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Course to bepursued by themaster or mana-ger of everysteamboat car-rying the mail;with his dutiesenjoined.
None but afree white per-son to carry themail.
The Postmas-ter General,when anyestablishedpost-road is outof repair, &c. toreport to Con-gress to sucheffect.
Any personwilfully stop-ping the mail,shall, upon con-viction, befined.
Before thePostmasterGeneral shallenter into aeon-tract for carry-ing the mail,twelve weeks’public noticemust be given.
letter, and more than one half cent for each newspaper, conveyed in suchmail.
Sec. 6. And be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of everymaster or manager of any steamboat, which shall pass from one port orplace to another port or place in the United States , where a post-officeis established, to deliver within three hours after his arrival, if in the daytime, and within two hours after the next sunrise, if the arrival be in thenight, all letters and packets addressed to, or destined for such port orplace, to the postmaster there, for which he shall be entitled to receive,of such postmaster, two cents for every letter or packet so delivered, unlessthe same shall be carried or conveyed under a contract with the Post-master General; and, if any master or manager of a steamboat shall failso to deliver any letter or packet, which shall have been brought by him,or shall have been in his care, or within his power, he shall incur a pen-alty of thirty dollars for every such failure. And every person employedon board any steamboat, shall deliver every letter, and packet of letters,intrusted to such person, to the master or manager of such steamboat,and before the said vessel shall touch at any other port or place ; and forevery failure or neglect so to deliver, a penalty of ten dollars shall beincurred for each letter or packet.
Sec. 7. And be it further enacted, That no other than a free whiteperson shall be employed in conveying the mail; and any contractor whoshall employ, or permit, any other than a free white person to convey themail, shall, for every such offence, incur a penalty of twenty dollars.
Sec. 8. And be it further enacted, That, whenever it shall be madeappear, to the satisfaction of the Postmaster Genera], that any road estab-lished, or which may hereafter be established as a post-road, is obstructedby fences, gates, or bars, or other than those lawfully used on turnpikeroads to collect their toll, and not kept in good repair, with proper bridgesand ferries, where the same may be necessary, it shall be the duty of thePostmaster General to report the same to Congress , with such informationas can be obtained, to enable Congress to establish some other road insteadof it, in the same main direction.
Sec. 9. And be it further enacted, That, if any person shall, know-ingly and wilfully, obstruct or retard the passage of the mail, or of anydriver or carrier, or of any horse or carriage, carrying the same, he shall,upon conviction, for every such offence, pay a fine not exceeding onehundred dollars; and if any ferryman, shall, by wilful negligence, orrefusal to transport the mail across any ferry, delay the same, he shallforfeit and pay, for every ten minutes that the same shall be so delayed,a sum not exceeding ten dollars, (a)
Sec. 10. And be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of thePostmaster General to give public notice, in one newspaper published atthe seat of government of the United States , and in one or more of thenewspapers published in the state or states or territory, where the contractis to be performed, for at least twelve weeks before entering into anycontract for carrying the mail, that such contract is intended to be made,and the day on which it is to be concluded, describing the places fromand to which such mail is to be conveyed, the time at which it is to bemade up, and the day and hour at which it is to be delivered. He shall
(a) If the ordinances of the city of Philadelphia are in collision with an act of Congress , the formermust give way. The laws of Congress, made in pursuance of the Constitution of the United States ,are the supreme law of the land, any thing in the constitution or laws of any state notwithstanding.United States v. John Hart, Peters’ C. C. R- 390.
Driving a carriage through a populous and crowded street in the city, at such a rate or in such amanner as to endanger the inhabitants, is an indictable offence at common law, and amounts to a breachof the peace ; a constable is authorized, without warrant, to prevent the peace being so broken. Ibid.
The act of Congress prohibiting the stoppage of the mail, is not to be so construed as to preventthe arrest of the driver of a carriage in which the mail is carried, when he is driving through a crowdedcity at such a rate as to endanger the lives of the inhabitants. Ibid.