Executive Order 8

Washington, April 16, 1872.⁠

The Advisory Board of the civil service, having completed the grouping contemplated by the rules already adopted, have recommended certain provisions for carrying the rules into effect.

The recommendations as herewith published are approved, and the provisions will be enforced as rapidly as the proper arrangements can be made; and the thirteenth of the rules adopted on the 19th day of December last is amended to read as published herewith.

The utmost fidelity and diligence will be expected of all officers in every branch of the public service. Political assessments, as they are called, have been forbidden within the various Departments; and while the right of all persons in official position to take part in politics is acknowledged, and the elective franchise is recognized as a high trust to be discharged by all entitled to its exercise, whether in the employment of the Government or in private life, honesty and efficiency, not political activity, will determine the tenure of office.

Ulysses S. Grant⁠

By the President:

Hamilton Fish,

Secretary of State.

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[Rule 13, as amended.]

13. From these rules are excepted the heads of Departments, Assistant Secretaries of Departments, Assistant Attorneys-General, Assistant Postmasters-General, Solicitor-General, Solicitor of the Treasury, Naval Solicitor, Solicitor of Internal Revenue, examiner of claims in the State Department, Treasurer of the United States, Register of the Treasury, First and Second Comptrollers of the Treasury, other heads of bureaus in the several Departments, judges of the United States courts, district attorneys, private secretary of the President, ambassadors and other public ministers, Superintendent of the Coast Survey, Director of the Mint, governors of Territories, special commissioners, special counsel, visiting and examining boards, persons appointed to positions without compensation for services, dispatch agents, and bearers of dispatches.

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Regulations and Classification.

1. No person will be appointed to any position in the civil service who shall not have furnished satisfactory evidence of his fidelity to the Union and the Constitution of the United States.
2. The evidence in regard to character, health, age, and knowledge of the English language required by the first rule shall be furnished in writing, and if such evidence shall be satisfactory to the head of the Department in which the appointment is to be made the applicant shall be notified when and where to appear for examination; but when the applicants are so numerous that the examination of all whose preliminary papers are satisfactory is plainly impracticable, the head of the Department shall select for examination a practicable number of those who are apparently best qualified.
3. Examinations to fill vacancies in any of the Executive Departments in Washington shall be held not only at the city of Washington, but also, when directed by the head of the Department in which the vacancy may exist, in the several States, either at the capital or other convenient place.
4. 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, or to be designated for secret service, to fill vacancies in clerkships in either of the Executive Departments at Washington, may be excepted from the operation of the rules.
5. When a vacancy occurs in a consular office of which the lawful annual compensation is $3,000 or more, it will be filled, at the discretion of the President, either by the transfer of some person already in the service or by a new appointment, which may be excepted from the operation of the rules. But if the vacancy occur in an office of which the lawful annual compensation, by salary or by fees ascertained by the last official returns, is more than $1,000 and less than $3,000, and it is not filled by transfer, applications will be addressed to the Secretary of State, inclosing proper certificates of character, responsibility, and capacity, and the Secretary will notify the applicant who upon investigation appears to be most suitable and competent to attend for examination; and if he shall be found qualified he will be nominated for confirmation, but if not found qualified, or if his nomination be not confirmed by the Senate, the Secretary will proceed in like manner with the other applicants who appear to him to be qualified. If, however, no applicants under this regulation shall be found suitable and qualified, the vacancy will be filled at discretion. The appointment of commercial agents and of consuls whose annual compensation is $1,000 or less (if derived from fees, the amount to be ascertained by the last official returns), of vice-consuls, deputy consuls, and of consular agents and other officers who are appointed upon the nomination of the principal officer, and for whom he is responsible upon his official bond, may be, until otherwise ordered, excepted from the operation of the rules.
6. When a vacancy occurs in the office of collector of the customs, naval officer, appraiser, or surveyor of the customs in the customs districts of New York, Boston and Charlestown, Baltimore, San Francisco, New Orleans, Philadelphia, Vermont (Burlington), Oswego, Niagara, Buffalo Creek, Champlain, Portland and Falmouth, Corpus Christi, Oswegatchie, Mobile, Brazos de Santiago (Brownsville), Texas (Galveston, etc.), Savannah, Charleston, Chicago, or Detroit, the Secretary of the Treasury shall ascertain if any of the subordinates in the customs districts in which such vacancy occurs are suitable persons qualified to discharge efficiently the duties of the office to be filled; and if such persons be found he shall certify to the President the name or names of those subordinates, not exceeding three, who in his judgment are best qualified for the position, from which the President will make the nomination to fill the vacancy; but if no such subordinate be found qualified, or if the nomination be not confirmed, the nomination will be made at the discretion of the President. Vacancies occurring in such positions in the customs service in the said districts as are included in the subjoined classification will be filled in accordance with the rules. Appointments to all other positions in the customs service in said districts may be, until otherwise ordered, excepted from the operation of the rules.
7. When a vacancy occurs in the office of collector, appraiser, surveyor, or other chief officer in any customs district not specified in the preceding regulation, applications in writing from any subordinate or subordinates in the customs service of the district, or from other person or persons residing within the said district, may be addressed to the Secretary of the Treasury, inclosing proper certificates of character, responsibility, and capacity; and if any of the subordinates so applying shall be found suitable and qualified, the name or names, not exceeding three, of the best qualified shall be certified by the board of examiners to the Secretary, and from this list the nomination or appointment will be made; but if no such subordinate be found qualified, the said board shall certify to the Secretary the name or names, not exceeding three, of the best qualified among the other applicants, and from this list the nomination or appointment will be made. If, however, no applicants under this regulation shall be found suitable and qualified, the vacancy will be filled at discretion. Appointments to all other positions in the customs service in said districts may be, until otherwise ordered, excepted from the operation of the rules.
8. When a vacancy occurs in the office of postmaster in cities having, according to the census of 1870, a population of 20,000 or more, the Postmaster-General shall ascertain if any of the subordinates in such office are suitable persons qualified to discharge efficiently the duties of postmaster, and if such are found he shall certify to the President the name or names of those subordinates, not exceeding three in number, who in his judgment are best qualified for the position, from which list the President will make the nomination to fill the vacancy; but if no such subordinate be found so qualified, or if the nomination be not confirmed by the Senate, the nomination will be made at the discretion of the President. Vacancies occurring in such positions in the said post-office as are included in the subjoined classification will be filled in accordance with the rules. Appointments to all other positions in the said post-offices may be, until otherwise ordered, excepted from the operation of the rules.
9. When a vacancy occurs in the office of postmaster of a class not otherwise provided for, applications for the position from any subordinate or subordinates in the office, or from other persons residing within the delivery of the office, may be addressed to the Postmaster-General, inclosing proper certificates of character, responsibility, and capacity; and if any of the subordinates so applying shall be found suitable and qualified, the name or names of the best qualified, not exceeding three, shall be certified by the board of examiners to the Postmaster-General, and from them the nomination or appointment shall be made; but if no subordinate be found qualified, the said board shall certify to the Postmaster-General the name or names, not exceeding three, of the best qualified among the other applicants, and from them the nomination or appointment shall be made. If, however, no applicants under this regulation shall be found suitable and qualified, the vacancy will be filled at discretion. Appointments to all other positions in the said post-offices may be, until otherwise ordered, excepted from the operation of the rules.
10. Special agents of the Post-Office Department shall be appointed by the Postmaster-General at discretion from persons already in the postal service, and who shall have served therein for a period of not less than one year immediately preceding the appointment; but if no person within the service shall, in the judgment of the Postmaster-General, be suitable and qualified, the appointment shall be made from all applicants under the rules.
11. Mail-route messengers shall be appointed in the manner provided for the appointment of postmasters whose annual salary is less than $200.
12. When a vacancy occurs in the office of register or receiver of the land office, or of pension agent, applications in writing from residents in the district in which the vacancy occurs may be addressed to the Secretary of the Interior, inclosing proper certificates of character, responsibility, and capacity; and if any of the applicants shall be found suitable and qualified, the name or names, not exceeding three, of the best qualified shall be certified by the board of examiners to the Secretary, and from this list the nomination will be made. If, however, no applicants under this regulation shall be found suitable and qualified, the nomination will be made at discretion.
13. When a vacancy occurs in the office of United States marshal, applications in writing from residents in the district in which the vacancy occurs may be addressed to the Attorney-General of the United States, inclosing proper certificates of character, responsibility, and capacity; and if any of the applicants shall be found suitable and qualified, the name or names, not exceeding three, of the best qualified shall be certified by the board of examiners to the Attorney-General, and from this list the nomination will be made. If, however, no applicants under this regulation shall be found suitable and qualified, the nomination will be made at discretion.
14. Appointments to fill vacancies occurring in offices in the several Territories, excepting those of judges of the United States courts, Indian agents, and superintendents, will be made from suitable and qualified persons domiciled in the Territory in which the vacancy occurs, if any such are found.
15. It shall be the duty of the examining board in each of the Departments to report to the Advisory Board such modifications in the rules and regulations as in the judgment of such examining board are required for appointments to certain positions to which, by reason of distance, or of difficult access, or of other sufficient cause, the rules and regulations can not be applied with advantage; and if the reason for such modifications shall be satisfactory to the Advisory Board, said board will recommend them for approval.
16. Nothing in these rules and regulations shall prevent the reappointment at discretion of the incumbents of any office the term of which is fixed by law, and when such reappointment is made no vacancy within the meaning of the rules shall be deemed to have occurred.
17. Appointments to all positions in the civil service not included in the subjoined classification, nor otherwise specially provided for by the rules and regulations, may, until otherwise ordered, be excepted from the operation of the rules.

Notes

Amended by:

• Executive Order 8-1, March 14, 1873