Part 64

The baneful effect of a surplus in the Treasury of the General Government is daily seen and felt. I do not think, however, that this surplus should be reduced or its contagion spread throughout the States by methods such as are provided in this bill.

There is still another objection to the bill, arising from what seems to me its unfairness and unjust discrimination.

In the case of proposed legislation of at least doubtful constitutionality, and based upon no legal right, the equities which recommend it should always be definite and clear.

The money appropriated by this bill is to be paid to the governors of the respective States and Territories in which it was collected, whether the same was derived through said States and Territories, or directly "from any of the citizens or inhabitants thereof or other persons;" and it is further provided that such sums as were collected in payment of this Federal tax through the instrumentality of the State or Territorial officials, and accounted for to the General Government by such States and Territories, are to be paid unconditionally to their governors, while the same collected in payment of said tax by the United States, or, in other words, by the Federal machinery created for that purpose, are to be held in trust by said States or Territories for the benefit of those paying the same.

I am unable to understand how this discrimination in favor of those who have made payment of this tax directly to the officers of the Federal Government, and against those who made such payments through State or Territorial agencies, can be defended upon fair and equitable principles. It was the General Government in every case which exacted this tax from its citizens and people in the different States and Territories, and to provide for reimbursement to a part of its citizens by the creation of a trust for their benefit, while the money exacted in payment of this tax from a far greater number is paid unconditionally into the State and Territorial treasuries, is an unjust and unfair proceeding, in which the Government should not be implicated.

It will hardly do to say that the States and Territories who are the recipients of these large gifts may be trusted to do justice to its citizens who originally paid the money. This can not be relied upon; nor should the Government lose sight of the equality of which it boasts, and, having entered upon the plan of reimbursement, abandon to other agencies the duty of just distribution, and thus incur the risk of becoming accessory to actual inequality and injustice.

If in defense of the plan proposed it is claimed that exact equality can not be reached in the premises, this may be readily conceded. The money raised by this direct tax was collected and expended twenty-seven years ago. Nearly a generation has passed away since that time. Even if distribution should be attempted by the States and Territories, as well as by the Government, the taxpayers in many cases are neither alive nor represented, and in many other cases if alive they can not be found. Fraudulent claims would often outrun honest applications and innumerable and bitter contests would arise between claimants.

Another difficulty in the way of doing perfect justice in the operation of this plan of reimbursement is found in the fact that the money to be appropriated therefor was contributed to the Federal Treasury for entirely different purposes by a generation many of whom were not born when the direct tax was levied and paid, who have no relation to said tax and can not share in its distribution. While they stand by and see the money they have been obliged to pay into the public Treasury professedly to meet present necessities expended to reimburse taxation long ago fairly, legally, and justly collected from others, they can not fail to see the unfairness of the transaction.

The existence of a surplus in the Treasury is no answer to these objections. It is still the people's money, and better use can be found for it than the distribution of it upon the plea of the reimbursement of ancient taxation. A more desirable plan to reduce and prevent the recurrence of a large surplus can easily be adopted--one that, instead of creating injustice and inequality, promotes justice and equality by leaving in the hands of the people and for their use the money not needed by the Government "to pay the debts and provide for the common defense and general welfare of the United States."

The difficulties in the way of making a just reimbursement of this Direct tax, instead of excusing the imperfections of the bill under consideration, furnish reasons why the scheme it proposes should not be entered upon.

I am constrained, upon the considerations herein presented, to withhold my assent from the bill herewith returned, because I believe it to be without constitutional warrant, because I am of the opinion that there exists no adequate reasons either in right or equity for the return of the tax in said bill mentioned, and because I believe its execution would cause actual injustice and unfairness.

GROVER CLEVELAND.

PROCLAMATION.

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

A PROCLAMATION.

Whereas public interests require that the Senate should be convened at 12 o'clock on the 4th day of March next to receive such communications as may be made by the Executive:

Now, therefore, I, Grover Cleveland, President of the United States, do hereby proclaim and declare that an extraordinary occasion requires the Senate of the United States to convene at the Capitol, in the city of Washington, on the 4th day of March next, at 12 o'clock noon, of which all persons who shall at that time be entitled to act as members of that body are hereby required to take notice.

[SEAL.]

Given under my hand and the seal of the United States, at Washington, the 26th day of February, A.D. 1889, and of the Independence of the United States of America the one hundred and thirteenth.

GROVER CLEVELAND.

By the President: T.F. BAYARD, _Secretary of State_.

EXECUTIVE ORDERS.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, December 5, 1888_.

_To the Civil Service Commission_.

GENTLEMEN: The efficiency of the public service, in my opinion, renders it necessary to include in the classified service and subject to examination the employees in the railway mail service. The difficulties in the way of this movement can, I believe, be overcome by carefully prepared rules and regulations.

I have this day directed the Postmaster-General to so revise the classification of his Department as to include these employees in one or more classes; and in furtherance of my purpose I have to request that, after conference with the Postmaster-General, you will prepare the necessary modifications of the present rules and regulations to meet the proposed extension.

Yours, very truly,

GROVER CLEVELAND.

UNITED STATES CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION, _Washington, D.C., December 5, 1888_.

The PRESIDENT.

SIR: The Commission recommends that Special Departmental Rule No. 1 be amended by adding to the exceptions from examination therein declared the following:

"10. In all the Departments: Bookbinders."

Very respectfully,

A.P. EDGERTON, CHAS. LYMAN, _United States Civil Service Commissioners_.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, December 6, 1888_.

The above proposed amendment is hereby approved.

GROVER CLEVELAND.

Amendments to General Rules II, III, IV, Departmental Rules V, VIII, Customs Rule III, and Postal Rules II, VI, are hereby made and promulgated as follows:

GENERAL RULE II.

In line 1 strike out the word "three" and insert in place thereof the word "four." At the end of the rule insert the following: "4. The classified railway mail service." The rule as thus amended will read:

There shall be four branches of the classified civil service, as follows:

1. The classified departmental service.

2. The classified customs service.

3. The classified postal service.

4. The classified railway mail service.

GENERAL RULE III.

In section 9, line 2, after the word "service," insert the words "and the classified railway mail service." The section as thus amended will read:

9. Every applicant for examination for the classified departmental service and the classified railway mail service must support the statements of his application paper by certificates of persons acquainted with him, residents of the State, Territory, or district in which he claims _bona fide_ residence; and the Commission shall prescribe the form and number of such certificates.

In section 10, line 1, after the word "or," insert the words "procured by his;" strike out all after the word "connivance" in line 1 to and including the word "and" in line 3, and in place of the words stricken out insert the words "or any;" strike out all after the word "consent" in line 1 to and including the word "examination" in line 5; strike out the words "for refusing" in line 6; change the period to a comma at the end of line 6 and insert after the comma the words "or to certify him for appointment, or for his removal after appointment." The section as thus amended will read:

10. A false statement made by an applicant, or procured by his connivance, or any deception or fraud practiced by an applicant, or by any person on his behalf with his consent, shall be good cause for refusal to examine such applicant, or to mark his papers after examination, or to certify him for appointment, or for his removal after appointment.

GENERAL RULE IV.

In section 2 strike out the letter "_a_," in brackets, in line 2; change the period to a semicolon at the end of line 4; in line 5 strike out the letter "_b_," in brackets, and strike out all after the word "has" to and including the word "has" in line 7, and write the section as one paragraph. The section as thus amended will read:

2. The Commission may refuse to certify an eligible who is so defective in sight, speech, or hearing, or who is otherwise so defective physically as to be apparently unfit to perform the duties of the position to which he is seeking appointment, or an eligible who has been guilty of crime or of infamous or of notoriously disgraceful conduct.

DEPARTMENTAL RULE V.

In section 2, paragraph 6, after the word "service" in line 3, insert the words "or the classified railway mail service;" in paragraph 7, line 1, strike out the word "and," and after the word "postal" in the same line insert the words "and railway mail." The section as thus amended will read:

_Local boards_.--These boards shall be organized at one or more places in each State and Territory where examinations for the classified departmental service or the classified railway mail service are to be held, and shall conduct such examinations; and each shall be composed of persons in the public service residing in the State or Territory in which the board is to act.

_Customs, postal, and railway mail boards_.--These boards shall conduct such examinations for the classified departmental service as the Commission may direct.

DEPARTMENTAL RULE VIII.

In section 1, clause (_c_), line 1, after the word "post-office," insert "or to the classified railway mail service;" in line 2, after the word "from," strike out the words "such an office" and insert "a classified post-office or the classified railway mail service." The clause as thus amended will read:

(_c_) From the Post-Office Department to a classified post-office or to the classified railway mail service, and from a classified post-office or the classified railway mail service to the Post-Office Department, upon requisition by the Postmaster-General.

In section 2, line 6, after the word "been," insert "in the classified railway mail service or." The section as thus amended will read:

2. No person may be transferred as herein authorized until the Commission shall have certified to the officer making the transfer requisition that the person whom it is proposed to transfer has passed an examination to test fitness for the place to which he is to be transferred, and that such person has during at least six months preceding the date of the certificate been in the classified railway mail service or in the classified service of the Department, customs district, or post-office from which the transfer is to be made: _Provided_, That no person who has been appointed from the copyist register shall be transferred to a place the salary of which is more than $900 per annum until one year after appointment.

CUSTOMS RULE III.

In section 2, clause (_c_), at the end of line 1, insert "and the classified railway mail service." The clause as thus amended will read:

(_c_) Conduct such examinations for the classified departmental service and the classified railway mail service as the Commission may direct.

POSTAL RULE II.

In section 5, at the end of clause (_e_) of that section, strike out the period and insert a comma, and after the comma the following:

_Provided_, That superintendents of mails shall be selected from among the employees of the railway mail service.

The clause as thus amended will read:

Superintendents designated by the Post-Office Department, and reported as such to the Commission, _Provided_, That superintendents of mails shall be selected from among the employees of the railway mail service.

POSTAL RULE VI.

In section 1, clause (_a_), after the word "another" in line 1 of that clause, strike out the comma and insert a semicolon, and after the semicolon the following:

From any classified post-office to the classified railway mail service, and from the classified railway mail service to any classified post-office.

In clause (_b_), after the word "post-office" in line 1, insert "or from the classified railway mail service," and in line 2, after the word "post-office," insert "or to the classified railway mail service."

In section 2, line 6, after the word "certificate" insert "in the classified railway mail service or." The rule as thus amended will read:

1. Transfers may be made as follows:

(_a_) From one classified post-office to another, from any classified post-office to the classified railway mail service, and from the classified railway mail service to any classified post-office, upon requisition of the Postmaster-General.

(_b_) From any classified post-office or from the classified railway mail service to the Post-Office Department, and from the Post-Office Department to any classified post-office, or to the classified railway mail service, upon requisition of the Post-master-General.

2. No person may be transferred as herein authorized until the Commission shall have certified to the officer making the transfer requisition that the person whom it is proposed to transfer has passed an examination to test fitness for the place to which he is to be transferred, and that such person has been at least six months next preceding the date of the certificate in the classified railway mail service or in the classified service of the Department or post-office from which the transfer is to be made.

Approved, January 4, 1889.

GROVER CLEVELAND.

RAILWAY MAIL RULES.

RAILWAY MAIL RULE I.

The classified railway mail service shall include all the officers, clerks, and other persons in that service classified under the provisions of section 6 of the act to regulate and improve the civil service of the United States, approved January 16, 1883.

RAILWAY MAIL RULE II.

1. To test fitness for admission to the classified railway mail service the following examinations shall be provided:

_Clerk examination_,--This examination shall include not more than the following subjects:

(_a_) Orthography.

(_b_) Copying.

(_c_) Penmanship.

(_d_) Arithmetic--fundamental rules, fractions, and percentage.

(_e_) Letter writing.

(_f_) The geography of the United States, and especially of the State or railway mail division in which the applicant resides.

(_g_) The railway systems of the State or railway mail division in which the applicant resides.

(_h_) Reading addresses.

_Other competitive examinations_.--Such other competitive examinations as the Commission may from time to time deem necessary.

_Noncompetitive examinations_.--Such examinations may, with the approval of the Commission, be held under conditions stated in General Rule III, clause 2.

2. No person shall be examined for the railway mail service if under 18 or over 35 years of age, except that any person honorably discharged from the military or naval service of the United States by reason of disability resulting from wounds or sickness incurred in the line of duty, and whose claim of preference under section 1754 of the Revised Statutes has been allowed by the Commission, may be examined without regard to his age.

3. Any person desiring examination for admission to the classified railway mail service must, in his own handwriting, make request for a blank form of application, which request, and also his application, shall be addressed as follows: "United States Civil Service Commission, Washington, D.C."

4. The date of reception, and also of approval, by the Commission of each application shall be noted on the application paper.

5. Exceptions from examination in the classified railway mail service are hereby made as follows:

(_a_) General superintendent.

(_b_) Assistant general superintendent.

6. No person appointed to a place under any exception to examination hereby made shall within one year after appointment be transferred to another place not also excepted from examination; but after service of not less than one year in an examination-excepted place he may be transferred to a place not excepted from examination upon the certificate of the Commission that he has passed an examination to test fitness for the place to which his transfer is proposed.

RAILWAY MAIL RULE III.

1. The papers of every examination shall be marked under the direction of the Commission, and each competitor shall be graded on a scale of 100, according to the general average determined by the marks made by the examiners on his papers.

2. The Commission shall appoint in each railway mail division as many boards of examiners as it may deem necessary for the good of the service and the convenience of applicants: _Provided_, That there shall be at least one such board in each Territory and not less than two in each State, except that the number may be limited to one each in the States of Rhode Island and Delaware.

3. These boards shall conduct such examinations for admission to and promotions in the classified railway mail service and such examinations for the other branches of the classified service as the Commission may direct. They shall also mark such examination papers as the Commission may direct.

4. Unless otherwise directed by the Commission, the papers of examination for admission to the classified railway mail service shall be marked by the central board.

5. The papers of an examination having been marked, the Commission shall ascertain--

(_a_) The name of every competitor who has, under section 1754 of the Revised Statutes, claim of preference in civil appointments, and who has attained a general average of not less than 65 per cent; and all such competitors are hereby declared eligible to the class or place to test fitness for which the examination was held.

(_b_) The name of every other competitor who has attained a general average of not less than 70 per cent; and all such applicants are hereby declared eligible to the class or place to test fitness for which the examination was held.

6. The names of all preference-claiming competitors whose general average is not less than 65 per cent, together with the names of all other competitors whose general average is not less than 70 per cent, shall be entered upon the register of persons eligible to the class or place to test fitness for which the examination was held.

7. The grade of each competitor shall be expressed by the whole number nearest the general average attained by him, and the grade of each eligible shall be noted upon the register of eligibles in connection with his name. When two or more eligibles are of the same grade, preference in certification shall be determined by the order in which their application papers were filed.

8. There shall be a register of eligibles for each State and Territory, and the names of all the eligibles of any State or Territory shall be entered upon the register for that State or Territory. The eligibles of the District of Columbia shall be entered, according to their election, upon the register of the State of Maryland or upon that of the State of Virginia.

9. Immediately after the general averages shall have been ascertained each competitor shall be notified that he has passed or has failed to pass.

10. If a competitor fail to pass, he may, with the consent of the Commission, be allowed a reexamination at any time within six months from the date of failure without filing a new application; but if such reexamination be not allowed within that time he shall not be again examined without making in due form a new application.

11. No eligible shall be allowed reexamination during the term of his eligibility unless he shall furnish evidence satisfactory to the Commission that at the time of his examination, because of illness or other good cause, he was incapable of doing himself justice in said examination.

12. The term of eligibility shall be such as the Commission may by regulation determine, but shall not be less than one year from the day on which the name of the eligible is entered upon the register: _Provided_, That for public and sufficient reasons the Commission shall have authority to extend the term of eligibility of the eligibles on the register of any State or Territory for such period, not exceeding one year, as it may deem necessary, without correspondingly extending the term of the eligibles on the registers of the other States and Territories as to which the same reasons do not exist.

RAILWAY MAIL RULE IV.

1. All vacancies in the classified railway mail service above class 1, unless among the places excepted from examination, shall be filled by promotion, upon such tests of fitness as the Postmaster-General, with the approval of the Commission, may prescribe: _Provided_, That a vacancy occurring in a State or railway mail division in any grade may be filled by the transfer of a clerk of the same grade from another State or division, under such regulations as the Postmaster-General, with the approval of the Commission, may prescribe, or by reappointment under the provisions of Railway Mail Rule VI.

2. All vacancies in class 1, unless filled by transfer or reappointment under Railway Mail Rule VI, shall be filled in the following manner:

(_a_) The general superintendent shall, in form and manner to be prescribed by the Commission, request the certification to him of eligibles from a State or Territory in which a vacancy then exists.

(_b_) The Commission shall certify from the register of the State or Territory in which the vacancy exists the names of the three eligibles thereon having the highest averages who have not been three times certified: _Provided_, That if upon said register there are the names of eligibles having a claim of preference under section 1754, Revised Statutes, the names of such eligibles shall be certified before the names of other eligibles of higher grade: _Provided further_; That if there are not three eligibles upon the register of the State or Territory in which the vacancy exists eligibles may be certified from the register of any adjoining State or Territory.

(_c_) The name of an eligible shall not be certified more than three times.