Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1845-03-21

obligation. These considerations do No.,
long to their Attorney and Ceuuse," Do
will the Board require my assistance no,
ing upon them. ast
The question Of law, which dispose, =,
agency In the matter, is one which a,;..' ny
on The Act of Congress, iorbiddnp n" up.
Master General to make ertra allomo..rOa
contractors aciM his Department, and thu, 70
ton Is this: Are the Company con,,.Yt afs
in the view and meaning of th=t Ac,l 1sSa
Post Master General right, in suppos;,a "Ms
the Act forbids him to make the CopnsS." a
ditional or extra allowance of price, to ;nt d.
them TO continue the service ? These o"s
tons must oe answered in the Affirmative ST rs
time, &c., it is true, were indefinite, bn, Me
"price, for four years." was fixed hy tho w. M
NAL offer in 1914, and by its formal accen,,' We
in writing, at that date. The surrends, N
made for and on account of the inod,o.'a
price. not singly for any other cause, nor NV;
ly for any other. How could the Posi- M An
ter General, then, claim exemption from .S
sure if he should attempt to avoid the ls.s
command TO him, upon the pretex, thai ~
Company were not Observation-Disclosures he 5I
not make the agreement more definite, in eo"S
other respects, though it was contessedIv oas
tain and fixed upon the Identical point wiz
in his discretion was designed to be control's
by the Act of Congress. viz: the price! IN
statement Of such question answers it. TAI.
it upon the other grounds, assumed By u.
Company, viz: that the terms Of the ann,
ment were altered, and whether these al,s,,
tons were acquesced in or not, she seryic
has been continued by the Company sim.
they were made, and, fthe price aUere ddtQuob
these alterations would not now be insis,p]
upon, as cause for surrender. Can the Pa.
Master General, where he might wish to er.
ert discretion, in altering the pay Of CON.
tractor, contrary to the Act of Congrps,
change another detail of the contract, Which
does not increase the burden Of his coitrr. Is
tor, and then himself, assume that, by hi,
change, he had annnlled the agreement, and
therefore, concluded that he may lawfully in
crease the pay, but allow the service to pro-
ce,d with the very same changes, in ,hm
other details, which constituted the prefer
for his notification of the contract! Thu
would be little more than acting upon a leg
| fiction, just long enough to admit OF an abus
of his official discretion. Clearly, he cannot
do that. .:.
SO of the surrender and acceptance. i
wouid be worse than absurd 10 say that CON-
tract, by being surrendered and accepted at,
specific price, might be inslantaneousy orHe
next day, renewed at higher price; and YET
to maintain that, the Postmaster General. wha
accepted such a surrender, and then renewed
1.-THE contract with the same contr cto, a, ,
higher price, did not in reality, make ertra a.
l0,Cnnces. A direct violation of The law wouI
he more manly, but by no means palmer
disregard Of the laws intended to control hi.
official discretion. Had the attention Of .ho
Company been directed to this subject, with
a single reference to the powers Of the Pos,
Master General, they would no doubt, have
perceived the correctness Of these conclusions
without my assistance. Where material alto.
rationS in the contract are made BY the Post
Master General, or where a contractor sutIen.
: der5 and the Post Master General accepts, o.
where the agreement, though certain as to the
price he is to get, yet. in some Of its other DE-.
tails, besides the price, is ''left open," andlh
. contractor refuses, on request, 70 make ita
perfect and definite contract, according To The
requirement Of the Post Master GeRqral-in
each or all Of these eases think the eon.rac.
tor may terminate his engagements al his own
election. But unless the Post Mast-r Gene.
raj imposes new burdens, such as " i'll put the
contractor to additional charges, impaired
with those he had stipulated for at the out>et
the Department is forbidden, by law, 10 MAKE
any extra allowances whatever.
In a word, therefore, think the Company
. could not be coerced by h,v to proceed in fur
ther execution Of the Mail service-lhoGgh
90 not believe the Post Master General is at
liberty, as the law now stands, to increase the
> price agreed upon in 1913, for any thing that
= appears in the correspondence submitted 10 me-
The Company, it would seem, have madoa
hard bargain. and they can he rid otil. if the!
- choose to take advantage Of their position
. But, would not the Post Master General tpa'
y Oily send proper persons 10, make en- examIna'
ton and 10 ascertain the fact whether the Ut
;. vrrnmentl is NOT paying very inadequate pre-,
= for the services rendered ? Their favoTsOH
report would effectually vindicate the ComP''
:. ny against the suspicion of endeavoTIng |"
extort more than a reasonable compensation
- Ii that examination should result as you sup
. pose II would, in making it plain to the w
;, partment. that the price, agreed upon In Io'''
/ was inadequate, and that it was submitted
>, from sincere desire to promote the Pu0l'
). convenience. and in greater or less deg e
:, from the necessiti Of the Company, at 'n'
=. time. as we'll as a belief by the Company
>, that the contract Nigh, be altered. so as TO 20
20 l. rye the price. should the experiment Prov
- to the Department that the price was too sH"
70 for tho service, the Post Master Gener J. ,nO
tie Is forbidden to increase the allowance mn
~ self, Nigh, feel il to be his duty to present u.
=. case to Congress. In all that, however, i e..
IS neither advise you beforehand nor after II: ~
=, suggestion is made for the purpose Of Df'n q
is ing II into your present negetI ations vim '" u
10 Post Master General; and because, al'pl q =
n that has been said in newspapers on tins s4 !,
r ject. should, Gas North Carollnlan') pi. .'
a. to see even the corpordte bodies*of the o'I =
70 excuipated from the charge of in ending !"
A. practice extravaganza in their demands upr ",
!. the National Government, ior services Oh s'''
Interest and necessitv