United States v. Carr

• Decision Date: 06 January 1890
• Citation: 10 S.Ct. 182,132 U.S. 644,33 L.Ed. 483
• Parties: UNITED STATES v. CARR
• Court: U.S. Supreme Court

132 U.S. 644

10 S.Ct. 182

33 L.Ed. 483

UNITED STATES v. CARR.

January 6, 1890.

Carr filed his petition against the United States in the court of claims on the 17th of February, 1885, averring that the postmaster general entered into a contract in writing with him in April, 1878, for carrying the mails of the United States from Salinas city, in the state of California, to Gabilan, in that state, and back from Gabilan to Salinas city, for the annual sum of $796, a copy of which contract he attached to his petition; that at the time of the letting of the contract, and for upwards of four years prior thereto, the mails were carried upon the route aforesaid, outward from Salinas to Santa Rita a distance of 3 miles, and from Santa Rita to Natividad, a distance of 4 miles, and from the last-named place to Gabilan, a distance of 8 miles, and on the return trip direct from Gabilan to Salinas, a distance of about 10 miles, without passing through Natividad and Santa Rita; that he believed that the mode of transportation last aforesaid was established under the aut ority of the postmaster general for said route, and proposed to carry the mails upon said route for the compensation aforesaid, upon the understanding that the mails were, during the term of the contract, intended by said proposal to be carried in the manner before stated; that he commenced service under the contract July 1, 1878, and for four years, including the 30th day of June, 1882, carried the mails six times a week from Salinas, by way of Santa Rita and Natividad, to Gabilan, and back direct from Gabilan to Salinas, by a direct line, not passing through Natividad and Santa Rita; that the compensation was paid up to January 1, 1882, but not from the 1st of January to the 1st of July, 1882; and that the postmaster general has refused to pay petitioner the sum of $398, the amount of compensation due for the period last mentioned, upon the ground that petitioner had not performed his contract, inasmuch as he had not carried the mails from Gabilan to Salinas by way of Natividad and Santa Rita. Petitioner further alleged that at the letting he presented proposals to the postmaster general for carrying the mails upon four other routes for the period of four years, namely, from July 1, 1878, to June 30, 1882, and obtained contracts therefor at certain compensation in the proposals named; that, from the compensation due on the last-named contracts, $348.25 was withheld on account of the first-named contract, and there was also deducted from the four last contracts the sum of $35.92, for certain alleged delays in the transportation of the mail. Petitioner therefore prayed judgment for the sum of $782.17. The findings of fact and conclusions of law are as follows: '(1) In April, 1878, the postmaster general and the claimant entered into a contract to carry the mails on route No. 46,118 in the state of California, from Salinas, by Santa Rita and Natividad, to Gabilan and back, six times a week, for the annual sum of $796. The material portions of said contract are set forth in finding 5. (2) The mails were carried on said route, under said contract, for four years, commencing July 1, 1878, and ending June 30, 1882, as follows: The mails were carried by the claimant from Salinas, by way of Santa Rita and Natividad, to Gabilan, and back to Salinas by a direct route from Gabilan to Salinas. The distance from Salinas, by Santa Rita and Natividad, to Gabilan, is 12 miles. The distance from Gabilan to Salinas, by a direct route, is 10 miles. That the said route was operated by the claimant since the year 1870, the mails being always carried in the same manner in which the same were carried by the claimant, namely, from Salinas, by way of Santa Rita and Natividad, to Gabilan, and from Gabilan to Salinas direct, and, until the date of the certificate of inspection of the 12th of May, 1882, have always been certified as duly carried, and paid for accordingly by the post-office department. The provisions of the contract under which said service was performed were in all respects similar to the provisions of the contract sued on. (3) For the failure of claimant to carry the mails via Santa Rita and Natividad, as aforesaid, from July 1, 1878, to March 31, 1882, the postmaster general, upon May 13, 1882, entered a deduction from his compensation of $746.25, which deduction equals one-quarter of the total compensation fixed by the contract for whole service under it, during the period covered by the alleged delinquency. There is no proof that any subsequent failure to said date of the claimant to carry the United States mail via Santa Rita and Natividad has ever come to the notice of the postmaster general or the post-office department.

(4) In the advertisement of November 1, 1877, inviting proposals for carrying the mails of the United States in certain states and territories, the postmaster general invited bids for carrying said mails on the following route in California, to-wit: '46,118. From Salinas, by Santa Rita and Natividad, to Gabilan, 15 miles and back, six times a week. Leave Salinas daily, except Sunday, at 1 P. M. Arrive at Gabilan by 7 P. M. Leave Gabilan daily, except Sunday, at 6 A.M. Arrive at Salinas by 12 M. Bond required with bid, $1,800.' (5) 'No 46,118. $796. This article of contract, made on the 15th of March, 1878, between the United States of America, acting in this behalf by the postmaster general, and J. D. Carr, contractor, and A. B. Jackson, of Salinas, Monterey county, California, and George Pomeroy, of Salinas, Monterey county, California, as his sureties, witnesseth: That whereas J. D. Carr has been accepted, according to law, as contractor for transporting the mail on route No. 46,118, from Salinas, Cal., by Santa Rita and Natividad, to Gabilan and back, six times a week, at $796 per year, for and during the term beginning July 1, 1878, and ending June 30, 1882; * * * for which services, when performed, the said J. D. Carr, contractor, is to be paid by the United States the sum of $796 a year, to-wit, quarterly, in the months of November, February, May, and August, through the postmasters on the route, or otherwise, at the option of the postmaster general; said pay to be subject, however, to be reduced or discontinued by the postmaster general, as hereinafter stipulated, or to be suspended in case of delinquency. It is hereby stipulated and agreed by the said contractor and his sureties that the postmaster general may discontinue or extend this contract, change the schedule and termini of the route, and alter, increase, decrease, or extend the service, in accordance with law, he allowing a pro rata increase of compensation for any additional service thereby required, or for increased speed, if the employment of additional stock or carriers is rendered necessary; and, in case of decrease, curtailment, or discontinuance of service, as a full indemnity to said contractor, one month's extra pay on the amount of service dispensed with, and a pro rata compensation for the service retained: provided, however, that, in case of increased expedition the contractor may, upon timely notice, relinquish the contract. It is hereby also stipulated and agreed by the said contractor and his sureties, as aforesaid, that they shall forfeit—First. The pay of a trip when it is not run, and, in addition, if no sufficient excuse for the failure is furnished, an amount not more than three times the pay of the trip. Second. At least one-fourth of the pay of the trip when the running is so far behind time as to fail to make connection with a depending mail. Third. For violating any of the foregoing provisions touching the transmission of commercial intelligence more rapidly than by mail; or giving preference to passengers of freight over the mail, or any portion thereof, or for leaving the same for their accommodation; or carrying, otherwise than in the mail, matter which should go by mail; or transporting persons engaged in so doing, with knowledge thereof, a penalty equal to a quarter's pay. Fourth. For violating any other provision of this contract...