The Committee on Post offices & Post Roads to whome was refered the Petition of Peters Moore &C.

Report

That in the year 1835, Peters Moore &c contracted with the Post office department to transport the mail on route No 1031, from Philadelpha to Chambersburgh, for the sum of $3[7?]50 per annum and also on route No 1058, from Chambersburgh to Pittsburgh for $11.750 per annum

In their petition they state that at the time of making the contract with the department that the weight of the mails sent by those routes was 400 to 500 pounds daily and no more. They entered in the performance of their contract on the 1^st of Jany 1836. And that during the same month additional mails were put in their charge that were previously to that time transported on other routes increasing the weight for three or four days in a week ^to^ 2000 pounds and on

other days to 1200 pounds. for this excess of weight they ask compensation. Your Committee do not conceive this claim to be well founded either by law or equity, from the fact that at the time of letting the contracts on those routes, the contractors were prohibited from taking more than Three out side[passengers?] clearly contemplating that a large amount of mail matter was to be transported. And further that it would be a wrong ^dangerous^ precedent to establish, that the increase weight of the mails, should entitle contractors to extra compensation.

They also ask compensation for supplying offices off from the rail road by waggons. By the terms of their contract they were to supply these offices by hand or otherwise. And by the laws of 1843 it appears that they were allowed the sum of $2.166.66 for this service. And although not as much as they claimed was to be in full for the service.

They also claim compensation for transporting the mail by Stage Coaches while the Rail Road was obstructed by snow. Your Committee are unable to discover the justice of this claim upon the department. they contracted to carry the mail by Stage Coaches & Rail Road and if the rail Road was not in a condition to be used it was the duty of the contractor to forward the mail in Stage coaches, and in the best possible manner and from the statement of the Post Master Gen^l it appears that the contractors were not paid by reason of [their?] not being under the circumstances able to deliver the mail according to the schedule time.

Peters Moore & co has submitted [their?] claims to the Post Master Gen^l, who decided that they were not entitled to any relief, and Your Committee are of opinion that no further relief should be granted by Congress.