A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents. Volume 7, part 2: Rutherford B. Hayes

by Unknown

EXECUTIVE ORDERS.

[From the New-York Tribune, February 14, 1879.]

EXECUTIVE MANSION, Washington, February 4, 1879.

General E.A. MERRITT.

MY DEAR GENERAL: I congratulate you on your confirmation. It is a great gratification to me, very honorable to you, and will prove, I believe, of signal service to the country. My desire is that the office be conducted on strictly business principles, and according to the rules for the civil service which were recommended by the Civil Service Commission in the Administration of General Grant. I want you to be perfectly independent of mere influence from any quarter. Neither my recommendation, nor that of Secretary Sherman, nor of any member of Congress or other influential person must be specially regarded. Let appointments and removals be made on business principles and according to rules. There must be, I assume, a few places filled by those you personally know to be trustworthy, but restrict the area of patronage to the narrowest limits. Let no man be put out merely because he is a friend to Mr. Arthur, and no man put in merely because he is our friend. The good of the service should be the sole end in view. The best means yet presented, it seems to me, are the rules recommended by the Civil Service Commission. I shall issue no new order on the subject at present. I am glad you approve of the message, and I wish you to see that all that is expressed or implied in it is faithfully carried out.

Again congratulating you, and assuring you of my entire confidence, I remain, sincerely,

R.B. HAYES.

Regulations to Prevent the Introduction of the "Plague" into the United States.

TREASURY DEPARTMENT,
OFFICE OF THE SURGEON-GENERAL,
UNITED STATES MARINE HOSPITAL SERVICE,
Washington, D.C., March 3, 1879.

To Officers of the Customs Revenue, Medical Officers of the Marine-Hospital Service, and others whom it may concern:

The act approved April 29, 1878, entitled "An act to prevent the introduction of contagious or infectious diseases into the United States," provides that no vessel coming from any foreign port or country where any contagious or infectious disease exists, nor any vessel conveying infected merchandise, shall enter any port of the United States or pass the boundary line between the United States and any foreign country except in such manner as may be prescribed under said act.

Attention has been called to the prevalence of a dangerous epidemic disease in southern Russia known as the "plague," and its extremely virulent and contagious character, as manifested in the late outbreak, leaves no doubt that it is similar to, if not identical with, the "plague" which devastated the Old World in past centuries. Because, therefore, of the danger which attaches to rags, furs, etc., as carriers of infection, the following regulations are framed, under the direction of the Secretary of the Treasury, and subject to the approval of the President, for the protection of the health of the people of the United States against the danger referred to:

Until further orders no vessel from any port of the Black Sea or the Sea of Azof, conveying any rags, furs, skins, hair, feathers, boxed or baled clothing or bedding, or any similar articles liable to convey infection, nor any vessel from any port of the Mediterranean or Red seas having on board such articles coming from southern Russia, shall enter any port of the United States until such articles shall have been removed from the vessel to open lighters or to some isolated locality and the vessel disinfected and thoroughly ventilated; and the suspected articles shall be disinfected, either by chemical agents and exposure to free currents of air or by burning, as shall be determined in each case by the Surgeon-General of the Marine-Hospital Service.

The certificate of the State or municipal quarantine officer of health may be accepted as satisfactory evidence of compliance with these regulations on the part of the vessel.

JNO. M. WOODWORTH,
Surgeon-General United States Marine-Hospital Service.

Approved:

R.B. HAYES.

CUSTOM-HOUSE, NEW YORK CITY,
Collector's Office, February 26, 1879.

Hon. JOHN SHERMAN,
Secretary of the Treasury.

SIR: The President, by letter of 4th instant, having requested that appointments and promotions in this office should be made in accordance with the civil-service rules of 1872, and having also made a similar request of the naval officer, it has been deemed best to make, if practicable, the same rules applicable to all the offices in this city included in the order of the Treasury Department dated August 7, 1872.

With that view, and after several conferences, it has been agreed by the assistant treasurer, naval officer, appraiser, surveyor, and myself to submit the inclosed modifications of the rules of 1872, and should they meet approval to put in operation forthwith the rules so modified.

I am, very respectfully,

E.A. MERRITT,
Collector.

[The modifications submitted with the above letter are omitted, and instead are inserted the following regulations, based upon said modifications, approved by the President March 6, 1879, and amended with his approval in January, 1880.]

Regulations Governing Appointments and Promotions in the Customs Service and Subtreasury in the City of New York.

I. Every application for appointment to a vacancy in the lowest grade of any group in the offices of the collector and the surveyor of customs, the naval officer, the appraiser, and the assistant treasurer of the United States in the city of New York must be made in the handwriting of the applicant to the head of the office in which employment is desired. It must state: (1) The position to which the applicant desires to be appointed;[29] (2) place and date of birth; (3) legal residence, and how long it has been such; (4) education; (5) occupation, past and present; (6) whether ever employed in the civil service, and, if so, when, how long, in what branch and capacity, and reasons for leaving the service; (7) whether ever in the Regular or Volunteer Army or Navy, and, if so, when and in what organization and capacity; (8) applicant's name in full.

II. The applicant must certify to having composed and written the application without assistance; to the truth of the statements which it contains; to being a citizen of the United States, and faithful to the Union and the Constitution; and, if ever in the Regular or Volunteer Army or Navy, to having been honorably discharged.

III. Every application must be accompanied by a certificate, signed by two trustworthy and responsible persons, well known in the community in which they reside, that the applicant is personally well known to them to be of good moral character and of temperate and industrious habits, and to be faithful to the Union and the Constitution of the United States.

IV. Every application must also be accompanied by the certificate of a practicing physician as to the applicant's general health and physical capacity to perform the duties of the position to which he desires to be appointed: Provided, however, That no appointment will be made to any position in active outdoor service unless a surgeon of the United States Marine-Hospital Service shall certify that he has made a physical examination of the applicant and found him fit for such position. Such surgeon's examination may be postponed until required by the nominating officer.

V. Applications filed previously to the adoption of these regulations must be renewed or perfected in accordance therewith to entitle them to consideration. No applications for appointment as day or night inspectors in the custom-house from persons under 21 years of age, or for other positions under these regulations from persons under 18 years of age, will be considered. In compliance with section 1031 of the Treasury Regulations now in force, persons over 45 years of age are not eligible to any group the lowest grade of which is confined to persons receiving an annual salary of less than $1,800. This prohibition, however, shall not be applied to those who have been honorably discharged from the service and are otherwise qualified.

VI. All applications upon their receipt will be carefully examined by the board of examiners, and those which do not conform in every particular to the foregoing requirements, and such as show that the applicants are manifestly not qualified for the duties of the position desired, will be rejected and the applicants so notified. All other applicants will be designated as eligible for examination, and will be so notified. Inasmuch as applications are to be made in writing and each case is to be decided upon its merits, personal importunity will have no weight.

VII. Not less than five days prior to each examination a notification to appear at a time and place to be stated will be mailed to the eligible candidates, unless it shall be found impracticable to examine all of them, in which case a practicable number will be selected under the second regulation[30] for the civil service promulgated April 16, 1872, and notified to appear for examination. Those not selected for examination will remain on the eligible list. If any person notified to appear shall be unable to do so on account of sickness or other causes, he must promptly advise the board of examiners, in person or by mail, of his inability to attend, and his name will remain upon the eligible list; but any person attending an examination will not be allowed to subsequently plead sickness or other disabling causes as an excuse for defects in examination.

VIII. All candidates for appointment to positions the annual salary of which is $1,200 or more, who shall appear in accordance with such notification, will be subjected to a competitive written examination upon the following subjects:

(1) Copying from dictation; (2) arithmetic—fundamental rules, fractions, proportion, percentage and interest, reduction; (3) elements of accounts and bookkeeping; (4) geography, history, and government—general questions, principally such as relate to the United States; (5) elements of English grammar, chiefly orthography and syntax; (6) writing and briefing letters; and (7) penmanship.

Candidates for appointment to positions the salary of which is less than $1,200 will be examined in like manner upon the following subjects: (1) Penmanship, (2) copying; (3) elements of English grammar, chiefly orthography and syntax; and (4) fundamental rules of arithmetic.

Proficiency in penmanship, orthography, and punctuation will be determined principally by a review of the examination papers, and as far as possible the examination in all the branches will be confined to practical exercises.

In examinations for appointments to positions requiring special or technical knowledge such additions may be made by the board of examiners to the list of subjects as the nature of the case may require.

For temporary employment to meet casual exigencies in the public business, or for special services as experts, appointments may be made without examination; but no such appointment shall be made for a term exceeding three months, which may be specially extended for a similar term only; and no such appointment shall be made to any regular or permanent position.

IX. The various subjects of the examination may be subdivided, if thought desirable, into classes, and to each subject or class a relative weight, according to its importance in the examination, will be assigned by each board of examiners. The mode of ascertaining the result of the examination will be as follows: The degree of accuracy with which each question shall be answered will first be marked by the board on a scale of 100. The average of the marks given to the answers to the questions in each subject or class will next be ascertained. Each average will then be multiplied by the number indicating the relative weight of the subject or class, and the sum of the products will be divided by the sum of the relative weights. The quotient will determine the candidate's standing in the examination. Relative weight will be assigned not merely to the special qualifications of the candidates, but to their general aptitude, as shown in the course of examination. Candidates will be examined during office hours, and in no case will their examination be continued more than one day.

X. The board of examiners will prepare a list of the persons examined in the order of their excellence, as proved by such examination, beginning with the highest, and will then certify to the head of the office the names standing at the head of such list, not exceeding three. When more than one appointment is to be made, the vacancies will be numbered, and the first three names will be certified for the first vacancy, the remaining two and the fourth for the second vacancy, the remaining two and the fifth for the third vacancy, and so on for the whole number of vacancies; but if, after selecting one of any three certified for appointment, the head of the office shall object to another presentation of either of the remaining names, it shall not be again certified.

XI. The examination papers of any candidate who shall have passed a minimum standard of 75 per cent, but who shall fail to be appointed, will, if requested by the candidate, be brought into competition with those candidates who shall compete for vacancies of the same class and nature occurring within one year: Provided, however, That the candidate shall not have been specially objected to by the head of the office under the last preceding regulation. No candidate who upon examination has been marked below the minimum will be allowed to again compete within one year from the date of such examination, unless for admission to a lower group.

XII. All examination papers will be filed, and will at all times be open to the inspection of those interested, under such restrictions as may be imposed by the head of the office.

XIII. There shall be one examining board for all appointments and promotions under these rules in the offices of the collector, surveyor, and naval officer, which shall consist of the surveyor and one representative to be nominated each by the collector and the naval officer, and three alternates, to be nominated one each by the collector, the naval officer, and the surveyor: Provided, however, That in examinations for positions in the surveyor's office the surveyor's alternate shall act on such board. The examining boards in the offices of the assistant treasurer and the appraiser shall consist of three persons, with three alternates, to be nominated by the assistant treasurer and the appraiser, respectively. All nominations as members and alternates on the examining boards shall be submitted to the Secretary of the Treasury for his approval. The heads of the several offices shall constitute a board of revision and appeal, which, upon appeal from any person examined or from any member of an examining board, shall revise the decision of said board.

XIV. Whenever the head of an office shall notify the board of examiners for such office that a vacancy which he desires to fill exists in any grade above the lowest not excepted from the rules and regulations for the civil service, the board will fix a time for holding an examination for the purpose, and at least five days before the same is to take place will cause a notice to be posted in a conspicuous place in the office, stating the grade and group of the vacancy, the date of the examination, and that the vacancy is to be filled by a competitive examination of applicants from the next lower grade, unless none in such lower grade be found qualified, when those in the next lower grade may compete, or, if there be none in any of the lower grades qualified, competition will be open to applicants. In any examination for promotion, if the competitors from the next lower grade shall not exceed three in number, the board may, at its discretion, open the competition to the next lower grade or below, as they may deem best; and furthermore, if such promotion would probably occasion vacancies requiring other promotions, the board may combine in one the necessary examinations for such promotions. No person who has been examined in any grade for promotion and failed to receive such promotion shall again be admitted to examination within six months, but in the meantime his general average, as ascertained by such examination, may be brought into competition, as provided in Regulation XI.

XV. The examination will be held upon the general subjects fixed for examinations for admission to the lowest grade of the group and upon such other subjects as the general nature of the business of the office and the special nature of the position to be filled may seem to the board of examiners to require. Due weight will be given to the efficiency with which the several candidates shall have previously performed their duties in the office; but no one who shall fail to pass a minimum standard of 75 per cent in the written examination will be certified for appointment.

XVI. If no applicants from within the group shall be found competent, an examination will be held of all who shall make application in accordance with the regulations governing applications for admission to the office, after due public notice by the head of the office. The examination will be conducted in accordance with the provisions for admission to the office, as required by the fourth rule[31] for the civil service promulgated December 19, 1871, but the nature of the examination will be the same as in any previous examination for the same vacancy.

XVII. The list of names from which the appointment is to be made will be prepared and certified in the manner provided for admission to the lowest grade.

XVIII. Persons employed in any of the offices to which these rules are applicable may be transferred without examination from one office to a grade no higher in another office, with, the consent of the heads of the respective offices and the approval of the Secretary of the Treasury.

XIX. Under the provisions of rule 2[32] of August 5, 1873, and the operation of these regulations, the power of suspension and of recommendation for discharge from the service shall remain with the nominating officer unrestricted. If, however, in his judgment it be deemed advisable, he may direct any person in his department to be cited before the regular examining board, and such board shall examine into and report upon the qualifications, efficiency, and general fitness for the position held, or for any position in the same or a lower grade, of the person so cited to appear; and furthermore, any person in the service engaged in active outdoor duties may be cited to appear before a surgeon of the United States Marine-Hospital Service and be examined by such surgeon as to the physical abilities of such person to perform the duties of the position occupied or of a position of less exposure, if otherwise qualified.

XX. The sessions of the examining boards shall not be open to the public, but the board of revision and appeal may select such number of prominent citizens as may be deemed advisable, who shall have free access to the examining rooms, and who shall take no part in the conduct of the examination, but may, by inspection and inquiry, assure themselves regarding its thoroughness and impartiality, and may publicly certify the results of their inspection.

[Seventh rule for the civil service under the Executive order of April 16, 1872.[33]]

The appointment of all persons entering the civil service in accordance with these regulations, excepting persons appointed by the President by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, postmasters, and persons appointed to any position in a foreign country, shall be made for a probationary term of six months, during which the conduct and capacity of such persons shall be tested; and if at the end of said probationary term satisfactory proofs of their fitness shall have been furnished by the board of examiners to the head of the Department in which they shall have been employed during said term, they shall be reappointed.

[Fourth regulation for the civil service under the Executive order of April 16, 1872[34]]

The appointment of persons to be employed exclusively in the secret service of the Government, also of persons to be employed as translators, stenographers, or private secretaries, * * * may be excepted from the operation of the rules.

[Ninth rule for the civil service under the Executive order of April 16, 1872. [35]]

Any person who, after long and faithful service in a Department, shall be incapacitated by mental or bodily infirmity for the efficient discharge of the duties of his position may be appointed by the head of the Department, at his discretion, to a position of less responsibility in the same Department.

[Seventh rule for the civil service under the Executive order of August 5, 1873.[36]]

Applicants for appointment as cashiers of collectors of customs, cashiers of assistant treasurers, cashiers of postmasters, superintendents of money-order divisions in post-offices, and other custodians of large sums of public money for whose fidelity another officer has given official bonds maybe appointed at discretion; but this rule shall not apply to any appointment to a position grouped below the grade of assistant teller.

The amendments of the New York custom-house rules seem proper.

R.B.H.

MARCH 6, 1879.

General E.A. MERRITT,
Collector of Customs, New York

SIR: Your letter of the 26th ultimo, inclosing a draft of modification of the civil-service rules, was duly received, and the rules have been considered and approved by the President. You may therefore act upon them.

Very respectfully,

JOHN SHERMAN,
Secretary.

RULES GOVERNING APPOINTMENT AND PROMOTION IN THE NEW YORK POST-OFFICE.

For the purpose of making it more certain that only persons of good character and adequate capacity shall be selected from among applicants too numerous for the postmaster to become informed of their individual merits by personal investigation, the following rules are established:

1. Hereafter all applications for clerical appointment at this post-office must be made in accordance with a prescribed form, a copy of which will be furnished to each applicant.

2. All appointments to clerical positions will be made to the lowest grade, and no applications from persons under 16 or over 25 years of age will be entertained.

3. On receipt of an application for appointment, and before further action is taken in regard to it, the applicant will be referred to the medical officer for examination as to his physical condition, as being adequate for the service; and if the report is unfavorable the application will be rejected. Should the report be favorable, the application will be filed and registered in its regular order.

4. Every application must be accompanied by a certificate, signed by not less than three nor more than five reputable citizens, stating the time for which each has been acquainted with the applicant, and testifying to his good character and reputation for integrity, sobriety, and industry, and to the willingness of the signers to furnish personally any further information they may possess concerning the applicant, if so requested by the postmaster or the board of examiners.

5. Applications not properly filled out as herein required, or which are found to contain false statements, or which in any other manner show the unfitness of the applicant for employment in the post-office, will be rejected and the applicant notified of such rejection.

6. All examination papers, with the markings showing the relative proficiency of the candidates, will be carefully preserved and filed.

7. The names of candidates which have been on the register for one year without being reached for examination will be regarded as removed, and will not be selected for examination unless again placed on the register by a new application, after which they will be selected when reached in order.

8. All applications duly received and filed shall, when reached in order, be referred to a board of examiners, which is hereby appointed, and which shall consist of the assistant postmaster, auditor, the general superintendents of the fourth, fifth, and sixth divisions, and the assistant general superintendent of the third division. The postmaster's private secretary shall also act as secretary of said board.

9. When vacancies occur in the lowest grade, the board of examiners shall notify such number of applicants, not less than twenty, of those first on the register of applicants to appear for a competitive examination.

10. The questions to be asked and answered at such examinations shall be such as will show the relative proficiency of the candidates, first, in penmanship; second, in arithmetic; third, in geography; fourth, in English grammar; fifth, in the history of the United States and in matters of a public nature, to the extent that may be required adequately to test general capacity or special fitness for the postal service.

11. The board shall present to the postmaster a list of the names of the successful candidates in the order of their excellence, as shown by the examination, beginning with the highest; and the appointments will be made from the three highest names on the list.

12. All further details in methods of examination will be left to the discretion of the board, but subject to the instructions of the postmaster, in conformity herewith.

13. All vacancies that may occur in the higher grades of any department shall be filled by promotion from the lower grades by means of competitive examinations, to which shall be admitted as competitors such persons only as are already employed in the division in which the vacancy exists or in divisions having analogous duties. The questions in these examinations shall be restricted mainly to matters pertaining to the ordinary business of that department. The examinations shall be conducted by the general superintendent of the division to which the department is attached, assisted by such one or more other officers of the same as the postmaster may select; and they shall report the result to the postmaster in the manner provided in rule 11, and the vacancy will be filled by the promotion of some one of the three standing highest in the competition. But whenever the vacancy to be filled by promotion is that of a position requiring the exercise of administrative authority the board may add such questions as will test the degree to which the candidates possess special qualifications for such position.

14. For positions as porters the examination will be confined to questions intended to test the physical ability of the candidates and their proficiency in reading, penmanship, and elementary arithmetic only.

15. The postmaster reserves from the operation of the above rules for original Appointment and promotion positions of especial pecuniary trust, as well as those involving confidential relations, as private secretary, etc.

THOMAS L. JAMES,
Postmaster.

Approved. Let these rules go into effect May 1, 1879.

D.M. KEY,
Postmaster-General.

APRIL 3, 1879.

The foregoing rules are approved.

R.B. HAYES.

[From the Evening Star, Washington, D.C., May 28, 1879.]

EXECUTIVE MANSION, Washington, May 28, 1879.

SIR:[37] I am directed by the President to say that the several Departments of the Government will be closed on Friday, the 30th instant, in remembrance of those who fell in defense of the nation, and to enable the employees to participate in the commemorative ceremonies of the day.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

W.K. ROGERS,
Private Secretary.

TREASURY DEPARTMENT,
OFFICE OF THE SURGEON GENERAL,
UNITED STATES MARINE-HOSPITAL SERVICE,
Washington, D.C., May 31, 1879.

To Medical Officers of the Marine-Hospital Service and others whom it may concern:

Official information having been received to the effect that the "plague" which existed in southern Russia is now almost extinct, the regulations issued March 3, 1879,[38] imposing certain restrictions upon the importation of rags, etc., into the United States, are hereby revoked.

By order of the Secretary of the Treasury:

J.B. HAMILTON,
Surgeon-General United States Marine-Hospital Service.

Approved:

R.B. HAYES.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, Washington, November 1, 1879.

The sad intelligence of the death of Zachariah Chandler, late Secretary of the Interior, and during so many years a Senator from the State of Michigan, has been communicated to the Government and to the country, and in proper respect to his memory I hereby order that the several Executive Departments be closed to public business and their flags and those of their dependencies throughout the country be displayed at half-mast on the day of his funeral.

R.B. HAYES.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, Washington, November 17, 1879.

DEAR SIR:[39] I am directed by the President to say that the several Departments of the Government will be closed on Wednesday, the 19th instant, to enable the employees to participate in the ceremonies attending the unveiling of the statue of the late General George H. Thomas.

Very truly, yours,

W.K. ROGERS,
Private Secretary.