Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 1.djvu/356

 . And be it further enacted, That there shall be established, at the seat of the government of the United States, a general post-office. And there shall be one Postmaster General, who shall have authority to appoint an assistant, and deputy postmasters, at all places where such shall be found necessary. And he shall provide for carrying the mail of the United States, by stage carriages or horses, as he may judge most expedient; and as often as he, having regard to the productiveness thereof, as well as other circumstances, shall think proper, and defray the expense thereof, with all other expenses arising on the collection and management of the revenue of the post-office. He shall also have power to prescribe such regulations to the deputy postmasters, and others employed under him, as may be found necessary, and to superintend the business of the department, in all the duties that are, or may be assigned to it, and also to direct the route or road, where there are more than one, between the places above established, which route or road shall be considered as the post road.

. And be it further enacted, That the Postmaster General shall, once in three months, obtain from his deputies, the accounts and vouchers of their receipts and expenditures, and the balances due thereon, and render to the secretary of the treasury, a quarterly account of all the receipts and expenditures in the said department, to be adjusted and settled as other public accounts, and shall pay, quarterly, into the treasury of the United States, the balance in his hands. And the Postmaster General, and his assistant, the deputy postmasters, and such as they may employ in their offices, shall, respectively, before they enter upon the duties, or be entitled to receive the emoluments of their offices, and the contractors for carrying the mail, and their agents or servants, to whom the mail shall be entrusted, before they commence the execution of said trust, shall, respectively, take and subscribe before some justice of the peace, the following oath or affirmation, and cause a certificate thereof to be filed in the office of the Postmaster General; “I do swear (or affirm as the case may be) that I will faithfully perform all the duties required of me, and abstain from every thing forbidden by the law in relation to the establishment of post-offices and post-roads within the United States.”

. And be it further enacted, That if any person shall obstruct or retard the passage of the mail, or of any horse or carriage carrying the same, he shall, upon conviction for every such offence, pay a fine not exceeding one hundred dollars. And if any ferryman shall, by wilful negligence, or refusal to transport the mail across any ferry, delay the same, he shall forfeit, and pay, for each half hour that the same shall be so delayed, a sum not exceeding ten dollars.

. And be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of the Postmaster General, to give public notice in one or more of the newspapers published at the seat of government of the United States, and in one or more of the newspapers published in the state or states where the contract is to be performed, for at least six weeks before the entering into any contract for the conveyance of the mail that such contract is intended to be made, and the day on which it shall be concluded; describing the places, from and to which such mail is to be conveyed; the time at which it is to be made up; the day and hour, at which it is to be delivered; and the penalty or penalties for non-performance of the stipulations. He shall, moreover, within thirty days after the making of any contract, lodge the same, together with the proposals which he shall have received respecting the same, in the office of the comptroller of the treasury of the United States.

. And be it further enacted, That every deputy postmaster shall keep an office in which one or more persons shall attend at such hours as the Postmaster General shall direct, for the purpose of performing the