, 1860-05-26

"A*n1sozos. May =. 1850.
The Covole Committee to day had before
them ". e. Barney, Of New York, to testify ~
TO certain mail contracts made by Postmaster.
General Holt. Mr. Garneg testified that he was
bidder fnr the mail service, under The fourth
sectinn Of the act Of .}uEe IL, 1858, which says:
1t sla'! not be lawful for the Postmaster
General to rnate anr steamship, or o:Ler new
contract, for carTying 1he mails on the Sc a. for
longer period than two years, nor for auy
other compensation than the sea md inland
poataEes on tue lnaifs so transported"
Witness bid was far sea mail service bct,veen
New iork. Ne" Orleans. mud San francisco, fur
tue postuGcs for two years. Mf, uo]t objected
TO tue bid, ss 1t lett The IetlMus uuproyjded tor
and rendered advertisement neccssury for nro.
pnkals for that part Of the line. Mr. Barney
then modified his bid 80 as 10 nuke the Pacific
service start IRON tue Gulf ports, md thus COM
tlete the connections, all for the postayes. Mr.
Holt now dt c'ared tue whole service :" inluud."
and said le should ask for proposals, in lace
Of the PLAIN provisions Of the law of 1855. H..
was told II the service was inland the contract
must be for four ycarr, instead Of two, But the
POSTMASTER General fell back on tho proyiso
which says the Postmaster General may make
take place
Here seems to hare bcen-frtt, clear violation
OF Law, and q resort to subterfuEe to cover uu
such violation Of luw. To carry out this pur
pose, letters were addressed to several parties
inviting proposals, but stating M time within
which bids would be received. As.Lis afforded
opportunity for gross fraud, Mr. Barney sue
ceeded IN getting particular hour namfd.
Which was :" O'Clock, r. II on the Gtth Apr,I.
1853. Ia response to these Invitations. t,nIy
two bidders c'linc within the terms Of The inri.
totion,-l'anie! Il: johnson, for SIG. .uto, and
bids: one ut s:Gs. 900, for improved serricc'
Ar. Faaderbllt made no regular bid. The con.
tract WIS awarded to Nr. johnson, the service
to commence on the 9Th Of October last. On
the Sd, Mr. johnson notified t!.e Department
that he could not perform the cnatrscf. and the
service WIS turned over to Ar. Vanderbilt, IN.
der conditional contract made in August nre
ceding at $1s' .'o. exclusive Of f1sth,nus cl1arrcs
Of S5.oto, making the total scr<icc Sa6aa, s0r.
when Mr. barney claimed the contract rs the
next lowest bidder ut $11S,201. Here was not
only positive violation Of the law, hut one
which cost Tue Government $SI,3oo for nine
N ,nths' service. Soon after ,he coptrnct w.
a~arded to Mr. johnson, Sir. barney inon;reJso
know If Mr.. johnson failed to execute ,hc
contract, whether the next lowest bIdcr wonli
hare 1t; but the Postmaster General rep1i,J.
Uw1ug to Tue weight Of the Testimonials Of
ability 10 execute t1ae servicc, failure was i'm
possible" aud declined to answer further. 4
eonornonal contract was afterwards made with
Mr: Vanderbilt in August, in violation If law
md the rights Of other parties.
The law SAYS Is contracts shall in all cases he
awarded to the lowest bidder" In this case it
WAS g1sen 10 tue highest bidder, regardless Of
faw. -
But more reckless violation Of law occurred
iu releasing Mr. Johusnn's securities from ali
liability: This, it seemed, WAS necessary 10 ba
done to induce Mr.. johnson to resign lis con.
ttnct. Other~lso the securities would hare *.
ecuted it, and Mr. Vanderbilt would have heen
disappointed. The Administration could nut
afford this, as Mr. Vanderbilt influence in Con
gress was needed. The Committee think This
decided the roirt, since Mr. Holt has been re-.
garded as the honest mau Of the Administration.
1t is understood. further, that Atr. johnson re-.
ceived in cash f;O, 900.
The matter is to be further examined. and
Mr.. johnson will be required to speak out as to
the object Of the Administration in swapping
round, aud how much each party received. The
Committee may report in favor Of declaring
'anderbil,'s contract null and void, on The
ground that it is palpable violation Of law.