And for setting up or running an express to transmit letters or commercial intelligence in advance of the mail, or for transporting, 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 and his sureties, 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; or whenever the contractor shall become a postmaster, assistant postmaster, or member of Congress. 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.

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

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

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

HORATIO KING.

April 25, 1857.
April 25, 1857.
And by the other parties
ISAAC V. FOWLER, and
WILLIAM CALDWELL.

C. K. GARRISON.
J. C. HARRIS.
CHARLES A. WHITNEY.
hereto in the presence of-

[SEAL.

SEAL.

SEAL.

I do hereby certify that I am well acquainted with J. C. Harris and C. A. Whitney, and the condition of their property, and that, after full investigation and inquiry, I am well satisfied that they are good and sufficient sureties for the amount in the foregoing contract. ISAAC V. FOWLER, Postmaster.

The schedule of departures and arrivals.

Leave New Orleans every month on the first and fourteenth days; Arrive at Vera Cruz same month by the fourth and seventeenth days. Leave Vera Cruz every month on the seventh and twenty-second days;

Arrive at New Orleans same month by the tenth and twenty-fifth days.

RAILROAD CONTRACT.

No. 7, (Foreign.) $100,000 per annum.

This article of contract, made the 28th day of April, in the year one tho usand eight hundred and fifty-seven, between the United States of America (acting in this behalf by their Postmaster General) and the Panama Railroad Company, by David Hoadly, its president, and Henry Chauncey, Henry A. Coit, and William Whitewright, jr., as sureties, witnesseth:

That whereas the said railroad company has been accepted, according to law, as contractor for transporting the mail on route No. 7, (foreign,) from Aspinwall to Panama, New Granada, and from Panama to Aspinwall, connecting at both ports with the mail steamers as frequently as the mail service may require, or the Postmaster General shall direct, at one hundred thousand dollars per year for and during the term commencing the first day of April, in the year one thousand eight hundred and fifty seven, and ending with the first day of December, in the year one thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, or date of expiration of the existing contract with M. O. Roberts and others, assignees of A. G. Sloo: Now, therefore, the said Panama Railroad Company, as contractor, and the said Henry Chauncey, Henry A. Coit, and Wm. Whitewright, jr., as sureties, do, jointly and severally, undertake, covenant, and agree with the United States, and do bind themselves

1st. That the mail (including British, Canada, and other foreign mails) shall be conveyed in a secure and safe manner, free from wet or other injury, in a separate and convenient car, and apartment of a car, suitably fitted up, furnished, warmed, and lighted, under direction of the Post Office Department, and to the satisfaction of the Postmaster General, or of his authorized special agent, at the expense of the contractor, for the assorting and safe keeping of the mails, and for the exclusive use of the department and its mail agent, if the department shall employ such agent; and such agent is to be conveyed free of charge. When there is no agent of the department, the railroad company shall designate a suitable person, upon each train, to be sworn, to receive and take charge of the mails and of way bills accompanying and describing them, and duly deliver the same. And the mail shall be taken from and delivered into the post offices at the ends of the route, and to the intermediate offices, provided they are not over one-quarter of a mile from a depot or station.

2d. That if the company shall run a regular train of passenger cars more frequently than is required by the contract to carry the mail, the same increased frequency shall be given to the mail, and without increase of compensation, and the like as to the increased speed of the mail trains, if desired by the Postmaster General.

3d. That the company shall convey, free of charge, all mail bags and post office blanks, and all accredited special agents of the department, on the exhibition of their credentials.

4th. That the company shall not, by itself, nor by its agents, transmit, or be concerned in transmitting, commercial intelligence more rapidly than by mail, nor carry out of the mail letters or newspapers which should go by post, except letters in stamped envelopes, and

letters of the officers of the company, exclusively on the business of the road.

5th. That in every case of failure to perform the trip, (unless it is shown that the same was not caused by misconduct, neglect, or want of proper skill,) there may be a forfeiture of the pay for the trip; and a failure to arrive at the end of the route, so as to lose the connexion with a depending mail, shall be considered as equal to a whole trip lost, unless the detention or delay be the result of unavoidable causes. 6th. That the company shall be subject to fine for failure to take or deliver a mail, or any part of a mail; for suffering the mail to be wet or otherwise injured, or lost, or destroyed, unless it shall appear that such failure, or other incident as aforesaid, was not caused by misconduct, neglect, or want of proper skill on the part of the company or its officers.

7th. That the company shall be answerable for the adequacy of the means of transportation; for the faithfulness, ability, and diligence of its agents; and for the safety, due receipt and delivery, as aforesaid. of the mails.

8th. The said United States covenant with the said company to pay, as aforesaid, at the rate aforementioned, quarterly, in the months of May, August, November, and February, or in the preceding months, at the option of the department.

9th. That the Postmaster General may annul the contract without making any allowance for repeated failures of the contractors to perform any of the stipulations of the contract; for violating the post office law, or disobeying the instructions of the department: Provided, always, that this contract shall, in all its parts, be subject to the terms and requisitions of an act of Congress passed the twentyfirst day of April, in the year one thousand eight hundred and eight, entitled "An act concerning public contracts.

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

AARON V. BROWN, Postmaster General. [SEAL.] Signed, sealed, and delivered by the Postmaster General, in the presence of

HORATIO KING.

I certify that the above named Henry Chauncey, Henry A. Coit and Wm. Whitewright, jr., are good and sufficient sureties for the amount of the foregoing contract.

ISAAC V. FOWLER, Postmaster at New York.

Statement of United States postages upon mails transported by steamers of New York and Havre Steamship Company, between New York, Southampton, and Havre, six round trips, from June 27 to December 30, 1857.

Statement of United States postages upon mails transported by steamers of Cornelius Vanderbilt, between New York, Southampton and Bremen, six round trips, from June 13 to December 19, 1857.

Amount of postages derived from mails transported on route No. 8, (foreign,) from New Orleans, Louisiana, to Vera Cruz, Mexico, from July 1 to December 31, 1857, inclusive.

Postages on mails received.....
Postages on mails sent......

Total

$1,750 19

1, 129 75

2,879 94

35TH CONGRESS, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. Ex. Doc. 1st Session.

REPAIR OF WORKS IN PLYMOUTH HARBOR.

LETTER

FROM

THE SECRETARY OF WAR,

TRANSMITTING

Estimates for the repair of works in Plymouth harbor.

JANUARY 27, 1858.-Referred to the Committee on Commerce.

WAR DEPARTMENT, Washington, January 25, 1858.

SIR: I have the honor, in answer to a resolution of the House of Representatives of the 20th instant, to transmit herewith a report of the officer in charge of the engineer department, with enclosures, which furnish the estimates for the repair of the works in Plymouth harbor, Massachusetts, for the preservation of the same, in compliance with the resolution.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

JOHN B. FLOYD,
Secretary of War.

Hon. J. L. ORR,

Speaker House of Representatives.

ENGINEER DEPARTMENT, Washington, January 23, 1858.

SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the reference to this office of a resolution of the House of Representatives dated 20th instant, in which a call is made for estimates and other information in relation to the improvement of Plymouth harbor, Massachusetts.

I transmit herewith a copy of a report from Captain H. W. Benham of his examination of the beach of Plymouth harbor, with an estimate of the sum he deems necessary for the construction of works adequate to its protection. The amount of his estimate is $22,000.

This examination was made in conformity to the views expressed in your reply to a letter from the Hon. R. B. Hall, of Plymouth, in which you say that "I shall immediately cause the examination you