Martinsburg gazette. [volume] (Martinsburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1833-1855, 1835-02-26

,gress statement Of all tie confyarf. ,.h,.,,
have been made ini.heir respective dena i.
menfs during the year preceefinr sny,,
report; exhibiting in such statement n III
name OF The contractor; the article 81
'htng coStracted for the place where ~ /
article was 10 be delivered. Tor the fb;.ar
perJo'med the sum TO be paid for Il, pef.
Torrance. or delice'y; the date and dura-
ton Of the contract.a
The Postmaster General. in M, rana.t
OF the 18th April, 1882. in whirh ~ ira.
iesses to comply with the proyisions ! his
statute, reports these contracts. ne nearly
as your committee can ascetta;n ~
himself says. in his before nentione5 al
uress, according to the bids made nur.a.
ant TO the advertisement, aud 40 arcrn,ay.
while the contracts under seal. ,vb;ct, an
pear 10 have been executed before ~. GA
| OF the year 1891. and about air mon.h.
before the presentation Of that report, dit.
,sr from y oy upwards Of $4,000. The
postmaster General, then. ifhc meant 70
report truly, and In good Gath, pursuant
70 the provisions OF the law. did not look
upon the sealed covenants. made in pur-
soance oil the improved bids,n az Tho
.onNac's osherwise no precedent, real
or assumed, could have excused hin, 10
himscla Tor report 50 far from the actual
state OF things, and so certain to mislead.
IN the address before referred to, in sneak-
ins OF the contract Of Stockton and Neil
ne says. the first report OF this contract.
VAN others, was made from the book Of
recorded proposals. and contained the sum
accepted. This was in conformity with
Tue custom which had prevailed with nv
predecessor" This your committee do
not al all doubt, and II would have been =
very convenient and very just mode still.
u The present Postmaster General had
matte the contracts. as executed. conform
with the accepted- bids butns they do no,
las he has SO far departed from, The prac.
ice OF his predecessors as to make the eY.
ecuied contracts cease 10 conform IN Tho
accepted bids, he cannot make IN a true
report oil those contracts from abatement
OF those accepted bids !; and that which he
now makes as an excuse for n deparf,rra
from the truth Of the case, in nm official
paper, was itself violation Of official duty-
Your committee have shown that the
postmaster General did not report the in
creased allowances made in conseunenrc
o. these improved bids,n as any part OF
he original contracts in which thew were
embodied. Neither did he report them
as extra allowances when called upon bv
resolution oil tho Senate 10 report the
amount OF these allowances made for err
IRA services since the 9th of April, 1929
tthey pass wholly without notice in auy az
ms reports 10 Congress, and seem. In his
Judgment. TO he ieferable to no class ~
cases whatever. Indeed no one could but
ieel that they were wholly without legal
warrant. and that they could, therefore
lsli under no known legal head. Never
theiess, immense sums Of money have.
through their means, been transietred
from the department 10 the pockets Of in
oividnals and the American Congress,
and The American people have, until this
investigation commenced, been wholly ig-
nofant OF the existence Of any such mode
Of approprla,'ng or disposing Of the public
II has been alleged that the practice Of
the department, under former administra-
lions, was TO enter the acceptance Of the
bids upon a proposal book. and in ma.
Ring up The annual report Of the contracts
which were 10 be laid before Congress, to
refer TO the proposals as accepted, and
make up the report according 10 those pro-
posais. so that If any alteration were
made IN the contract before it was execu-
ted, the contract and report would differ
IN amount.
Your committee have no doubt that the
annual report has been heretofore made
up from the accepted bids on the proposal
book, as stated in that paper. and that
there are ancient cases in which the exc.
cuied contracts differ from the accepted
proposals, and in like manner from the
report; but this difference between the
executed contracts and the accented pro-
posals does not appear 10 your committee
10 stand IN that situation, either as to fre
qucncy or amount, which would make il
available as precedent. Your commit.
tee caused 10 be prepared in a tabular
form. (see doc No. / j. the report Of the
contracts of 1897, which were put into
operation on the LIST January. 1898 and
opposite TO each contract as reported they
caused to be carried out the sum actualy
embodied in the executed contract for the
same route. These contracts are selected
because they are those renewed in 1881 !;
which renewed contracts are the same re-
fefred to and examined above. BY these
II appears that the whole amount of the
reported contracts Of 1877, is
s2s2.7s5 90
The whole amount OF the ac-
tuai contract as executedis 260,l55 90
Making difference Of s2,6S0 90
Which il to cover every mistake. erros.