“ It is needless to go into the early statutes or to do more than to refer to Rev. Stat. § 3999 (Comp. St. § 7478) , which authorizes him to make other arrangements if he cannot contract for the carriage of the mail upon a railway route at a compensation not exceeding the maximum rates then established, or for what he deems reasonable and fair. The limitations upon the power were in the interest of the business, the principal one being that the pay per mile per annum should not exceed certain rates. ”

“ In 1873 mails were not carried on Sundays except over a comparatively small proportion of routes and therefore six was the fairest single divisor. Now, on the other hand, it is said that the mileage of the seven-day routes is much greater than that of the six days. Therefore now to weigh for Sundays as well as other days and to divide by seven, is the fairest single rule that can be found. ”

“ Considering the provision in its relation to the context and subjectmatter, it will be seen to be but an aid to the making of fair contracts within the maximum rates allowed, and an aid to the Postmaster General in fixing the rate of compensation upon land grant routes, and in so arranging routes that each railway company shall receive a proportionate and just rate of compensation according to the service performed. ”

“ Various make-weights are thrown in to help the construction desired by the roads but they seem to us insufficient to change the result that is reached by reading the words. It is said that down to 1907 the Post Office Department construed the acts of 1873 and after as entitling the railroads to the maximum rates for full service as defined and to the minimum divisors and that this construction must be taken to have been adopted in silence, by the later statutes. ”