letter, and more than one half cent for each newspaper, conveyed in such mail.
Course to be pursued by the master or manager of every steamboat carrying the mail; with his duties enjoined.Sec. 6. And be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of every master or manager of any steamboat, which shall pass from one port or place to another port or place in the United States, where a post-office is established, to deliver within three hours after his arrival, if in the day time, and within two hours after the next sunrise, if the arrival be in the night, all letters and packets addressed to, or destined for such port or place, to the postmaster there, for which he shall be entitled to received, of such postmaster, two cents for every letter or packet so delivered, unless the same shall be carried or conveyed under a contract with the Postmaster General; and, if any master or manager of a steamboat shall fail so to deliver any letter or packet, which shall have been brought by him, or shall have been in his care, or within his power, he shall incur a penalty of thirty dollars for every such failure. And every person employed on board any steamboat, shall deliver every letter, and packet of letters, intrusted to such person, to the master or manager of such steamboat, and before the said vessel shall touch at any other port or place; and for every failure or neglect so to deliver, a penalty of ten dollars shall be incurred for each letter or packet.
None but a free white person to carry the mail.Sec. 7. And be it further enacted, That no other than a free white person shall be employed in conveying the mail; and any contractor who shall employ, or permit, any other than a free white person to convey the mail, shall, for every such offence, incur a penalty of twenty dollars.
The Postmaster General, when any established post-road is out of repair, &c. to report to Congress to such effect.Sec. 8. And be it further enacted, That, whenever it shall be made appear, to the satisfaction of the Postmaster General, that any road established, or which may hereafter be established as a post-road, is obstructed by fences, gates, or bars, or other than those lawfully used on turnpike roads to collect their toll, and not kept in good repair, with proper bridges and ferries, where the same may be necessary, it shall be the duty of the Postmaster General to report the same to Congress, with such information as can be obtained, to enable Congress to establish some other road instead of it, in the same main direction.
Any person wilfully stopping the mail, shall, upon conviction, be fined.Sec. 9. And be it further enacted, That, if any person shall, knowingly and wilfully, obstruct or retard the passage of the mail, or of any driver or carrier, 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 every ten minutes that the same shall be so delayed, a sum not exceeding ten dollars.[1]
Before the Postmaster General shall enter into a contract for carrying the mail, twelve weeks’ public notice must be given.Sec. 10. And be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of the Postmaster General to give public notice, in one newspaper published at the seat of government of the United States, and in one or more of the newspapers published in the state or states or territory, where the contract is to be performed, for at least twelve weeks before entering into any contract for carrying the mail, that such contract is intended to be made, and the day on which it is to 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, and the day and hour at which it is to be delivered. He shall- ↑ If the ordinances of the city of Philadelphia are in collision with an act of Congress, the former must give way. The laws of Congress, made in pursuance of the Constitution of the United States, are the supreme law of the land, any thing in the constitution or laws of any state notwithstanding. United States v. John Hart, Peters’ C. C. R. 390.Driving a carriage through a populous and crowded street in the city, at such a rate or in such a manner as to endanger the inhabitants, is an indictable offence at common law, and amounts to a breach of the peace; a constable is authorized, without warrant, to prevent the peace being so broken. Ibid.The act of Congress prohibiting the stoppage of the mail, is not to be so construed as to prevent the arrest of the driver of a carriage in which the mail is carried, when he is driving through a crowded city at such a rate as to endanger the lives of the inhabitants. Ibid.
