The Greenville times. [volume] (Greenville, Miss.) 1868-1917, 1883-01-13
Full Text Of the Civil Service Bill as
Passed by Both Houses.

Passed by Both Houses.
The full text of the bill "to reg.
ulate and improve the civil ser
vice. more generally known as the
civil service reform bill, as amend
ed and passed by both houses, is
as follows:
Whereas common justice re-
quires that so far as practicable,
all citizens duly qualified shall be
allowed equal opportunities, on
grounds of personal fitness, for Sc
curing appointment, employment,
and promotion in the subordinate
civil service of the United States /;
and
Whereas justice to the public
likewise requires that the govern
ment shall have the largest choice
among those likely to answer the
requirements of the public service;
and
I Whereas justice, as well as econ
omy, efficiency, and integrity in the
public service, will be promoted
by substituting open and uniform
competitive examinations for The
examinations heretofore held in
pursuance of the statutes of 1858
and 1855; therefore,
Belt enacted, &c, That the pres
ident Is authorized to appoint, by
and with the consent OF the SEN
ate, three persons, not more than
two of whom shall be adherents of
the same party, as civil service
commissioners, and said three
commissioners shall constitute the
United States civil service CON-
mission. Said commissioners shall
hold no other official place under
the United States,
The president may remove any
commissioner; and any vacancy
i'll the position of commissioners
shall be so filed by the president,
by and with the consent of the
senate, as to conform to said con-
Fditions for the first selection of
commissioners.
The commissioners shall each
receive a salary of three thousand
five hundred dollars a year, and
each of said commissioners shall
be paid his necessary travelling ex-
penses incurred in the discharge
of his duty as a commissioner.
Section |. That it shall be the
duty of said commission:
|. To aid the president, as he may
request, in preparing suitable rules
for carrying this act into effect:
and when said rules shall have
been promulgated it shall be the
duty Of al officers of the United
States in the departments and Off
ces to which any such rules may
relate, to aid in all proper ways in
carrying said rules and any modi-
fication thereof into effect.
II. And, among other things,
said rules shall provide aud de-
clare, as nearly as the conditions
of good administration will war
rant, as follows:
1. For open, competitive exami-
nations for testing the fitness of
applicants for the public service
now classified or to be classified
hereunder; such examinations
shall be practical in their charac-
ter, and so far as may be shall re.
late to those matters which will
fairly test the relative capacity and
fitness of the persons examined to
discharge the duties of that ser
vice into which they seek to be
appointed.
2. That all the offices, places,
and appointments so arranged, or
to be arranged, in classes, shall be
filled BY selections according to
grade from among those graded
highest as theresults of such COM
petitive examinations.
3. Appointments to the public
service aforesaid in the depart
ments at Washington shall be APP
portioned among the several states
and territories and the District of
Columbia upon the basis of popu-
lation as ascersined at the last
preceding census.
Every application for an exami-
nation shall contain, among other
things, a statement under oath,
setting forth his or her actual
bona fide residence at the time of
making the application, as well as
how long be or she has been a
resident of said place.
4. That there shall be a period
of probation before any absolute
appointment or employment afore-
said.
.. That promotion shall be from
the lower grades to the higher on
the basis of merit and competi-
tion.