206 THIRTY-SIXTH CONGRESS. Sess. II. Ch. 73. 1861. the central route, provided by the act entitled "An act for the establish- 1861, eh_ 5-;_ ment of post routes," approved February twenty-seventh, eighteen hu¤· §15, me, p. 169. dred and sixty-one, the Postmaster General IS hereby dnrected to dnsoontinue the mail service on route number twelve thousand five hundredaud servmo¤¤e¤· seventy-eight from Saint Louis and Memplns to Qau Francxsco, Cahfor- Edd {°§°° §:°; nia, and to modify the contract on sa1d r0utc, subject. to the same terms qi:>¤.° an a and conditions only as hercimzfler provxdcd, smd dxscontmuance to take effect on or before July one, eighteen hundred and srxty-orxe. The oootractors on said route shall be required to transport the ermre letter maxl six times a. week on the central route, said letter max] to be camed through in twenty days time, eight months in the year, and lll twenty-three days the remaining four months of the year, from s0me pourt on the Mnssoum River connected with the East, to Placerville, Qalnforura, and also to detobenver City liver the entire mails tri-weekly to Denver Cxty, and Great Salt: Lake gd Sm L"k° City; said contractors shall also be required to carry the res1due of all uy` mail matter in a period not exceeding thirty-five days, with the prrvrlege of sending the latter semi-monthly from New York Sah Franmsco m twenty-Eve days by sea, and the public documents m thnrty-five days. They shall also be required, during the continuance of thexr contract, or pony Rpm until the completion of the overland telegraphé to run a pony express semi-weck1y,at a schedule time of ten days, exgbt mouths, and twelve days four months, carrying for the Government, free of charge, tive pounds of mail matter, with the liberty of charging the public for transportation of letters by said express not exceeding one dollar per half ounce. For the above service said contractors shall receive the sum of Ply- one million dollars per annum; the contract for such service to be thus modified before the twenty-fifth day of March next, and expire July 011c, eighteen hundred and sixty-four. cmmmm ,,1 Szc. 10. And be it j·3u·¢her emacteah That the contractors on route mute 12,578- twelve thousand five hundred and seventy-eight, shall be entitled to their present mail pay during the necessary time required to change their stock from their present route to the central route without performing the service, and shall be entitled also to two months’ pay on their present coutract as liquidated damages for such change of service, if made by them in accordance with the terms of the preceding section. Sec. 11. And be it further enacted, That, should the contractors on the gum ,ubjw_ route twelve thousand five hundred and seventy»eight fail to accept the above modification of their present contract on or before the twenty-fifth day of March, as before stated, then the Postmaster General is directed to annul said contract, and advertise for thirty days for carrying the mail N", mm in the manner herein provided; the service to commence July one, eighteen hundred and sixty-one, or as soon thereafter as possible, and to expire July one, eighteen hundred and sixty-Four, and to let the same to the lowest responsible bidder, having due regard to their ability to perform the service; and the sum of one million of dollars is hereby appropriated, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, to carry into execution the provisions of so much of this act as provides for the _ establishment of a daily mail on the central route: Provided, nevertheless, P'°"°°‘ That the Postmaster General or Congress shall have power, from time to my be altered. time, as the sarge may be deemed necessary, to alter or modify the contract hereby authorized, or to put an end to the same entirely, should the public interest demand a discontinuance of the service. But in either Paying mmm_ case the contractors shall be entitled to receive all such reasonable damablo damages to ages BS they may sustain because of 3i1y such 3l£€1'atlOD 0I' atmulmcut of °°“'·"“°*°’* their contract. Sm. 12. find it further enactecL That the above provision shall not Tm not to ,1,. apply D0 a. discontinuance of any routes or contracts connected with said plycolwalmutas. route number twelve thousand five hundred and seventy-eigbt, and the Postmaster General IS authorized to replace any local service aifected by
