Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1834-06-13

III COMMUNICATION from y. b. Brow,
the Postmaster General dated the lth ofEIH1 to
airy, 1881, he states the offer of GEORGE reofu
81 900 for carrying the mai twice y vo oGSe at
steamboat on the same route, and that tbest,llH
boat will be ready say the lst Of An,iIn'G an
suggest that the contract with Black loo,, - lie
pended, and asks shall it be done?n Tbo oI n S08
master General endorses on the papcr ssi, oSh
be done" and thereupon Black received oD NJ
to discontinue his route from the lst Of s iueiE
1881. NO contract appears to have been n,l L.
Cuted by House, and Black continued n
the mail on horseback as his sub copt.aiiiy
The effect fthe whole transaction was to sbG6Cr
contract out OF the hands of Black, and niue ,".e
in the hands of House, who is well knpp, ,"ce
an active and influential political parza," as
letter written by House to the Postlnaster o.
raj on the End of August, 1881. states tl "."e-
had not yet got his steamboat prepareI ''t ~
does not know when he SHALL and il seem. arc ~
he never did, for the mail is still carr ''t'
horseback or that route. VI
At the letting Of contracts in Octobe, 100.
route No. 1888, from Chcothe 10 GaiIEtno5S1A
was bid off by A. L. Ross, at 81, 100 per anp"
the mail to be carried three times week i, ;I2
horse post coaches His bid was accert,s
and in the report Doc. 212, p. 20 of tho .S,
Of April, 1892, he appears as the contracto
On the 18th day of October, 1881, lette ~.
written by O. B. Brown to Ross, informIna ;; ~ !,
that the acceptance of his bid was susnepT Jt.
and that the department wished him n NV,
up, as it was important that the stage line r.
Chillicothe to Gallipolis should be co3nac5
with the steamboat line from GaIHno%S
Charleston: Ross reluctantly yielded to tho ~
QUESTION, and the mail upon that route -,gc az
ried by House, for some time but withor, ~,
contract. and without any 1critten anC' acc,r,s?
offer. There was exhibited 10 your cOm.3tt,o,
a letter from House to O. b. BrO~n. withc,, r..
or post mark, in which he says be has carrie:
the mail from Chilllcothe to G&llpohs, and from
Gallipolis to COlesmouth, since the IL, a. .o'
uary, 1882 wihout any contract and in tficl,
ter was cnyeloped and filed paper. zls3 win
out date, containing proposition By Gcnrr-'
House to carry the mail three times wlpLi
four horse post coaches from ChIc0theto.I
lipoIis and three times q week from Iarlinr
lis to ColeSmOuth, on horseback. Tor the ,,a.,
ly compensation Of 50 600. On the back of .f,
paper is endorsed in the handwriting Of n,
Postmaster General "allOwed TO take pIa~r
from the 1st OF January, 1892" all these pane,
and the filing and entries upon them are -N
out date, and the officers Of the departmcn. or
give no account of the time of their 2yeou,io,
Some accidental writing in pencil on Ole q" ~.
papers does however, lead TO the conclusion IN,
| they are all of very recent origin. and ,he 70,
| tract which was at last executed pu"suaI f.
| this proposition, appears b. The jurat &c 1sy.
| been executed on the 9th day c. Lprii
| 1888
! Thus were there two contracts irfr-,,.
| red from their legal owners dgans: .ynOm
there was no complaint TO Gen George Hos
| at a clear loss TO the department of 81 PCS ,
year, amounting in the four years 10 S. ST.
which sum is In effect, a Git to that inGiviGJsl
made in violation OF Law, and under d SHES
Of NI-hiC had yl,+;
fact.
By the act Of the 18Th day 81 Jun, ,G5l.
mail route was established from Chicag-
Green Bay. in the Territory Of Michigan; r.,
in the proposals published b. the departrlen, g.
the oath of July following, this route is no. ~.
GUIDED and no notice whatever was published
order of the department for proposals on tn,
route O. B. Brown, ar officer in IN Gepa:,.
ment who made out the list Of proposals BEN
sworn, stated it as his belief that the omission
happened in consequence Of the Jaw establish
ing the post routes not having been published -.
the time he made out the advertisement, Ind
that he took it from copy of the bill which ~
forwards underwent alterations. I 2nneG!s,
that the law was approved Oh the 18TH d2y
June 1882; the advertisement, was signed BY
the Postmaster General on the oath 0 .ulT Ol
lowing; and it further appears, that TINS r0ute
was upon the bill as it was first introduced into
the House, and was never struck ont or Cnd2~
went the slightest alteration during lis progress
John T. Temple, then clerk IN the depart
ment, made out bid in the name Of lisa
bel Slavery, of Michigan, by which he offered
to transmit the mail or horseback on that rOm2
once in two weeks, for $4,000, or once week.
for SO 500 year, which was accepted. her
was afterwards a representation made BY ass
hel Slavery, in the handwriting OF latin 2. Ten,
pie. stating that the bid was too low, and that be
would suffer very heavy loss by the contGC"
The distance is two hundred and fifty TIl2s,
The fair value Of the service does not e"c2so
81 200 or.S 800
The Postmaster General, upon this repTos2L
tation, made an additional allowance OF GlOH
a year, and the contract was accordingly eye
cuted by Slavery and assigned to Temple.
In this manner Dr. Temple, by meanc o. H'
situation in the department, obtained a contra.
giving him $4,000 for carrying the mail ~
miles on horseback weekly, for which serve
it is believed 81, 800 would be very Iarse con.
pensation much more indeed than the state o'
things would justify. The route is an unHnPo
tant one, the nett amount Of postage rcreI q"
upon it, after leaving Chicago TO It's terminate
at Green Bay inclusive, falls short OF the one
tenth part Of the sum given to Temple Oh '"'
contract, which aggregate sum equals IL IS D~-
lieved, the nett proceeds Of posta9eS received"
the whole territory of Michigan r..,-..
Al DN.J I..ga