Detail of officer of Engineer tendent author War, and Navy building shall be removed so as to afford easy access from one wing to the other on the aforementioned floors of said building: Provided, That a joint select committee of three members of the House of Representatives and three Senators, to be appointed respectively by the Speaker of the House and the President of the Senate, upon the passage of this act, shall, on or before the completion of the North wing of the State, War, and Navy building, make examination of said building and set apart such portions thereof for the use and occupancy of the State, War, and Navy Departments respectively as in their judgment the best interests of the public service and the needs of said Departments respectively may require and upon filing an agreed statement of such partition by said joint select committee in triplicate with the respective Secretaries of such Departments the building shall be occupied as therein provided as soon thereafter as practicable. Sec. 6, act of August 5, 1882 (22 Stat. L., 256). 139. The President is hereby authorized and directed Corps as superin- to designate from the Engineer Corps of the Army or the Navy, an officer well qualified for the purpose, who shall have supervi- be detailed to act as superintendent of the completed porMar. 3, 1883, v. tions of the State, War, and Navy Department building, under direction of the Secretaries of State, War, and Navy, who are hereby constituted a commission for the purposes of the care and supervision of said building, as hereinafter specified. Said officer shall have charge of said building, and all the engines, machinery, steam and water supply, heating, lighting, and ventilating apparatus, elevators, and all other fixtures in said building, and all necessary repairs and alterations thereof, as well as the direction and control of such force of engineers, watchmen, laborers, and others engaged about the building or the apparatus under his supervision; of the cleaning of the corridors and water closets; of the approaches, side-walks, lawns, court-yards, and areas of the building, and of all rooms in the subbasement which contain the boilers and other machinery, or so much of said rooms as may be indispensable to the proper performance of his duties as herein provided. Act of March 3, 1883 (22 Stat. L., 553). ized. Commission to sion, etc. 22, p. 553. Surplus charts may be sold. SALE OF MAPS, CHARTS, ETC. 140. Any surplus charts of the northwestern lakes may Mar, 3, 1869, c. be sold to navigators upon such terms as the Secretary of 122, s. 1, v. 15, pp. 301, 303. Sec. 226, R. S. War may prescribe. Surplus maps and publications may be sold. 141. The Chief Signal Officer may cause to be sold any surplus maps or publications of the Signal Office, the money of Signal Office received therefor to be applied toward defraying the ex-Mar. 3, 1873, c. penses of the signal service; and an account of the same (527). shall be rendered in each annual report of the Chief of the Signal Service.1 227, v. 17, p. 510 Sec. 227, R. S. 1 DISPOSITION OF USELESS PAPERS. For statutes regulating the disposition of useless papers, etc., in the several Executive Departments, see the acts of February 16, 1889 (25 Stat. L., 672), and March 2, 1895 (28 Stat. L., 933). regulate admis service. 114, s. 9, v. 16, p. 514. Sec. 1753, R. S. Par. 145. Preference to discharged soldiers and sailors in reductions. President to 142. The President is authorized to prescribe such regusions to the civil lations for the admission of persons into the civil service Mar. 3, 1871, c. of the United States as may best promote the efficiency thereof, and ascertain the fitness of each candidate in respect to age, health, character, knowledge, and ability for the branch of the service into which he seeks to enter; and for this purpose he may employ suitable persons to conduct such inquiries, and may prescribe their duties, and establish regulations for the conduct of persons who may receive appointments in the civil service.1 persons disabled naval service. Preference of 143. Persons honorably discharged from the military or in military or naval service by reason of disability resulting from wounds Mar. 3, 1865, or sickness incurred in the line of duty shall be preferred v. 13, p. 571. for appointments to civil offices, provided they are found to possess the business capacity necessary for the proper discharge of the duties of such offices. Res. No. 27, s. 1, Sec. 1754, R. S. 2 'See the title The Civil Service Law, post. Neither section 1753, Revised Statutes, nor the civil service act of January 16, 1883 (22 Stat. L., 403), puts any restrictions upon the power of removal from appointive offices except for refusal to contribute to political funds or neglect to render political service; hence Presidential Rule II, relating to the civil service and providing (as amended July 27, 1897), that no removal shall be made without giving the accused notice and an opportunity to make defense, has no such authority at law as confers upon the holder of an office a vested right thereto, with the right to invoke the equitable power of the courts to restrain his removal therefrom in violation of such rule. Page et al. e. Moffett, 85 Fed. Rep., 38. See, also, as to the equitable jurisdiction of the Federal courts, In re Sawyer, 124 U. S., 200, and World's Columbian Exp. ^. U. S., 18 U. S. App., 159, 6 Circ. Ct. App., 71, 56 Fed. Rep., 667; Butler v. White, 83 ibid., 578; Carr v. Gordon, 82 ibid., 373. 2 Joint resolution of March 3, 1865 (sec. 1754, Rev. Stat.), considered in connection with the act of March 3, 1871, does not exempt honorably discharged soldiers and tion for employ sons. Res. No. 27, s. 2, Sec. 1755, R. S. 144. In grateful recognition of the services, sacrifices, Recommendaand sufferings of persons honorably discharged from the ment of such permilitary and naval service of the country, by reason of Mar. 3, 1895, wounds, disease, or the expiration of terms of enlistment, v. 13, p. 571. it is respectfully recommended to bankers, merchants, manufacturers, mechanics, farmers, and persons engaged in industrial pursuits, to give them the preference for appointments to remunerative situations and employments. 145. In making any reduction of force in any of the Executive Departments, the head of such Department shall retain those persons who may be equally qualified who have been honorably discharged from the military or naval service of the United States, and the widows and orphans of deceased soldiers and sailors. Act of August 15, 1876 (19 Stat. L., 169). Par. THE CIVIL-SERVICE LAW.1 146. Appointment of commissioners. 147. Duties; examinations. 148. Chief examiner. 149. Frauds in examination. 150. Examinations for appointment and promotion. Par. Preference in reductions. Aug. 15, 1876, v. 19, p. 169. 151. Persons using intoxicating liquor 152. Members of family, restriction. 154. Certificate of residence. of Appointment commission 146. That the President is authorized to appoint, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, three persons, not more than two of whom shall be adherents of the same 22, p. 403. * * * sailors from liability to examination for admission to the civil service, but entitles them to a preference for appointment as against other persons of equal qualifications for the place. XVII Opin. Att. Gen., 194. See, also, 19 ibid., 318. Section 1754, Revised Statutes, provides that "persons honorably discharged from the military or naval service shall be preferred for appointment to civil offices, provided they are found to possess the business capacity necessary for the discharge of the duties of such offices," and if the duties assigned to any clerk of one class can be as well performed by a clerk of a lower class, or by a female clerk, it shall be lawful for him to diminish the number of the clerks of the higher grade and increase the number of the lower grade. Section 3, act of August 15, 1876 (19 Stat. L., 169), provides that "in making any reduction of force in any Executive Department the head of such Department shall retain those persons who may be equally qualified who have been honorably discharged from the military or naval service of the United States:" Held, that to entitle an ex-soldier to retention in the service under these statutes, in preference to a civilian, he must be "equally qualified," that qualification must be determined by the head of the Department, and that a court could not enter an Executive Department, examine the acts of its head, inquire into the exercise of his discretion, and investigate as to the causes of its exercise. Keim . U. S., 33 Ct. Cls., 174. The civil service law, act of January 16, 1883 (22 Stat. L., 403), was intended to provide a body of civil officers selected solely for competency and fitness, protect them against accountability to any political party, and prevent their discharge, promotion, or degradation for giving or withholding political contributions; but it did not deprive the appointing power of any existing rights to remove or change in rank for other reasons. Carr Gordon, 82 Fed. Rep., 373. The act of January 16, 1883, is within the legitimate scope of the general powers conferred by Art. I, sec. 8, clause 18, of the Constitution. Butler v. White, 83 Fed. Rep., 578; Berry v. White, ibid.; Ruckman v. White, ibid. น. Duties of commissioners. Rules. Competitive examinations. Vacancies, how filled. Apportion ment. party, as Civil Service Commissioners, and said three commissioners shall constitute the United States Civil Service Commission. Said commissioners shall hold no other official place under the United States. * * 147. That it shall be the duty of said commissioners: First. To aid the President, as he may request, in preparing suitable rules for carrying this act into effect,1 and when said rules shall have been promulgated it shall be the duty of all officers of the United States in the Departments and offices to which any such rules may relate to aid, in all proper ways, in carrying said rules, and any modifications thereof, into effect. Second. And, among other things, said rules shall provide and declare, as nearly as the conditions of good administration will warrant, as follows: First, for open, competitive examinations for testing the fitness of applicants for the public service now classified or to be classified hereunder. Such examinations shall be practical in their character, and so far as may be shall relate to those matters which will fairly test the relative capacity and fitness of the persons examined to discharge the duties of the service into which they seek to be appointed. Second, that all the offices, places, and employments so arranged or to be arranged in classes shall be filled by selections according to grade from among those graded highest as the results of such competitive examinations. Third, appointments to the public service aforesaid in the Departments at Washington shall be appointed among the several States and Territories and the District of Columbia upon the basis of population as ascertained at the Applications last preceding census. Every application for an examination shall contain, among other things, a statement, under oath, setting forth his or her actual bona fide residence at for examination. See Appendix, p. 1096. The term "classified service" indicates the parts of the service within the provisions of the civil-service law and rules requiring appointments therein to be made upon examination and certification by the commission, unless especially excepted from competition; the term "unclassified service" indicates the parts of the service which are not within those provisions, and, therefore, in which appointments may be made without examination and certification by the commission. Sec. 2, Manual for Examinations for the Classified Civil Service. A vacancy in the classified service may be filled either by original appointment upon examination and certification by the commission, as explained, or by transfer or promotion from certain other positions in the classified service, or by reinstate ment. |