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A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents by Grover Cleveland

G >> Grover Cleveland >> A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents




A PROCLAMATION.

Whereas satisfactory proof has been given to me that no light-house and
light dues, tonnage dues, beacon and buoy dues, or other equivalent
taxes of any kind are imposed upon vessels of the United States in the
ports of the island of Guadeloupe, one of the French West India Islands:

Now, therefore, I, Grover Cleveland, President of the United States of
America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by section 11 of the
act of Congress entitled "An act to abolish certain fees for official
services to American vessels, and to amend the laws relating to shipping
commissioners, seamen, and owners of vessels, and for other purposes,"
approved June 19, 1886, do hereby declare and proclaim that from and
after the date of this my proclamation shall be suspended the collection
of the whole of the tonnage duty which is imposed by said section of
said act upon vessels entered in the ports of the United States from any
of the ports of the island of Guadeloupe.

_Provided_, That there shall be excluded from the benefits of the
suspension hereby declared and proclaimed the vessels of any foreign
country in whose ports the fees or dues of any kind or nature imposed on
vessels of the United States, or the import or export duties on their
cargoes, are in excess of the fees, dues, or duties imposed on the
vessels of such foreign country or their cargoes, or of the fees, dues,
or duties imposed on the vessels of the country in which are the ports
mentioned in this proclamation or the cargoes of such vessels.

And the suspension hereby declared and proclaimed shall continue so long
as the reciprocal exemption of vessels belonging to citizens of the
United States and their cargoes shall be continued in the said ports of
the island of Guadeloupe, and no longer.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of
the United States to be affixed.

[SEAL.]

Done at the city of Washington, this 16th day of April, A.D. 1888, and
of the Independence of the United States the one hundred and twelfth.

GROVER CLEVELAND.

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



A PROCLAMATION

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.

Constant thanksgiving and gratitude are due from the American people to
Almighty God for His goodness and mercy, which have followed them since
the day He made them a nation and vouchsafed to them a free government.
With loving kindness He has constantly led us in the way of prosperity
and greatness. He has not visited with swift punishment our
shortcomings, but with gracious care He has warned us of our dependence
upon His forbearance and has taught us that obedience to His holy law is
the price of a continuance of His precious gifts.

In acknowledgment of all that God has done for us as a nation, and to
the end that on an appointed day the united prayers and praise of a
grateful country may reach the throne of grace, I, Grover Cleveland,
President of the United States, do hereby designate and set apart
Thursday, the 29th day of November instant, as a day of thanksgiving and
prayer, to be kept and observed throughout the land.

On that day let all our people suspend their ordinary work and
occupations, and in their accustomed places of worship, with prayer
and songs of praise, render thanks to God for all His mercies, for the
abundant harvests which have rewarded the toil of the husbandman during
the year that has passed, and for the rich rewards that have followed
the labors of our people in their shops and their marts of trade
and traffic. Let us give thanks for peace and for social order and
contentment within our borders, and for our advancement in all that
adds to national greatness.

And mindful of the afflictive dispensation with which a portion of our
land has been visited, let us, while we humble ourselves before the
power of God, acknowledge His mercy in setting bounds to the deadly
march of pestilence, and let our hearts be chastened by sympathy with
our fellow-countrymen who have suffered and who mourn.

And as we return thanks for all the blessings which we have received
from the hands of our Heavenly Father, let us not forget that He has
enjoined upon us charity; and on this day of thanksgiving let us
generously remember the poor and needy, so that our tribute of praise
and gratitude may be acceptable in the sight of the Lord.

Done at the city of Washington on the 1st day of November, 1888, and in
the year of the Independence of the United States the one hundred and
thirteenth.

[SEAL.]

In witness whereof I have hereunto signed my name and caused the seal of
the United States to be affixed.

GROVER CLEVELAND.

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




EXECUTIVE ORDERS.


REVISED CIVIL-SERVICE RULES.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 2, 1888_.

In the exercise of power vested in him by the Constitution and of
authority given to him by the seventeen hundred and fifty-third section
of the Revised Statutes and by an act to regulate and improve the civil
service of the United States, approved January 16, 1883, the President
hereby makes and promulgates the following rules and revokes the rules
known as "Amended Civil-Service Rules" and "Special Rule No. 1,"
heretofore promulgated under the power and authority referred to herein:
_Provided_, That this revocation shall not be construed as an
exclusion from the classified civil service of any now classified
customs district or classified post-office.


GENERAL RULES.

GENERAL RULE 1.

Any officer in the executive civil service who shall use his official
authority or influence for the purpose of interfering with an election
or controlling the result thereof; or who shall dismiss, or cause to
be dismissed, or use influence of any kind to procure the dismissal
of any person from any place in the said service because such person
has refused to be coerced in his political action, or has refused to
contribute money for political purposes, or has refused to render
political service; and any officer, clerk, or other employee in the
executive civil service who shall willfully violate any of these rules,
or any of the provisions of sections 11, 12, 13, and 14 of the act
entitled "An act to regulate and improve the civil service of the United
States," approved January 16, 1883, shall be dismissed from office.


GENERAL RULE II.

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

1. The classified departmental service.

2. The classified customs service.

3. The classified postal service.


GENERAL RULE III.

1. No person shall be appointed or employed to enter the civil service,
classified in accordance with section 163 of the Revised Statutes and
under the "Act to regulate and improve the civil service of the United
States," approved January 16, 1883, until he shall have passed an
examination or shall have been shown to be specially exempted therefrom
by said act or by an exception to this rule set forth in connection with
the rules regulating admission to the branch of the service he seeks to
enter.

2. No noncompetitive examination shall be held except under the
following conditions:

(_a_) The failure of competent persons to be, after due notice,
competitively examined, thus making it impracticable to supply to the
appointing officer in due time the names of persons who have passed a
competitive examination.

(_b_) That a person has been during one year or longer in a place
excepted from examination, and the appointing or nominating officer
desires the appointment of such person to a place not excepted.

(_c_) That a person has served two years continuously since July
16, 1883, in a place in the departmental service below or outside
the classified service, and the appointing officer desires, with the
approval of the President, upon the recommendation of the Commission,
to promote such person into the classified service because of his
faithfulness and efficiency in the position occupied by him, and because
of his qualifications for the place to which the appointing officer
desires his promotion.

(_d_) That an appointing or nominating officer desires the
examination of a person to test his fitness for a classified place which
might be filled under exceptions to examination declared in connection
with the rules regulating admission to the classified service.

(_e_) That the Commission, with the approval of the President, has
decided that such an examination should be held to test fitness for any
particular place requiring technical, professional, or scientific
knowledge, special skill, or peculiar ability, to test fitness for which
place a competitive examination can not, in the opinion of the
Commission, be properly provided.

(_f_) That a person who has been appointed from the copyist
register wishes to take the clerk examination for promotion to a place
the salary of which is not less than $1,000 per annum.

(_g_) To test the fitness of a person for a place to which his
transfer has been requested.

(_h_) When the exigencies of the service require such examination
for promotion as provided by clause 6 of this rule.

3. All applications for examination must be made in form and manner
prescribed by the Commission.

4. No person serving in the Army or Navy shall be examined for admission
to the classified service until the written consent of the head of the
Department under which he is enlisted shall have been communicated to
the Commission.

No person who is an applicant for examination or who is an eligible
in one branch of the classified service shall at the same time be an
applicant for examination in any other branch of said service.

5. The Commission may refuse to examine an applicant who would be
physically unable to perform the duties of the place to which he desires
appointment. The reason for any such action must be entered on the
minutes of the Commission.

6. For the purpose of establishing in the classified civil service the
principle of compulsory competitive examination for promotion, there
shall be, so far as practicable and useful, compulsory competitive
examinations of a suitable character to test fitness for promotion; but
persons in the classified service who were honorably discharged from the
military or naval service of the United States, and the widows and
orphans of deceased soldiers and sailors, shall be exempt from such
examinations.

The Commission may make regulations, applying them to any part of the
classified service, under which regulations all examinations for
promotion therein shall be conducted and all promotions be made; but
until regulations in accordance herewith have been applied to any part
of the classified service promotions therein shall be made in the manner
provided by the rules applicable thereto. And in any part of the
classified service in which promotions are made under examination as
herein provided the Commission may in special cases, if the exigencies
of the service require such action, provide noncompetitive examinations
for promotion.

Persons who were in the classified civil service on July 16, 1883, and
persons who have been since that date or may be hereafter put into that
service by the inclusion of subordinate places, clerks, and officers,
under the provisions of section 6 of the act to regulate and improve the
civil service of the United States, approved January 16, 1883, shall be
entitled to all rights of promotion possessed by persons of the same
class or grade appointed after examination under the act referred to
above.

7. No question in any examination shall be so framed as to elicit
information concerning the political or religious opinions or
affiliations of competitors, and no discrimination in examination,
certification, or appointment shall be made by the Commission, the
examiners, or the appointing or nominating officer in favor of or
against any applicant, competitor, or eligible because of his political
or religious opinions or affiliations. The Commission, the examiners,
and the appointing or nominating officer shall discountenance all
disclosures of such opinions or affiliations by or concerning any
applicant, competitor, or eligible; and any appointing or nominating
officer who shall make inquiries concerning or in any other way attempt
to ascertain the political or religious opinions or affiliations of any
eligible, or who shall discriminate in favor of or against any eligible
because of the eligible's political or religious opinions or
affiliations, shall be dismissed from office.

8. Every applicant must state under oath--

(_a_) His full name.

(_b_) That he is a citizen of the United States.

(_c_) Year and place of his birth.

(_d_) The State, Territory, or District of which he is a _bona
fide_ resident, and the length of time he has been a resident thereof.

(_e_) His post-office address.

(_f_) His business or employment during the three years immediately
preceding the date of his application, and where he has resided each of
those years.

(_g_) Condition of his health, and his physical capacity for the
public service.

(_h_) His previous employment in the public service.

(_i_) Any right of preference in civil appointments he may claim
under section 1754 of the Revised Statutes.

(_j_) The kind of school in which he received his education.

(_k_) That he does not habitually use intoxicating beverages to excess.

(_l_) That he has not within the one year next preceding the date
of his application been dismissed from the public service for
delinquency or misconduct.

(_m_) Such other facts as the Commission may require.

9. Every applicant for examination for the classified departmental
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.

10. A false statement made by an applicant, or connivance by him with
any person to make on his behalf a false statement in any certificate
required by the Commission, and deception or fraud practiced by an
applicant, or by any person on his behalf with his consent, to influence
an examination, shall be good cause for refusal to examine such
applicant or for refusing to mark his papers after examination.

11. All examinations shall be prepared and conducted under the
supervision of the Commission; and examination papers shall be marked
under rules made by the Commission, which shall take care that the
marking examiners do not know the name of any competitor in an
examination for admission whose papers are intrusted to them.

12. For the purpose of marking examination papers boards of examiners
shall be appointed by the Commission, one to be known as the central
board, which shall be composed of persons in the classified service, who
shall be detailed for constant duty at the office of the Commission.
Under supervision of the Commission the central board shall mark the
papers of the copyist and of the clerk examinations, and such of the
papers of the supplementary, special, and promotion examinations for the
departmental service and of examinations for admission to or promotion
in the other branches of the classified services as shall be submitted
to it by the Commission.

13. No person shall be appointed to membership on any board of examiners
until after the Commission shall have consulted with the head of the
Department or of the office under whom such person is serving.

14. An examiner shall be allowed time during office hours to perform his
duties as examiner, which duties shall be considered part of his
official duties.

15. The Commission may change the membership of boards of examiners
and--

(_a_) Prescribe the manner of organizing such boards.

(_b_) More particularly define their powers.

(_c_) Specifically determine their duties and the duties of the
members thereof.

16. Each board shall keep such records and make such reports as the
Commission may require, and such records shall be open to the inspection
of any member of this Commission or other person acting under authority
of the Commission, which may, for the purposes of investigation, take
possession of such records.


GENERAL RULE IV.

1. The names of all competitors who shall successfully pass an
examination shall be entered upon a register, and the competitors whose
names have been thus registered shall be eligible to any office or place
to test fitness for which the examination was held.

2. The Commission may refuse to certify--

(_a_) 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.

(_b_) An eligible who has made a false statement in his
application, or been guilty of fraud or deceit in any matter connected
with his application or examination, or who has been guilty of a crime
or of infamous or notoriously disgraceful conduct.

3. If an appointing or nominating officer to whom certification has been
made shall object in writing to any eligible named in the certificate,
stating that because of physical incapacity or for other good cause
particularly specified such eligible is not capable of properly
performing the duties of the vacant place, the Commission may, upon
investigation and ascertainment of the fact that the objection made is
good and well founded, direct the certification of another eligible in
place of the one to whom objection has been made.


GENERAL RULE V.

Executive officers shall in all proper ways facilitate civil-service
examinations; and customs officers, postmasters, and custodians of
public buildings at places where such examinations are to be held shall
for the purposes of such examinations permit and arrange for the use of
suitable rooms under their charge, and for heating, lighting, and
furnishing the same.


GENERAL RULE VI.

No person dismissed for misconduct, and no probationer who has failed
to receive absolute appointment or employment, shall be admitted to any
examination within one year after having been thus discharged from the
service.


GENERAL RULE VII.

1. Persons who have a _prima facie_ claim of preference for
appointments to civil offices under section 1754, Revised Statutes,
shall be preferred in certifications made under the authority of the
Commission to any appointing or nominating officer.

2. In making any reduction of force in any branch of the classified
civil service those persons shall be retained who, being equally
qualified, have been honorably discharged from the military or naval
service of the United States, and also the widows and orphans of
deceased soldiers and sailors.


GENERAL RULE VIII.

The Commission shall have authority to prescribe regulations under and
in accordance with these general rules and the rules relating specially
to each of the several branches of the classified service.


DEPARTMENTAL RULES.


DEPARTMENTAL RULE I.

1. The classified departmental service shall include the several
officers, clerks, and other persons in any Department, commission,
or bureau at Washington classified under section 163 of the Revised
Statutes, or by direction of the President for the purposes of the
examinations prescribed by the civil-service act of 1883, or for
facilitating the inquiries as to fitness of candidates for admission
to the departmental service in respect to age, health, character,
knowledge, and ability, as provided for in section 1753 of the Revised
Statutes.

2. The word "department," when used in the general or departmental
rules, shall be construed to mean any such Department, commission, or
bureau classified as above prescribed.


DEPARTMENTAL RULE II.

1. To test the fitness of applicants for admission to the classified
departmental service there shall be examinations as follows:

_Copyist examination_.--For places of $900 per annum and under.
This examination shall not include more than the following subjects:

(_a_) Orthography.

(_b_) Copying.

(_c_) Penmanship.

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

_Clerk examination_.--For places of $1,000 per annum and upward.
This examination shall not include more than the following subjects:

(_a_) Orthography.

(_b_) Copying.

(_c_) Penmanship.

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

(_e_) Elements of bookkeeping and of accounts.

(_f_) Elements of the English language.

(_g_) Letter writing.

(_h_) Elements of the geography, history, and government of the
United States.

_Supplementary examinations_.--For places which, in the opinion of
the Commission, require, in addition to the knowledge required to pass
the copyist or the clerk examination, certain technical, professional,
or scientific knowledge, or knowledge of a language other than the
English language, or peculiar or special skill.

_Special examinations_.--For places which, in the opinion of the
Commission, require certain technical, professional, or scientific
knowledge or skill. Each special examination shall embrace, in addition
to the special subject upon which the applicant is to be tested, as many
of the subjects of the clerk examination as the Commission may decide to
be necessary to test fitness for the place to be filled.

_Noncompetitive examinations_.--For any place in the departmental
service for which the Commission may from time to time (subject to the
conditions prescribed by General Rule III, clause 2) determine that such
examinations ought to be held.

2. An applicant may take the copyist or the clerk examination and any or
all of the supplementary and special examinations provided for the
departmental service, subject to such limitations as the Commission may
by regulation prescribe; but no person whose name is on a departmental
register of eligibles shall during the period of his eligibility be
allowed reexamination unless he shall satisfy the Commission that at the
time of his examination he was unable, because of illness or other good
cause, to do himself justice in said examination; and the rating upon
such reexamination shall cancel and be a substitute for the rating of
such person upon the previous examination.

3. Exceptions from examination in the classified departmental service
are hereby made as follows:

(_a_) One private secretary or one confidential clerk of the head
of each classified Department and of each assistant secretary thereof,
and also of each head of bureau appointed by the President by and with
the advice and consent of the Senate.

(_b_) Direct custodians of money for whose fidelity another officer
is under official bond; but this exception shall not include any officer
below the grade of assistant cashier or assistant teller.

(_c_) Disbursing officers who give bonds.

(_d_) Persons employed exclusively in the secret service of the
Government.

(_e_) Chief clerks.

(_f_) Chiefs of divisions.

4. No person appointed to a place under the exceptions to examination
hereby made shall within one year after appointment be transferred from
such place to a place not also excepted from examination, but after
service of not less than one year in an examination-excepted place he
may be transferred in the bureau in which he is serving to a place not
excepted from examination: _Provided_, That before any such
transfer may be made the Commission must certify that the person whom it
is proposed to so transfer has passed an examination to test fitness for
the place proposed to be filled by such transfer.


DEPARTMENTAL RULE III.

In compliance with the provisions of section 3 of the civil-service
act the Commission shall provide examinations for the classified
departmental service at least twice in each year in every State or
Territory in which there are a sufficient number of applicants for such
examinations; and the places and times of examinations shall, when
practicable, be so fixed that each applicant may know at the time of
making his application when and where he may be examined; but applicants
may be notified to appear at any place at which the Commission may order
an examination.


DEPARTMENTAL RULE IV.

1. Any person not under 20 years of age may make application for
admission to the classified departmental service, blank forms for which
purpose shall be furnished by the Commission.

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