Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 1.djvu/480

 . 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 balance 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, 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, and all others to whom the mail shall be entrusted, before they commence the execution of the 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 it, in the office of the Comptroller of the treasury of the United States: Provided, That no contract shall be entered into, for a longer term than tour years.

. 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 duties thereof; and all letters, brought to any post-office, half an hour before the time of making up the mail at such office, shall be forwarded therein; except at such post-offices where, in the opinion of the Postmaster General, it requires more time for making up the mail, and which he shall accordingly prescribe; but this shall, in no case, exceed one hour.

. And be it further enacted, That from and after the first day of June next, the Postmaster General shall be allowed, for his services, at the rate of two thousand four hundred dollars per annum, his assistant, at the rate of one thousand two hundred dollars per annum, and the Postmaster General shall be allowed four clerks, whose compensation shall be regulated in such manner, as not to exceed five hundred dollars per annum to each: All the above mentioned compensations to be paid quarterly out of the revenues of the post-office; and no fees or perquisites shall be received by any person employed in the general