Solicitation for gift to superior. Felonies and misdemeanors. Section 1784, Revised Statutes, prohibits (1) government employees from soliciting contributions from fellowemployees for a gift to official superiors; (2) superiors from receiving any gift from official subordinates receiving a less salary; (3) officers or clerks from making a gift to any official superior. Summary discharge is the penalty. Under section 335, Criminal Code, all offenses which may be punished by death, or imprisonment for a term exceeding one year, shall be deemed felonies. All other offenses shall be deemed misdemeanors. The statutes relative to frauds in connection with examinations and prosecutions thereunder are set forth in a pamphlet published by the Commission (Form 1775). CIVIL a SERVICE RULES PROMULGATED BY THE PRESIDENT, AND LEGAL DECISIONS, WITH NOTES BY THE COMMISSION. b par. 1. In the exercise of power conferred by the Constitution, Act, sec. 2, by section 1753, R. S., and by the civil-service act of January 16, 1883, the President promulgates the following Promulgating rules in lieu of those promulgated May 6, 1896, and the amendments thereof: Rules of former Executives binding until repealed.—It is a settled rule of administrative practice that the official acts of a previous administration order. are to be considered by its successor as final, so far as the executive is concerned. (15 Op. A. G., 208; 2 Op. A. G., 8.) RULE I.-POLITICS AND RELIGION. ence with elec Act, sec. 2, cl. 2, 1. No person in the executive civil service shall use his No interferofficial authority or influence for the purpose of interfer- tions ing with an election or affecting the results thereof. Per- par. 6. sons who by the provisions of these rules are in the competitive classified service, while retaining the right to vote as they please and to express privately their opinions on all political subjects, shall take no active part in political management or in political campaigns. In consideration of fixity of tenure press privately his opinions on all politand of appointment in no way due to ical subjects, "should not take any political considerations, the man in the active part in political management or classified service, while retaining his in political campaigns, for precisely the right to vote as he pleases and to ex- same reasons that a judge, an army officer, a Promulgated April 15, 1903, and revised to June, 1908. A compilation of the civil-service rules, special orders, and classifications from May 7, 1883 (the date of the first rules under the civil-service act of 1883), to August 16, 1902, will be found at page 161 of the Eighteenth Report of the Commission. A further compilation from August 16, 1902, to February 1, 1904, will be found at page 194 of the Twentieth Report, and each subsequent report contains a similar compilation for the year covered by it. b Constitutional provision relating to appointments: Art. II, sec. 2, par. 2. "He [the President] shall have power, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to make treaties, provided two-thirds of the Senators present concur; and he shall nominate, and, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, shall appoint ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, judges of the Supreme Court, and all other officers of the United States whose appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by law; but the Congress may by law vest the appointment of such inferior officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, in the courts of law, or in the heads of Departments." ** * "Congress has power to distribute, at its pleasure, the appointment of inferior officers between the President, courts of law, and heads of Departments, or to vest such appointments exclusively in one or two of those depositaries, but it has no power to vest appointments elsewhere, directly or indirectly." (13 Op. A. G., 516.) "The head of a department has no constitutional prerogative of appointment to offices independently of the legislation of Congress, and by such legislation he must be governed not only in making appointments, but in all that is incident thereto." (U. S. v. Perkins, 116 U. S., 483.) 23 a regular soldier, or a policeman is debarred from taking such active part." This of course applies even more strongly to any conduct on the part of such employee so prejudicial to good discipline as is implied in a public attack on his or her superior officers or other conduct liable to cause scandal. * * Officeholders must not use their offices to control political movements, must not neglect their public duties, must not cause public scandal by their activity. * (Letter of President, June 13, 1902. Twentieth Report, p. 125.) * * * The conduct of an officeholder not falling within the prohibitions of the act and rules is a matter for the consideration of the appointing power, in which the Commission can not interfere. The Postmaster-General, on October 1, 1902, issued the following instructions to the officers and employees of the PostOffice Department: "As to political activity, a sharp line is drawn between those in the classified and those in the unclassified service. Postmasters or others holding unclassified positions are merely prohibited from using their offices to control political movements, from neglecting their duties, and from causing public scandal by political activity. "A person in the classified service has an entire right to vote as he pleases, and to express privately his opinions on all political subjects, but he should take no active part in political management or in political campaigns. "It is not the practice of the department to prohibit postmasters from holding positions as members of political committees, but it does prohibit them from serving in the capacity of officers of such committees." (Letter of Postmaster-General of November 20, 1906. Case of Fitch, postmaster at Morgantown, W. Va.) Fourth-class postmasters in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Michigan were transferred to the competitive service by executive order of November 30, 1908, and are now subject to all the restrictions upon political activity which apply to other competitive employees. The Attorney-General, in a letter dated November 22, 1901, addressed to all officers and employees of the Department of Justice, said: "The spirit of the civil-service law and rules renders it highly undesirable for federal officers and employees to take an active part in political conventions or in the direction of other parts of political machinery. Persons in the government service under this department should not act as chairmen of political organizations, nor make themselves unduly prominent in local political matters. It is expected and required that all officers and employees of this department shall act in entire conformity with the views herein set forth." In an order of October 1, 1904, the Secretary of State said: "Officers and employees of this department * * * are prohibited from such active participation in campaign work as is incompatible with their official duties. They should not serve on committees charged with the collection and disbursement of political funds, but they are free to vote, and, in a proper way, to express their political sentiments and preferences." In an order of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, dated December 9, 1905, addressed to collectors of internal revenue, the commissioner said: * "So far as the classified service is concerned, employees must absolutely refrain from political activity. They should not serve on political committees, nor act as election officers, nor assist in canvassing districts in the interest of any party whatever or in connection with any other form of political work. * * Such employees should not leave their places of assignment to duty at which they are working during office hours for the mere purpose of going outside of the premises to be consulted concerning or to pay political subscriptions. * * * By reason of the fact that political parties are frequently, often necessarily, engaged more or less in the collection of money for political purposes, and in such work often secure contributions from persons in the federal service, it is not deemed wise for collectors or their deputies to be members of local political committees." In a letter under date of March 25, 1908, to the President, the Commission recommended that the several departments be requested to publish to their employees in the competitive classified service the fact that anyone violating the provisions of this rule renders himself liable to removal, so that in the event of any misconduct by them in the future the Commission may feel at liberty to recommend their removal, and added that the time had come for a somewhat greater degree of severity for the penalty inflicted, at least in aggravated cases. The President approved this suggestion on March 27, 1908, and orders were accordingly issued by the heads of departments publishing an extract from the Commission's letter to the President. On May 14, 1908, the Navy Department issued the following circular letter to commandants of navy-yards and naval stations: "Laborers and mechanics at the yard or station under your command will be subject to discharge for political activity in the same manner as competitive classified employees." Similar instructions have been issued by other departments placing the same limitations in regard to political activity on laborers in the unclassified service as are applied to competitive employees. See note "Political Activity" to Rule IX, page 42. Whenever in the opinion of the Secretary of the Navy a strict enforcement of the provisions of section 1, Rule I, of the civil-service rules would influence the result of a local election the issue of which materially affects the local welfare of the government employees in the vicinity of any navy-yard or station, the Civil Service Commission may, on recommendation of the Secretary of the Navy, and after such investigation as it may deem necessary, permit the active participation of the employees of the yard or station in such local election. In the exercise of the privilege which may be conferred hereunder, persons affected must not neglect their official duties nor cause public scandal by their activity. (Executive order, May 14, 1909.) No disclosures on account of, religious 2. No question in any form of application or in any M, or dis examination shall be so framed as to elicit information crimination concerning the political or religious opinions or affilia-political or tions of any applicant, nor shall any inquiry be made con- opinions. cerning such opinions or affiliations, and all disclosures thereof shall be discountenanced. No discrimination shall Act, sec. 2, cl. 2, pars. 5 be exercised, threatened, or promised by any person in the and 6. executive civil service against or in favor of an applicant, eligible, or employee in the classified service because of his political or religious opinions or affiliations. An appointing officer who appoints or refuses to appoint an applicant because the applicant does or does not entertain certain political opinions, or who removes or reduces an employee because that employee refuses to render political service, to be coerced in political action, or to contribute money for political purposes, violates the law. The removal of a large number of employees of the same political faith from an office will be presumed to have been made for political reasons, and the burden is upon the officer making the removals to show that just cause existed for making each such removal. Recommendations that can not be considered. 3. No recommendation of an applicant, eligible, or employee in the competitive service involving a disclosure of his political or religious opinions or affiliations shall be considered or filed by the Commission or by any officer concerned in making appointments or promotions. It is the duty of officers concerned in making appointments or promotions to refuse to receive or consider letters disclosing the politics or religion of an Extent of classification. Act, secs. 6 and 7. applicant, eligible, or employee, and to explain to the writers that communications based upon such grounds will not receive attention or be filed. RULE II.-CLASSIFICATION OF THE SERVICE. 1. The classified service shall include all officers and employees in the executive civil service of the United States, heretofore or hereafter appointed or employed, in positions now existing or hereafter to be created, of whatever function or designation, whether compensated by a fixed salary or otherwise, except persons employed merely as laborers, and persons whose appointments are subject to confirmation by the Senate; but no right of classification shall accrue to persons whose appointment or assignment to classified duties is in violation of the civil-service rules.. All persons in the executive civil service except those mentioned in Schedule A, and except persons employed merely as laborers, and persons whose appointments are subject to confirmation by the Senate, must be appointed as a result of open competitive examination held under the provisions of the law. Congress may, of course, at any time it deems proper, exempt any position or class of positions from the operation of the act, but to do this it must use language indicating clearly and affirmatively its intention that the civil-service rules should not be applied. (26 Op. A. G., 502.) By executive order of October 9, 1908, persons whose names are reported to the Commission in response to this opinion and who are occupying places whose duties are similar to those of competitive positions may be classified upon approval by the Commission; but may be transferred only when in the opinion of the Civil Service Commission such transfer is required in the interest of the service, and then only after an appropriate examination by said Com mission. Vacancies shall be filled in accordance with the civil-service act and rules. If said Commission finds that any of these places can not be satisfactorily subjected to competitive tests, they may be treated as excepted from examination and their occupants shall not acquire a competitive status. Free-delivery post-offices, classification of.-Executive order of January 5, 1893, extended the classified service to include any post-office at which free-delivery service is maintained. When free delivery is discontinued at a post-office, such office ceases to be under the civil-service rules. (22 Op. A. G., 613. For particulars of the case leading to this decision, see pp. 307-309 of the Seventeenth Report.) Appointment before classification.-T. was appointed a railway postal clerk by the Postmaster-General on April 29, 1889, without having undergone a civil-service examination (none being then required for such appointment), but he did not take the oath of office and enter upon its duties until May 18, 1889. In the mean |