumers within the union. The German imperial constitution of 1871 brought no change in the legal situation of Hamburg and Bremen. Article 34 (and related provisions) went into the new constitution. Customs frontier After Hamburg had agreed to the constitution of the North German Federation, negotiations were held between November 1867 and March 1868 on the size of the free area. It was agreed that this would cover the Hamburg urban area, but not the outlying areas, including Ritzebuttel, Bergedorf and the Vierland (which were a condominium with Lübeck until January 1868), Waldvörfer, and some Elbe islands. The excluded area, covering about 130 square miles with 25,000 inhabitants, now fell inside to the Customs Union. The free area outside the customs barrier was only