it is held there were no assets within the meaning of the act of March 2, 1895; therefore this claim will be allowed to the extent of $12.40, the amount of accrued and unpaid pension at the date of death of Sarah Bean. EDW. A. BOWERS, PAYMENT OF EMPLOYEES OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. A clerk of a committee of the House of Representatives who ceased to hold the office on December 21, 1895, is not entitled, under the resolution directing payment of salaries of clerks and employees for the month of December on the 20th day of that mouth, to the salary for the whole month, payment not having been made to him until after he had vacated the office. TREASURY DEPARTMENT, OFFICE OF COMPTROLLER OF THE TREASURY, January 22, 1896. SIR: I am in receipt of your letter of the 21st instant, stating that O. W. Catchings was the clerk of the Committee on Rivers and Harbors until December 21, 1895, when Henry G. Rask was appointed as his successor. You state that neither Mr. Catchings nor Mr. Rask has been paid the salary due to each of them for their services during the month of December, and that Mr. Catchings claims salary for the full month of December, under the joint resolution of December 20, 1895, which is as follows: "That the Secretary of the Senate and the Clerk of the House of Representatives be, and they are hereby, authorized and instructed to pay the officers and employees of the Senate and House of Representatives, including the Capitol police, their respective salaries for the month of December, eighteen hundred and ninety-five, on the twentieth day of said month." You ask, first, whether or not Mr. Catchings is entitled to be paid, as such clerk, under the above-cited resolution, the salary for the full month of December; second, whether Mr. Rask is entitled to be paid the salary for such position, from the 22d to the 31st of December. In my opinion there is nothing in the resolution of December 20, 1895, to indicate an intention upon the part of Congress to make a donation of any sum to any officer or employee of the Senate or House of Representatives; and that said reso lution was adopted for the sole purpose of anticipating, on December 20, the payment of the salaries which would become due to the officers and employees of the two Houses of Con gress for the month of December, and which would ordinarily not have been paid until the end of that month. If Mr. Catchings had been paid on the 20th of December the amount of the salary which it was presumed he would have earned for the full mouth, payment would, under the very terms of the resolution, have been authorized; but as he has not been paid he is not entitled to receive more than that which he has earned. Therefore you are authorized to pay to Mr. Catchings salary as clerk of the Committee on Rivers and Harbors to December 21, 1895, only, and to Mr. Rask the salary as such clerk for the remaining portion of said month. The Postmaster-General may, when in his judgment the interests of the postal service require it, enter into a contract under section 4006, Revised Statutes, for the operation of a line of postal cars between two exchange offices in the United States through Canada, if the free transportation of closed mails by the Canadian authorities between such points does not meet the requirements of the service. TREASURY DEPARTMENT, OFFICE OF COMPTROLLER OF THE TREASURY, The Auditor for the Post-Office Department having made a new construction of section 4006 of the Revised Statutes, submits his decision for approval, disapproval, or modification by the Comptroller, as provided by section 8 of the act of July 31, 1894 (28 Stat., 208). Section 4006, Revised Statutes, is as follows: "The Postmaster General, after advertising for proposals, may enter into contracts or make suitable arrangements for transporting the mail through any foreign country, between any two points in the United States, and such transportation shall be by the speediest, safest, and most economical route; and all contracts therefor may be revoked whenever any new road or canal shall be opened affording a speedier, more economical, and equally safe transportation between the same points; but in case of the revocation of any such contract, a fair indemnity shall be awarded to the contractor." Under the authority contained in this section the PostmasterGeneral, on November 27, 1895, entered into an agreement with the Canada Southern Railway Company for the operation of a line of railway postal cars between Buffalo, N. Y., and Detroit, Mich., through Canada. The Auditor holds that the mails on this route, being carried without the receipt or discharge of any mail matter along the route, must be regarded as "closed mails," and that the agreement between the United States and Canada in the convention of January 26, 1888, that certain "closed mails" should be carried free of charge, renders it unnecessary for the Postmaster-General to make any arrangements for the transportation of the mails now under consideration at the expense of the United States. Article 6 of the convention above cited is as follows: "The United States of America and the Dominion of Canada each grants to the other, free of any charges, detention, or examination whatsoever, the transit across its territory of the closed mails made up by any authorized exchange office of either country, addressed to any other exchange office of the same country, or to any exchange office of the other country." The Postmaster-General makes the following statement with reference to the facilities afforded by the terms of the convention just referred to: "Closed mails' as applied to foreign mails are those which are obliged of necessity to traverse one or more intermediary countries in their transit from the country of origin to the country of destination. A closed mail' made up by an exchange office in one country for another exchange office of the same country, but which traverses a foreign country in reaching its destination, is delivered to the postal representatives of that country in sealed sacks on the border and remains in the custody of said representatives until delivered to the exchange office at the point where it reenters the home country. While in transit through the foreign country the seal remains unbroken." Under the arrangement made with the Canada Southern Railway the mail on these postal cars is entirely in charge of the railway postal clerks of the United States, and the object of the arrangement is the expeditious transportation of important mails and such distribution while en route as will advance their delivery, by carriers at Detroit and Buffalo, and to the connecting routes at these exchange offices Under the former arrangement the mails were sent from Buffalo to Detroit via Toledo, making an actual detention of six hours, and in many cases of practically one day, in delivery. Under the circumstances, the Postmaster-General decided that it was for the interest of the postal service that this line of railway postal cars should be established, and that the free transportation of closed mails by the Canadian Government on the former postal car route via Toledo did not furnish a proper service for the city of Detroit and other points in the State of Michigan. He therefore entered into an agreement with the Canada Southern Railway under the authority conferred upon him by section 4006, Revised Statutes. From the foregoing statement it clearly appears that the new service is separate and distinct from that which could be furnished by the Canadian authorities, namely, the transportation of "closed mails." The object sought to be accomplished by the change from the Toledo route-the saving of time in the delivery of the mails-which could not be effected by the transportation of "closed mails," is certainly in accordance with the general policy of the Post-Office Department to furnish the best possible service. The question whether the Postmaster-General could, under section 4006, enter into a contract, and make payments thereunder, for the performance of exactly the same service as is required to be rendered by the Canadian authorities free of charge, is not presented in this instance, and therefore the duty of the accounting officers in such a case need not be considered. The Postmaster-General, acting under the authority and discretion confided in him by law, has decided that the interests of the service require that the agreement should be made with the Canada Southern Railway Company, and section 4006 clearly contains the authority to act in such a case. For the reasons stated in my decisions of December 10, 1895 (ante, p. 290), and January 9, 1896 (ante, p. 336), the exercise of this discretion by the Postmaster-General is conclusive upon the accounting officers so long as his actions are warranted by law and his contracts are made in good faith. I am therefore of the opinion that the agreement entered into by the Postmaster General is one within the authority conferred by section 4006, notwithstanding the provisions of Article 6 of the Convention with Canada, and the decision of the Auditor is accordingly disapproved. R. B. BOWLER, SIDEWALKS IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. Under the act of August 7, 1894, authorizing the Commissioners of the District of Columbia to improve sidewalks upon application, accompanied by a deposit of one-half of the estimated cost of the work, they can not reimburse a person, who lays a sidewalk on his own account, for any part of the expenses so incurred. TREASURY DEPARTMENT, OFFICE OF COMPTROLLER OF THE TREASURY, January 24, 1896. GENTLEMEN: I am in receipt of your letter of December 16, 1895, in reference to the application of Senator Wilkinson Call to the Commissioners of the District of Columbia to be reimbursed one-half the cost of a sidewalk which he had laid in front of his premises, No. 1903 N street northwest. It appears that at the request of Senator Call, in accordance with the provisions of the act of August 7, 1894 (28 Stat., 247), relating to "assessment and permit work," on June 7, 1895, an estimate of the cost of a sidewalk in front of Senator Call's premises was made by the Commissioners, but that Senator Call did not deposit one-half of the estimated cost of said sidewalk in accordance with the method prescribed by said act, and that no further steps were taken by the Commissioners in regard to the matter. Subsequently Senator Call himself laid the sidewalk at his own cost, and now demands from the Commissioners repayment of half the amount so expended by him. You ask whether you are authorized to pay Senator Call's claim. I know of no law which authorizes the repayment to anyone of any portion of the expense incurred by him in laying a sidewalk in the District. |