thirteen round trips for and during the term of one year, commencing June 1, 1857, and ending June 1, 1858; the days of sailing of said steamships to alternate at equal and regular intervals of time with the United States mail steamers running between New York and Havre, via Southampton, and between New York and Liverpool.

And the said contractor doth further covenant and agree with the United States, and binds himself, that said ships shall be in all respects of the best form and qualities for sailing, for power, and for speed; that they shall be staunch, and built with a view to be converted into ships-of-war in case of war, and subject to be taken by the President of the United States on appraisal, as provided in the act of Congress of 3d March, 1845, which steamships shall at any time be subject to inspection by officers appointed by the President both during and after construction, with a view to report upon their eligibility in all respects for war purposes; that they shall combine all the improvements in model, engines, and finish, and shall be of the best description of sidewheel ships; and that each successive ship that is built shall be so constructed as to possess the advancing improvements that may arise in steamship construction in any of its branches, and that the line shall be kept up, by alterations, repairs, or additions, as the exigency may require, fully equal to the best state of steamship improvement attained.

And it is further covenanted and agreed by the said contractor

First. To carry said mail within the times fixed in the annexed schedule of departures and arrivals, and so carry until said schedule is altered by the authority of the Postmaster General of the United States, as hereinafter provided, and then to carry according to said altered schedule.

Second. To carry said mail in a safe and secure manner, free from wet or other injury, in a separate apartment in each ship, to be fitted up under the order of the department, if the Postmaster General shall require one, for the exclusive accommodation of the mail.

Third. To take the mail and every part of it from, and deliver it and every part of it into, the post office at New York, Southampton, and Bremen, as the case may be.

He also undertakes, covenants, and agrees with the United States, and binds himself, to be answerable for the person to whom the said contractor shall commit the care and transportation of the mail, and accountable to the United States for any damages which may be sustained by the United States through his unfaithfulness or want of care, and that the said contractor will discharge any carrier of said mail whenever required to do so by the Postmaster General; also, that he will not transmit, by himself or his agent, or be concerned in transmitting, commercial intelligence more rapidly than by mail; and that he will not carry, or suffer to be carried, letters or newspapers out of the mail; and that he will not, knowingly, convey any person carrying on the business of transporting letters or other mail matter, without the special consent of the department; and further, that the said contractor will convey, without additional charge, post office blanks, mail bags, and the occasional agent of the Postmaster General, on the exhibition of his credentials. For which service, when performed,

the said Cornelius Vanderbilt is to receive, as full compensation therefor, the gross amount of the United States postage (sea and inland) on the mails transported, the payment thereof to be subject to the approval of Congress by the passage of an appropriation for that purpose: Provided, however, That if the Postmaster General shall find that he has the authority to make such payment without a special appropriation, then the payments shall be made as soon as practicable after the performance of each round trip.

It is hereby stipulated and agreed by the said contractor that the Postmaster General may change the schedule, he allowing a pro rata increase of compensation within the restrictions imposed by law for any additional service that may be thereby required.

And it is also hereby stipulated and agreed by the said contractor, that in all cases there is to be a forfeiture of the pay of the trip when the trip is not run; also, that fines may be imposed upon the contractor, unless the delinquency be satisfactorily explained to the Postmaster General in due time, for failing to take or deliver the mail or any part of it; for suffering it to be wet, injured, lost or destroyed; for carrying it in a place or manner that exposes it to depredation, loss or injury, by being wet or otherwise; for refusing, after demand and tender of proper compensation, not exceeding a due proportion of the pay, to convey a mail by any steamship which the contractor runs or is concerned in running on the route, beyond the number of trips above specified, or for not arriving at the time set in the schedule, unless not caused by neglect or want of proper skill, or by misconduct. And for setting up or running an express to transmit letters or commercial intelligence in advance of the mail, or for transmitting, knowingly, or after being informed, any one engaged in transporting letters or mail matter, in violation of the laws of the United States, a penalty of fifty dollars may be exacted for each offence and for each article so carried.

And it is hereby further stipulated and agreed by the said contractor, that the Postmaster General may annul the contract for repeated failures; for violating the post office laws; for disobeying the instructions of the department; for refusing to discharge a carrier or any other person having charge of the mail, by his direction, when required by the department; for assigning the contract without the consent of the Postmaster General; for setting up or running an express as aforesaid; or for transporting persons conveying mail matter out of the mail as aforesaid; and this contract shall, in all its parts, be subject to the terms and requisitions of an act of Congress passed on the twenty-first day of April, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and eight, entitled "An act concerning public contracts," and may at any time be terminated by a joint resolution of the two houses of Congress.

And it is also stipulated and agreed by the United States that no mail shall be despatched between New York and Southampton or Bremen haven, in American vessels, within one week of the days of the departure of the mail herein provided for.

This contract is to be for the term of one year, commencing the first day of June, 1857, and ending the first day of June, 1858.

In witness whereof, the said Postmaster General has caused the seal of the Post Office Department to be affixed hereto, and has attested the same by his signature; and the said Cornelius Vanderbilt and his sureties have hereto set their hands and seals, the day and year set opposite their names, respectively.

May 28, 1857.

AARON V. BROWN, [SEAL.]
Postmaster General.

Signed, sealed and delivered by the Postmaster General, in the presence of

I certify that the above named Edward N. Dickerson and Daniel Drew are good and sufficient sureties for the amount of the foregoing contract.

ISAAC V. FOWLER,

Postmaster at New York.

This article of contract, made the thirtieth day of May, in the year one thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, between the United States of America (acting in this behalf by their Postmaster General) and the New York and Havre Steamship Company, by Mortimer Livingston, its president, and C. H. Sand and Mortimer Livingston, as sureties, witnesseth:

That whereas the existing contract for ocean steamship service between New York and Havre, via Southampton, will expire on the first of June next :

And whereas the Postmaster General is authorized by the first section of the act of March 3, 1845,"to contract for the transportation of the United States mail between any of the ports of the United States and a port or ports of any foreign power whenever, in his opinion, the public interest will thereby be promoted:"

And whereas Mortimer Livingston, president of the New York and Havre Steamship Company, hath proposed, on behalf of that company, "to transport the United States mail to Southampton, in England, and to Havre, in France, and back to New York, making thirteen round trips for the year ending the 1st June, 1858, commencing with the expiration of the existing contract with the Ocean Steamship Company, for the gross amount of the United States postages, sea and inland, subject, in the discretion of the Postmaster General, to the approval of Congress, and appropriation of money for the payment thereof;" which proposal has been accepted by the Postmaster General, under the authority herein before referred to, and under the belief that the temporary continuance of this service is required by the public interest, until such time as Congress shall be enabled to provide for a permanent contract or arrangement for transporting the mails to and from Great Britain and France:

Now, therefore, the said New York and Havre Steamship Company, as contractors, and the said C. H. Sand and Mortimer Livingston, as sureties, do jointly, and severally, undertake, covenant, and agree with the United States, and do bind themselves, to transport the mails of the United States to and from Europe by a line of steamships, to run from New York to Southampton, in England, and thence to Havre, in France, and from said Havre, by Southampton, to New York, making thirteen round trips for and during the term of one year, commencing June 1, 1857, and ending June 1, 1858; the days of sailing of said steamships to alternate at equal and regular intervals of time with the United States mail steamers running between New York and Bremenhaven, via Southampton, and between New York and Liverpool.

And the said contractors do further covenant and agree with the United States, and bind themselves, that said ships shall be in all respects of the best form and qualities for sailing, for power, and for speed; that they shall be staunch, and built with a view to be converted into ships-of-war, in case of war, and subject to be taken by the President of the United States on appraisal, as provided in the act of Congress of 3d March, 1845; which steamships shall at any time be subject to inspection by officers appointed by the President, both during and after construction, with a view to report upon their eligibility in all respects for war purposes; that they shall combine all the