Southern shield., 1851-03-22

routes Ill one sum of compensation, cannot be |considered in competition with the regular pro- Iposal not adjudged to be extravagant. 13. A bidder may offer, where the transpor- Ion called for Tn the advertisement IS difficult or limpraclcable at certain seasons, 10 substitute an jlnlerlor mode of conveyance, or to intermlt ser Ivice specified number of days, weeks, or months. He may propose to omit an office that lls inaccessible, or IS not on the stage road, the railway, or at a steamboat landing, as the lease may be; or he may offer 10 substitute an |inferior mode of supply in such cases. He may propose different days and hours of de- |parture and arrival, provided no more running time is asked, and it is obvious that no mail con |nexion or other public accommodations is pre- Ijudiced. He may ask for more running time to the trip, during specified number of days, at certain seasons of peculiarly bad roads :; but beyond these changes, a proposal for service different from the advertisement will prevent its being considered in competition with regular bid not set aside for eXtravagance and where a bid contains any of the above alterations, their disadvantages will be estimated in comparing It with other proposals.
 IA. There should be but one route bid for in a proposal.
 Is. The route, the service, the yearly pay, the bidders name and residence, and the name of each member of the firm, where a company offers, should be distinctly stated; also the mode of conveyance, if higher mode than on horseback is intended.
 l6. The Did should be sent under seal ad- dressed to the First Assistant Postmaster Gen eral, with ''Mall Proposals in the State or Ter Irltory of ----,' written on the face of the
 letter; and should be dispatched in time to be received by or before the lst of April next, at 0 o'clock, A. M. It should be guarantied, and the sufficiency of the guarantors be duly cert- fled. (See forms.)
 | IF. The contracts are to be executed by or before the lst of July next.
 IS. Postmasters at offices situated upon or near railroads, but more than eighty rods from a depot, will immediately after the 18th April next, report that fact to the Department, stating their exact distance from the railroad depot, and how otherwise supplied with the mail to enable the Postmaster General to direct the proper |supply to be made from the railroad by mail messengers, from and after the lst of July next.
 19. Under the act of March 3, l845, the route is to be let 10 the lowest bidder rendering sufficient guaranties for faithful performance, without other reference to the mode of trans poraton than may be necessary to provide for
 
 transportation.
 When the lowest bid proposes a mode of con- lveyance that is inadequate for the route in re- spect to the certainty, security, and celerity of the mails, aside from any accommodation for travel, 1t will not be entitled to the route
 20. When the bid does not name mode of conveyance, it will be taken and understood to be for the lowest mode of conveyance, to wit, on horseback. When it proposes to car Try according to the advertisement, anG no mode lOf conveyance is stated for the route in the ad- |versement, it will be considered as offering for horseback conveyance.
 2l. Since the passage of the act of March 3, lS45, new description of bid has been recev- led. It specifics no mode of conveyance, but engages 10 carry the mail with certainty, celer- lIty, and security, using the terms of the law. These bids are called, from the manner in which they are designated on the books of the Department, star bids." It has been decd- ed, after mature consideration, that a bid pro- lpOslng specific mode of conveyance of as high grade as two horse coach transportation lis to be preferred to the star bid. The expe- Irlence of the Department enables 1t to lay down the following rules, viz
 | When the mail on the route is not so large as to require two-horse coach conveyances. star bid, if the lowest will be preferred to the spe- cihc bid.
 p. When the mails are of such size and weight as to render it necessary or expedlent in reference to them alone, to provide two horse coach conveyance, the specific bid, though the highest, will be preferred to the star bid, to the extent of moderate difference in the compen sation, in case the difference is not such to interfere with the policy of the new law, which looks to a reduction in the cost of transporta- ton. Exceptions, however, may be allowed, where the star bid is made by the present own CT of the stock on the route, and 1t Is manifest that the reasons for preferring the specific bid do not exist in his case.
 23. On routes of the highest class, where 1 four horse coach or steamboat transportation IS required by the size and importance of the mails, the preference for the specific bid will be, | if necessary carried to a greater extent of diff ference than on the inferior coach routes, sub fleet, however, to the exceptions above stated. | 24 A modification of bid, in any of its essential terms, IS tantamount to new bid, and cannot be received, so as to interfere with reg luar competition, after the last hour set for re- ceiving bids.
 | 25. Postmasters are required to be careful and not to certify the sutficiency of gnarantors or suretles without Knowing that they are per | sons of sufficient responsibility and all bid ders. guarantors, and suretes are distinctly mo- tifed that on failure to enter into or perform i the contracts for the service proposed for in the accepted bids their legal liabilities will be enfor- Eced against them.
 | 26+ The contracts will be substantially in the forms hel eofore used in this Department, ex- |cept in the respects particularly mentioned in lthese instructions and conditions and on all railroad and steamboat routes the contractors