Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 48 Part 1.djvu/960

 934 73d C ONGRESS. SESS. II. CH. 466. JUNE 12, 1934 . Initial period s not to points as he may designate, and for initial periods of not exceeding exceed ditio so awards. one year, to the lowest resonsible bidders tendering sufficient guar- anty for faithful performance in accordance with the terms of the Protsos. advertisement at fixed rates per air lane-mile : Provided, That where Right of low bidder h > to ap peal if refus ed the Postmaster General holds that a low bidder is not responsible or contract. quali fied un der th is Act, such b idder shall h ave the right to app eal to the Com ptro ller Gen eral who sha ll s peed ily dete rmin e th e is sue, and ofp yximum base ra te his decision shall be final : Provided further, That the base rate of pay which may be bid and accepted in awarding such contracts shall in no case exceed 331/3 cents per airplane-mile for transporting a Co mpu tati on. mail load not exceeding three hundre d pounds. Pa ym e nt fo r t ra n s- porta tion sh all be at the base r ate fi xed in the con tract for the first three hundred pounds of mail or fraction thereof plus one tenth of such base rate for each additional one hundred pounds of mail or fraction thereof, computed at the end of each calendar month on the basis of the average mail load carried per mile over the route during such month, except that in no case shall payment exceed 40 cents per air plan e-mi le. Contractnontrans- (b) No contract or interest therein shall be sold, assigned, or ferable, unless ap- proved by Po stmaster transferred by the person to whom such contract is awarded, to any General . other per son without th e approval of the Postmast er General ; an d upon any such transfer without such approval, the original contract, as we ll as s uch tr ansfer, shall at the option of the Postm aster G eneral become null and void. Route extension (c) If, in the opinion of the Postmaster General, the public inter- est requires it, he may grant an extension of any route, for a distance not in excess of one hundred miles, and only one such extension shall Pay rate be granted to any one person, and the rate of pay for such extension shall not be in ex cess of the co ntract rate o n that route. Cla ssi fi cat ion of (d) The Postmaster General may designate certain routes as pri- routec Primary, to include mary and secondary routes and shall include at least four transcon- transcontine ntal and tinental routes and the eastern and western coastal routes among coast :~t, primary routes. The characte r of the desi gnation of su ch routes shall be published in the advertisements for bids, which bids may be asked for in whole or in part of such routes. Bids may be referred (e) If on any route only one bid is received, or if the bids received to Interstate Com- merce commi ssion if appear to the Postmaster General to be excessive, he shall either deemed excessive. reject them or submit the same to the Interstate Commerce Commis- sion for its direction in the premises before awarding the contract. Limitation on mile- (f) The Postmaster General shall not award contracts for air-mail are . routes or extend such routes in excess of an aggregate of twenty-nine thousand miles, and shall not establish schedules for air-mail trans- portation on such routes and extensions in excess of an annual ag regate of forty million airplane-miles. Exist ing c ontr acts. g) Authority is hereby conferred upon the Postmaster General to provide and pay for the carriage of mail by air in conformity with the terms of any contract let by him prior to the passage of this Act, or which may be let pursuant to a call for competitive bids therefor Extension a uthor- issued prior to the passage of this Act, and to extend any such con- ived . tract for an additional period or periods not exceeding nine months in the aggregate at a rate of compensation not exceeding that estab- lished by this Act nor that provided for in the original contract Pr nn .`n Provided, That no such contract may be so extended unless the con- Condition tractor shall agree in writing to comply with all the provisions of this Act during the extended period of the contract . Posti ng a dver tise- SEC. 4 . The Postmaster General shall cause advertisements of air- menu for bids. mail routes to be conspicuously posted at each such post office that is a terminus of the route named in such advertisement, for at least