190 THIRTY-FOURTH CONGRESS. Sess. III. Ch. 96. 1857. Act0f1856,ch. Sec. 9. And be it further enacted, That the eighth section of the act dsgv §G*;b;*’;P°‘g‘ of the eighteenth of August, eighteen hundred and fifty-six, entitled "An Giddings di.act making appropriations for the service of the Post-Oihcc Department," ciarcdmandatqry &c., be construed as mandatory; and that the Postmaster-General be P”‘y‘”““" l° mm' and he hereby is required to pay to the said Giddings the sum of thirty- Ante, p. 95. three thousand and five hundred dollars per annum in lieu of the contract pay, on mail route number twelve thousand nine hundred, as directed by said section, deducting payments heretofore made. Qoutmct au- Sec. 10. And be it further enacted, That the Postmaster-General be,
- l;§’;g°‘%h;°" and he is hereby, authorized to`contract for the conveyance of the entire
from the Mgssgs- letter mail from such point on the Mississippi River, as the contractors
- §;>g;*§S?sDgf¤¤· may select, to San Francisco, in the State of California, for six years, at
y ’ a cost not exceeding three hundred thousand dollars per annum for semimonthly, four hundred and fifty thousand dollars for weekly, or six hundred thousand dollars for semi-weekly service ; to be performed semimonthly, weekly, or semi-weekly, at the option of the Postmaster·General. Same subject; Sec. 11. And be it further enacted, That the contract shall require the service to be performed with good four-horse coaches, or spring wagons, suitabge for the conveyance of passengers, as well as the safety and security 0 the mails. Preemption Sec. 12. And be it further enacted, That the contractors shall have the g·§l;:0°;;S“°h °°”‘ right of preemption to three hundred and twenty acres of any land not ` then disposed of or reserved, at each point necessary for a station, not to be nearer than ten miles from each other; and rovided that no mineral land shall be thus preempted. p ’ { Trip to_be_per- Sec. 13. And be tt jntrther enacted, That the said service shall be perd';‘;°gn"C{';1;;‘;£ formed within twenty-five days for each trip; and that before entering ty {;O,bg given_ into such contract, the Postmaster—General shall be satisfied of the ability and disposition of the parties bona fide and in good faith to perform the paid contrapt, and shall require good and sufficient security for the perormance o the same; the service to commence within twelve months after the signing of the contract. Pllggllssergissngf U Sec. 14. And be it further enacted, That the Postmaster-General of the Lowest bid on nited States be and he hereby is authorized and directed to accept the record to be ac- lowest bid offered and now on record, (provided the same shall not exceed °°P*"d· '%reuty—giree thousand dollars a year, for weekly services,) to convey the nited `tates mails in good and sufficient steamer or steamers under the advertisement of the Postmaster-General of January nineteen, eighteen hundred and fifty-tive, for " proposals for conveying the United States mails on Puget’s Sound, Washington Territory," and to contract with the bidders thereof to put into immediate operation the said service on Pugetfs Sound, Washington Territory, commencing at Olympia, and supplying Steilacoom, Seattle, Port Madison, Port Gamble, Port Ludlow, Port Townsend, Penn’s Cove, Bellingham Bay, (Whatcorn,) New Dun- 18,5, eh_ 69, § 8. genesds, an;} such] other piacgs onidsglid route;} as the Postmaslger-General may 1rec ; said service o e pai or out o an mone in the treasur VCI V 750 not otherwise appropriated: Provided, That the grid serirrice shall be peri; ' ’ P" • formeél E} fir? cllass steamboats, under the eighth section of the act approve arc t ird, eighteen hundred and forty-tive. Ge;g¤¤v$g€tm;g Sec. 15. And be it further enacted, That the Secretary of the Treasury be directed to pay to George Whitman the sum of ten thousand one hundred dollars, being the amount of a draft issued in his favor by the Postmaster-General on the eleventh of August, eighteen hundred and thirty- eight upon the postmaster at New Orleans in payment of services rendered by said Whitman as mail contractor, less two thousand dollars paid thipeon, which ldfafthwgs no; satisfied by the drawer. rrnovnn, arc , 18 7.
