3 Leave Savannah every day at 1 p. m.; arrive at Augusta every day by p. m. Leave Augusta every day at 7 p. m.; arrive at Savannah every day by 9 p. m. I, William Fuller, being appointed a mail contractor, do swear that I will faithfully perform all the duties required of me, and abstain from every thing forbidden by the law in relation to the establishment of post offices and post roads within the United States. And I do solemnly that I will support the Constitution of the United States. Sworn before the subscriber, a justice of the peace for the county of Richmond, this seventh day of March, A. D. one thousand eight hundred and thirty-four. swear THOS. G. HALL. Know all men by these presents: That we, William Fuller as principal, and John McLean and Reeside & Fuller as sureties, are held and firmly bound unto the Postmaster General of the United States of America in the just and full sum of forty hundred dollars, value received, to be paid unto the Postmaster General, or his successors in office, or to his or their assigns; to which payment, well and truly to be made, we bind ourselves, our heirs, executors, and administrators, jointly and severally, firmly by these presents. Sealed with our seals: dated the seventh day of March, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty-four. The condition of this obligation is such that, whereas the above bounden William Fuller, by a certain contract bearing date the second day of December, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty-three, covenanted with the said Postmaster General to carry the mail of the United States from Savannah, Georgia, to Augusta, as per contra commencing the first day of January, one thousand eight hundred and thirty-four, and ending the thirty-first day of December, which will be in the year one thousand eight hundred and thirty-four. Now, if the said William Fuller shall well and truly perform the covenants in the said indenture expressed, on his part to be performed, and shall account for all penalties, and shall promptly repay all balances that may at any time be found due from him, then this bond is to be void; otherwise to remain in full force. WM. FULLER, [SEAL.] [SEAL.] Signed, sealed, and delivered in the presence of CHRISTIAN BREITHAUPT. AUGUSTA, GEORGIA, September 5, 1840. SIR: I beg leave to submit the following statement of facts for your examination and consideration, fully satisfied that you will decide as to right and justice shall appertain. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, To the Hon. JOHN M. NILES, WM. FULLER. Postmaster General. During the letting of mail contracts in the southern section, embracing the State of Georgia, in the fall of 1834, to commence on the first of January, 1835, Reeside and Avery were the successful bidders on two routes in said State, viz: One from Warrenton to Decatur at an annual pay of $1,500, the other from Eatonton (or Milledgville) to Athens at an annual compensation of $1,300, making for the two routes $2,800 per year. Previous to these routes being put into operation, James Reeside disposed of his entire interest in the contracts to George W. Avery, and, subsequently, Saltmarsh and Fuller purchased from George W. Avery both contracts, for which they paid him in cash $650. Avery then applied to Col. C. K. Gardner, the Second Assistant Postmaster General, for a transfer of both contracts to Saltmarsh and Fuller, which transfer was promised to be made by Col. Gardner at his earliest leisure, which fact is substantiated by the affidavit of George W. Avery, a copy being herewith sent. Upon this assurance, Saltmarsh and Fuller carried those two mails (and how faithfully the rocords of the Department will show) for two years and eleven months without pay-the Department refusing to transfer the contracts or to pay them for the services. Upon their frequent solicitations for pay, the late Postmaster General decided that the pay coming to George W. Avery, being one-half, should be paid to them, and the rest credited to the account of James Reeside; and, accordingly, they have received from the Department such an amount as was said to be due George W. Avery. The manifest hardship of this decision will at once be apparent to you. Reeside did not perform any portion of this service in fact, had not a particle of interest in the matter, having disposed of his entire interest, previous to the commencement of the services, to Avery. Reeside does not claim any portion of this money, well knowing that he is not entitled to one cent thereof. The course pursued by the Department, in placing this credit to his account, is certainly a very extraordinary one. In endeavoring to procure pay from some quarter for the service which they had performed on these routes, Saltmarsh and Fuller commenced a suit at law against George W. Avery, in one of the courts of the State of Louisiana, for a non-compliance of contract, inasmuch as he did not cause the tranfer of the contracts to be made. This suit has been determined in this court in favor of Avery, upon the grounds that the promise of Colonel Gardner to transfer shortly to them, and their continuing to perform the service for such a length of time upon that promise, released the defend ant from all liability in the premises. This decision has been appealed from, and the case taken up to the supreme court of the State, a decision upon which will not be had until January next. You of course are aware that a suit is now pending in the circuit court of the United States, in which James Reeside is the defendant, and the United States the plaintiff, claiming from Reeside a large amount due to the Post Office Department. This case will most likely be tried in October next. Saltmarsh and Fuller therefore request, most respectfully, that you will cause this credit to be stricken from the account of James Reeside, as being one that he is by no means entitled to, of which sufficient proof can be produced. All of which is respectfully submitted by your obedient servants, SALTMARSH & FULLER. per WM. FULler. During the latter part of the year 1833, it became apparent that the contractor on the route from Augusta to Savannah would not be able to carry out his contract to the end. Upon which the Department caused a letter to be written to me advising me that, if the contractor on the route should abandon it before the first day of January ensuing, they wished me to put it in operation tri-weekly, and that on the first day of January his contract would cease and mine commence for the balance of the time, one year, tri-weekly, at $4,000 per annum, which service I commenced accordingly on or about the first day of January, 1834—a contract having been sent me from the Department to that effect, which I executed and returned, and to which I beg to refer you. In a very short time the citi zens of Savannah and Augusta became elamorous, in consequence of this service having been reduced from daily to tri-weekly, and, their complaints becoming loud and frequent, produced a letter signed by Colonel Gardner to me, and, as nearly as I can recollect, in the following words: "The Department has concluded to offer you 88,000 per year for daily service between Augusta and Savannah. Mr. Reeside, who is now here, says you will take the contract for that sum. The Department has a bid in at that sum, but would give you the preference, as you are now carrying the mail." Immediately upon the receipt of this letter from the Department, I addressed a letter to Mr. Reeside, stating the purport of Colonel Gardner's letter to me on the subject of the Savannah route, and received from him a prompt reply, in which he says: "I have never had any conversation with Colonel Gardner on the subject of carrying the mail on the Savannah and Augusta route, and will have nothing to do with it." However, I put the route in operation daily, according to the terms of Colonel Gardner's letter, (which order for daily service is duly marked in red ink on the margin of the contract,) and carried it out during the year 1834, at the end of which the contract expired. Upon making application at the Auditor's office for payment for this service I was gravely told that the amount was placed to the credit of James Reeside, and, upon asking by what authority this was done, was told it must have been done by my order; but, sir, no such order can be produced, for none such was ever given. rer; The second time I made application for payment, I was told that I was only acting asthe agent of Reeside, and consequently not entitled to any pay; and the third application brought the wonderful discovery that Reeside had paid me $5,000 in a draft for that amount on the Department, drawn by himself, payable to his order, and accepted by R. C. Mason as treasuand this, the Auditor says, was so much paid me, on account of this route, by Reeside-admitting, it seems, this time, that I was the contractor, and entitled to pay from somebody. Sir, I was no agent for James Reeside in this matter, and I very much regret that it has been thought necessary to bring forth so flimsy an excuse for defering payment for this service. In the first place, the Department made and executed a contract with me to transport this mail, tri-weekly, without any consultation with James Reeside. Sometime after the contract had been in operation, it became necessary to raise the service from tri-weekly to daily. Mr. Reeside, being at Washington the time this increase of service was contemplated, was consulted, (as Colonel Gardner says,) though for what purpose I have never yet been able to ascertain. Now, what does the Auditor say was the result of this consultation with Mr. Reeside ? "Mr. Reeside, who is now here, says you will take the contract for this sum." He did not say he would take it for that sum or any other sum. If Mr. Reeside was the contractor on this route, why was not a contract made with him, instead of with William Fuller? And why was a draft sent me for the paltry sum of ten dollars,* (the only pay I ever received on the route,) payable to the order of William Fuller, mail contractor? Suppose the contract had not been performed, what claim would the Department have had on James Reeside for any damages incurred? They had no contract with him, nor was he bound or responsible for any damages sustained in any way. Sir, the Department considered me as the contractor on this route at that time, and held me responsible for its performance. The assertion, now made, at this late day, by the Auditor, that I was only the agent of James Reeside, is entirely without foundation in fact. I will now proceed to inform you how I came into possession of an acceptance for $5,000, drawn by James Reeside, and accepted by R. C. Mason, treasurer, &c. Upon a settlement of accounts between James Reeside and myself, as co-partners in the line running from Augusta to Milledgeville, he became indebted to me in the sum of upwards of $6,000, on account of which he paid me this draft for $5,000, not then due, having about ninety days to run, assuring me at the same time that it would be paid at maturity. I accordingly received it, and, upon my return to Georgia, had it discounted in one of the banks. When it became due it was protested, and I was compelled to take it up. It has never yet been paid by the Department to my knowledge. This is the history of this transaction, and what connexion it has with my contract for carrying the Savannah mail you can easily determine. It may perhaps be in place to offer a few remarks as to the reasons which operated to place to the credit of Reeside's account money which he had no claim to, and for services which he never performed. All who are familiar with the disordered state of the Post Office Department about the time of these transactions are aware that the accounts of certain large contractors were said to have been overdrawn to a large amount, and among the rest was James Reeside. A committee of the Senate was appointed to examine into the abuses then said to exist, and it became necessary to make as fair a showing as possible; consequently, every thing that could be was carried to the credit of James Reeside's account, without any compunctious visitings of conscience as to the rights of others, or to the injury done others. The sole object was to make the credit side of his account as large as possible, so that it should pass the ordeal more smoothly. I have, sir, prolonged this statement to a greater length than I at first intended. The contract, and of course the copies of the letters I have alluded to, are on file in the Department, and to them I beg to refer you; and do most solemnly protest against the amount for carrying this mail being placed to the credit • Upon examination, I find that I received from the Department two other drafts on postmasters on this route, besides the one for ten dollars-one on postmaster at Willoughby, Georgia, for twenty dollars, and the other on same for fifteen dollars. The draft for ten dolJars was on postmaster at Black creek, Georgia. WM. FULLER. of James Reeside, but request that you will cause it to be erased, and the amount paid over to me, as of right it ought to be. Respectfully submitted by your obedient servant, GEORGIA, Richmond county : WM. FULLER. Personally appeared William Fuller, who, being duly sworn, deposeth and saith that he was not the agent of James Reeside in the Savannah and Augusta mail contract, but that said contract was taken in his own name; and that he never gave any order, either verbal or written, to pay the same to any other person whatever; nor has he ever received any pay on said contract from the Department, with the exception of a draft on a postmaster in Georgia for ten dollars, and two other drafts on postmasters amounting to thirty-five dollars. WM FULLER. Sworn and subscribed to before me, this fifth day of September, 1840. BENJ. HALL, J. P. No. 2. WASHINGTON, January 27, 1841. SIR Having heard read the report of the Auditor for the Post Office Department in relation to my claim for the transportation of the mail on the route from Augusta to Savannah during the year 1834, I beg leave to reply to some of the statements contained in that report. That the contract was made with me, and that I performed this service, the Auditor admits, but says, as "no application was made by me to the Department for pay until upwards of twelve months after the expiration of the contract it follows, of course, that I acquiesced in the payment of this amount to James Reeside;" he also states that, "about this time, I was frequently at the Department," &c. I am at a loss to know what the Auditor calls frequently. I was at the Department once in 1834, during the letting of mail contracts for the southern section; I was not at the Department during the entire year of 1835. Some time during this year I requested a friend of mine (Mr. Henry S. Robinson) to furnish me a statement of my account from the Department, and to request that my pay for this service might be forwarded to me. He informed me that there was no contract executed by me for this service to be found in the Department. Some time subsequently, Geo. Plitt, Esq., an agent of the Department, being at Augusta, I stated the circumstance to him, and requested him to make an examination, upon his arrival at Washington, for the contract. His answer was, as near as I can recollect, that he could find no contract. I shortly afterwards arrived at Washington, and, after several days' search, I found the contract, and immediately applied to Mr. Suter for pay, who informed me the pay had been credited to the account of James Reeside, as he supposed, by my order; so that the first time I was at the Department after the expiration of my contract I applied for its payment. It was the duty of the Department to have sent my pay to me at the expiration of each and every quarter; it was not expected that contractors, |