Southern shield., 1851-02-08

IPOSui llot ]uJuuSCu tO Ut GATuVdgdnl.
 13 bidder may offer, where the transpor. ihon called for Tn the advertisement is difficult or Ilmpractlcabie at certain seasons, to substitute an inferior mode Of conveyance, or to interlnit ser
 vice specified number of days, weeks, or months. He may propose to omit an office that IS inaccessible, or is not on the stage road, the railway, or at a steamboat landing, as the
 case may be; or he may offer to substitute an
 inferior mode of supply in such cases. He
 may propose different days and hours of de-
 parture and arrival, provided no more runnino Itlme IS asked, and 1t is obvious that no mail con IneXion or other public accommodations is pre- iJudlced. He may ask for more running time to the trip, during specified number of days, lat certain seasons of peculiarly bad roads ; but Ibeyond these changes, a proposal for service different from the advertisement will preventits being considered in competition with regular bid not set aside for eXtravagance and where Ibid contains any of the above alterations, their disadvantages will be estimated in comparing lit with other proposals.
 l4 There should be but lUute DIt- .o. .n Ia plupoeal.
 I5. The route, the service, the yearly pay, the bidders name and residence, and me | 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.
 I6 The bid should be sent under seal, ad- dressed to the First Assistant Postmaster Gen. IeraI, with "}iail Proposals in the State or Ter Irit0ry of -" written on the face of the letter; and should he dispatched in time to be received by CT before the lst of April next at
 0 clock, A. M. It should be guarantied, and the suf1ciency of the guarantors be duly cert- fled. (See forms.)
 17. 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 Ia 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.
 I9 Under the act of March 3, l845, the route is to be let 10 the lowest bidder rendering sufficient guaranties for faithful performances
 without other reference to the mode of trans. portation than may be necessary to provide for the due celerity, certainty, and security of such transportation.
 When the lowest bid proposes mode of con veyance that is inadequate for the route in re- Ispect to the certainty, security, and celerity of the mails, aside from any accommodation for travel it 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 adyertisement and no mode of conveyance is stated for the route in the ad- vcrtsement, 1t will be considered as offering 1 for horseback conveyance.
 2l. Since the passage of the act of March 3, 1885, a new description of bid has been receiv- led. It specifics no mode of conveyance, but engages to carry the mail with certainty, ceer- Iity, and security, using the terms of the law These bids are called, from the manner ill 1 which they are designated on the books of the Department, " stdr bids" l. has been decid ed, after mature consideration, that bid pro- lposing specific mode of conveyance of as l high a grade as two horse coach transportation 1 is to be preferred to the star bid. The expc- lrience of the Department enables it to lay idown the following rules, viz:
 When the mail on the route is not so large as Ito require two-horse coach conveyances, star bid, if the lowest, will be preferred to the spe- cifc bid.
 g. When the mails are of such size and weight as to render it necessary or expedient in reference to them alone, to provide two horse Icoach conveyance, the specific bid, though the highest, will be preferred to the star bd to the IeXtent of a moderate difference in the cOmpen Isation, in case the difference is not such as to interfere with the policy of the new law, which Hooks to a reduction in the cost of transporta- ton. Exceptions however, may be allowed, where the star bid is made by the present own7 Ter of the stock on the route, and it is manifest
 that the reasons for preferring the specific bid do not exist in his case.
 23. On routes of the highest class, where four horse coach or steamboat transportation is Irequired by the size and importance of the
 mails, the preference for the specific bid will be, If necessary, carried to greater extent of diff ference than on the inferior coach routes, sub Iject, however, to the exceptions above stated "A. A modification of bid, in any of its essential terms, Is tantamount to a new bid, and cannot be received, so as to interfere with rec. ular competition, after the last houF se' 'oi ~ 70. fosTmasIers are ,,r,a oaIclm and not to certify the sufficiency of gnarantOrs
 or sureties without knowing that they are per
 sons of sufficient responsibility and all bid ders, guarantors, and sureties are distinctly nO- tifed that on failure to enter into or perform
 the contracts for the service proposed for inthe
 accepted bids, their legal liabilities will be enfor
 ced against them.
 | 26' The contracts will be substantially in the
 forms heletofore used in this Department, eS-
 ceptin the respects particularly mentioned in
 these instructions and conditions and on all
 railroad and steamboat routes the contractors
 will be required to deliver the mails into the
 post offices at the ends of the routes and into
 all the post offices not more than eighty roos |frOm the railroad or landing.