CONGRESS, UNITED STATES. (CIVIL-SERVICE REFORM BILL.) 



183 



. B. Farwell, Fulkerson, Gibson, Henry S. Harris, 

 Hazelton, Heilman, Henderson, Herndon, Hooker, 

 Horr, House, Hubbell, Hutehins, Jaa. K. Jones, 

 Joyce, Laddj Latham, Lynch, Mackey, Martin, 



J. S. Richardson, Robertson, Russell, Scales, Shack- 

 elford, Shallenberger, Shelley, Shultz, Siinonton, 

 Jas. W. Singleton, Dietrich C. Smith, Spaulding, 

 Sione, Strait, R. W. Townsend, Tucker, Valentine, 

 Van Voorhis, West, White, Morgan R. Wise, Beni. 

 Wood, Young -87. 



January 16th the bill was approved by the 

 President. It is as follows: 



An act (S. 133) to regulate and improve the civil 

 service of the United States. 



Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 

 tives of the United States of America in Congress as- 

 sembled, 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 party, as ^civil-service commis- 

 sioners, and said three commissioners shall constitute 

 the United States civil-service commission. Said 

 commissioners shall hold no other official place under 

 the United States. 



The President may remove any commissioner ; and 

 any vacancy in the position of commissioner shall be 

 so filled by the President, by and with the advice and 

 consent of the Senate, as to conform to said conditions 

 for the first selection of commissioners. 



The commissioners shall each receive a salary of 

 $3,500 a year. And each of said commissioners shall 

 be paid his necessary traveling expenses incurred in 

 the discharge of his duty as a commissioner. 



SECTION 2. That it shall be the duty of said commis- 

 sioners: 1. To aid the President, as he may request, 

 in preparing suitable rules for carrying this act into 

 effect, and when said rules shall have been promul- 

 gated 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. 



2. And, among other things, said rules shall provide 

 and declare, as nearly as the conditions of good ad- 

 ministration will warrant, as follows : 



1. For open, competitive examinations for testing 

 the fitness of applicants for the public service now 

 classified or to be classified hereunder. Such exami- 

 nations 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 per- 

 sons examined to discharge the duties of the service 

 into which they seek to be appointed. 



2. 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 examina- 

 tions. 



3. Appointments to the public service aforesaid in 

 the departments at Washington shall be apportioned 

 among the several States and Territories and the Dis- 

 trict of Columbia upon the basis of population as ascer- 

 tained at the last preceding census. Every applica- 

 tion for an examination shall contain, among other 

 things, a statement, under oath, setting forth Ms or 

 her actual bona fide residence at the time of making 

 the application, as well as how long he or she has been 

 a resident of such place. 



4. That there shall be a period of probation before 

 any absolute appointment or employment aforesaid. 



5. That no person in the public service is for that 

 reason under any obligation to contribute to any po- 

 litical fund, or to render any political service, and that 

 he will not be removed or otherwise prejudiced for 

 refusing to do so. 



6. That no person in said service has any right to 



use his official authority or influence to coerce the 

 political action of any person or body. 



7. There shall be non-competitive examinations in 

 all proper cases before the commission, when compe- 

 tent persons do not compete, after notice has been 

 given of the existence of the vacancv, under such rules 

 as may be prescribed by the commissioners as to the 

 manner of giving notice. 



8. That notice shall be given in writing by the ap- 

 pointing power to said commission of the persons 

 selected for appointment or employment from among 

 those who have been examined, of the place of resi- 

 dence of such persons, of the rejection of any such 

 persons after probation, of transfers, resignations, and 

 removals, and of the date thereof, and a record of the 

 same shall be kept by said commission. 



And any necessary exceptions from said eight funda- 

 mental provisions of the rules shall be set forth in 

 connection with such rules, and the reasons therefor 

 shall be stated in the annual reports of the commis- 

 sion. 



3. Said commission shall, subject to the rules that 

 may be made by the President, make regulations for, 

 and have control of, such examinations, and, through 

 its members or the examiners, it shall supervise and 

 preserve the records of the same ; and said commis- 

 sion shall keep minutes of its own proceedings. 



4. Said commission may make investigations con- 

 cerning the facts, and may report upon all matters 

 touching the enforcement and effects of said rules and 

 regulations, and concerning the action of any examiner 

 or board of examiners hereinafter provided for, and 

 its own subordinates, and those in the public service, 

 in respect to the execution of this act. 



5. Said commission shall make an annual report to 

 the President for transmission to Congress, showing 

 its own action, the rules arid regulations and the ex- 

 ceptions thereto in force, the practical effects thereof, 

 and any suggestions it may approve for the more 

 effectual accomplishment of the purpose of this act. 



SBC. 3. That said commission is authorized to em- 

 ploy a chief examiner, apart of whose duty it shall be, 

 under its direction, to act with the examining boards, 

 so far as practicable, whether at Washington or else- 

 where, and to secure accuracy, uniformity, and justice 

 in all their proceedings, which shall be at all times 

 open to him. 



The chief examiner shall be entitled to receive a 

 salary at the rate of $3 ? 000 a year, and he shall be 

 paid his necessary traveling expenses incurred in the 

 discharge of his duty. 



The commission shall have a secretary, to be ap- 

 pointed by the President, who shall receive a salary 

 of $1,600 'per annum. It may, when necessary, em- 

 ploy a stenographer and a messenger, who shall be 

 paid, when employed, the former at the rate of $1,600 

 a year, and the latter at the rate of $600 a year. The 

 commission shall, at Washington, and in one or more 

 places in each State and Territory, where examinations 

 are to take place, designate and select a suitable num- 

 ber of persons, not less than three, in the official ser- 

 vice of the United States, residing in said State or 

 Territory, after consulting the head of the department 

 or office in which such persons serve, to be members 

 of boards of examiners, and may at any time substi- 

 tute any other person in said service living in such 

 State or Territory in the place of any one so selected. 

 Such boards of examiners shall be so located as to 

 make it reasonably convenient and inexpensive for 

 applicants to attend before them ; ,and where there 

 are persons to be examined in any estate or Territory, 

 examinations shall be held therein at least twice in 

 each year. 



It shall be the duty of the collector, postmaster, and 

 other officers of the United States, at any place put- 

 side of the District of Columbia where examinations 

 are directed by the President or by said board to be 

 held, to allow the reasonable use of the public build- 

 ings for holding such examinations, and in all proper 

 ways to facilitate the same. 



