Southern shield., 1851-03-08
INSTRUCTIONS.

Embracing certain conditions, Which cW De incorporated in he c0,strocts. 1. Seven minutes are allowed for opening and closing the mails at all offices where no partcu- lar time is specified; but on railroad and steam boat routes there is to be no more delay than is necessary to deliver and receive the bags. ?. The mail to be conveyed in preference to passengers, and to their entire exclusion, if its we ght and bulk require it.
 B. Post Office blanks, mail bags, and the special agents of the Department, on the exhi- bition of their credentials, are to be conveyed without further charge, on mail lines admitting Iof such conveyance.
 f. Mail agents are to be conveyed without charge on the principal railroad and steamboat lines, where the size of the mails and number of the offices will require their employment by the Department; and, in that case, separate apartment, for the exclusive use Of the Depart ment and Agent, for the asserting and safe keeping of the mail is to be provided by the contractor, ard under the direction of the De- Ipartment.
 | ,. In all cases there is to be a forfeiture of the pay of the trip when the trip is not run and of not more than three times the pay of the trip when the trip Is not run, and no sufficient eX- cuse for the failure is furnished, forfeiture of at least one-fourth part of 1t when the running or arrival is so far behind time as to loose the connexion with a depending mail and for feiture of due proportioG off it when grade of service is rendered inferior to that in the con- tract These fcrfeitures may be increased into penalties of higher amount, according to the mature or frequency of the failure and the inn pGrtance of the mail.
 1 6. Fines will be imposed unless the delin- Iquency be satisfactorily explained in due time,
 for failing to take from, or deliver at, post of flee, the mail, or any par. of it; for suffering it to be wet, injured lost, or destroyed or con
 veyng it in place or manner that exposes it to |depredation, loss, or injury; for refusing after demand to convey mail by any coach, railroad lear, or steamboat, which the contractor regular ly runs on the route beyond the specified num- ber of trips in the contract, and for not arriving at the time set and for setting up or running Ian express to trans init commercial intelligence
 in advance of the mail, penalty will be exact led equal to quarters pay.
 | '. The Postmaster General may annul the lcontract for repeated failures; for violating the Post Office laws; for disobeving the instruc- lons of the Department; for refusing to dis charge a carrier when required by the Depart Iment; for assigning ihe contract without the consento of the Postmaster General, or for setting |up or running an express as aforesaid.
 S. The Postmaster General may alter the contract, and alter the schedule, he allowing pro rata increase of compensation, within the re, strctons imposed by law, for the additional service required, or for the increased speed. if the employment of additional stock or carriers lis rendered necessary ; but the contractor may,
 in such case, relinquish the contract on timely noce, if he prefers 1t to the change. The Postmaster General may annul the contract or curta the service and pay, when he wishes to dispense with the service, in whole or in part, or place higher or different grade of service on the route, he allowing one months extra pay on the amount dispensed with.
 g.. The payments will be made through drafts on Post Offices or otherwise, after the ex- |piration of each quarter-say ill February, May, August, and November.
 | To- The distances are given according to the best information but no increased pay will be allowed, should they prove to be greater than is advertised, if the places are correctly named.
 H. The Postmaster General is prohibited by law from knowingly making contract for the transportation of the mail with any person who shall have entered into any combination, or proposed to enter into any combination to prevent the making of any bid for mail con- tract by any other person or persons, or who shall have made any agreement, or shall have given or performed, or promised to give or per- form, any consideration to do. or not to do, any thing whatever to induce any other person not to bid for mail contract Particular attention is called to the 2Sth section of the act of 1886, prohibiting combinations to prevent bidding. 12 bid received after time, to wit, the lst Iof April next, at 10 m, or without the guaran- Itv required by law, or that combines several