Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1897-10-16
STATUS OF DEPUTIES
Argument Submitted to the Attorney
General.
CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSIOE'S Case
Revenue Collectors Assistants in
the Classified Service.
STATUTES AND AUTHORITIES

The civil service commission has sub
mitted to the Attorney General it's argu-
ments in regard to the status of deputy
collectors of internal revenue. This is
the case in which the collectors of internal
revenue at Richmond, Va: Nashville.
Tenn; Dallas Texas, and Pittsburg, Pa,
claimed that their deputy collectors ceased
to have authority to discharge their duties
un:ess reappointed by the new collector,
and that the collectors had the right to re-
appoint the old deputy collectors or 10
appoint new men without regard to the
civil service law.
The commission takes the ground that if
the contention of the collectors is sustained
it will result in taking out of the classified
service three-fourths of the employees of the
government the arguments on which
the collectors base their case az ply equally
to many other branches of the government
service.
The argument of the commission is very
thorough. 1t covers over thirty pages Of
typewriter matter. In some respects this
Is regarded as the most important case
the commission has ever mad to deal with
and II 1t should be decided adversely that
action will be the greatest setback civil
service reform has had since its was In
augurated.
Ihe argument begins with the question.
Are deputy collectors of internal reve-
nue. officers of the United States?"
Collector and Deputy.
Many legal authorities are cited and the
&C mmission says:
ut would appear by the foregoing that
deputy collectors are officers of the gov
ernment, have been. and would be, so rec
OPnlZe0 under the definitiopS nd jtaf
quoted, and that further and with great
force, the statutes themselves recognize
expressly the deputy collector as an Of
1cer of the government"
The commission continues to argue.
1T having been shown that a deputy COL
lector is an officer of the government. 1t
logically follows that his tenure of office
n.est be determined by those principles of
law which underlie and govern the tenure
OF officers of the government and at
tentlon Is naturally directed to the tenure
OF the collector as well as CT the deputy.
Section 2l42 shows that a. collectors Of
nee is not an office which has what is
known as a fixed term,' but said office is.
among that class of offices held at the
pleasure of the appointing power and, as
IS well Known, such office is terminated
Cutside OF death, at the will of the appoint
Ing power."
This position is sustained by a number of
court decisions quoted in the argument
and saysf
"hen Deputy's Term Ends.
The suggestion has been made that Sec
ton 31E,, R. s., must be construed to mean
| that the right of a deputy collector to his
sofhce terminates by law when another col
lector succeeds. 1t would seem, however,
upon reading the entire section that such
a construction is forced and unwarranted
/ Inc second paragraph Of the section, upon
which reliance is placed, says:
In case OF a vacancy occurring in the
once OF the collector, the deputies of such
collector shall continue to act until his suc
cessor is appointed
Nov, If the paragraph stopped here or
II tnese words were all that were contained
IN the section. there would be force in the
contentiCn but, unfor: :unateIy for the ar
gument, the words quoted are hut a very
email portion of the entire section Now
upon reading all of the terms of this sec
ton together-which is clearly the way to
construe the statute-what is the intent of
section 3149. and to what end was it made
law? 1t does not seem to nave been for the
purpose of declaring, as principle of law,
that without any enabling statute the depu-
ties could not continue in their Offices after
there was vacancy in the Office of the COL
lector who appointed them: but that it was
for the purpose of providing some one in
the person of deputy, 10 discharge the
duties of the office of the coflector-in other
words, to provide for the succession of the
personnel in the Office of the collector
Deputies md the Classified Service.
The third question considered by the
commission IS: Are deputy collectors
properly in the classified service and sub
ject to TIE provisions of the civil service
act and rules?'
Section 1883. Revised Statutes, provides:
The President is authorized to prescribe
such regulations fer the admission of per-
sons into the civil service of the United
States as may best promote the efficiency
thereof, and ascertain the fitness of each
&c candidate in respect to age, health, char
acter. knowledge and ability for the branch
of service into which he seeks to enter;
end for this purpose he may employ suit
able persons to conduct such inquiries. and
may prescribe their duties, and estab-
lish regula tions for the conduct of per-
sons who may receive appointments in the
civil service"
The argument continues: "By this pro-
vision the President of the United States
is authorized to prescribe regulations for
admission to any position in any part Of
the civil service. without exception or
limitation, or, in other words. to prescribe
the manner In which the power of APP
pointment thereto is to be exercised. r'he
act Of January 16. 1888, commonly known
as the civil service act. practically confers
the same authority, but goes further and
outlines the method in which the President
Shall exercise his authority"
I The law relating to the classified service
Is further quoted, as are execution orders
on the same subject. and the commission
says:
'The foregoing brings us to the inevitable
conclusion a. that the provisions of eec-
tion 1888. Revised Statutes, and of the
civil service act, are not inconsistent or
in conflict with the provisions of other
statutes relating to the appointment of
deputies of internal revenue: CO that the
Presidents action in directing their classi-
ficaticn was following the clear intent of
Congress as indicated by the precedents es-
tablished by Congress itself; CD that their
classification is distinctly authorized by
the direct language of statute. and a. that
this authority has been duly and regularly
exercised, and deputy collectors of internal
revenue are in the classified service SUBJ
ject to the provisions Of the civil service
act
PRINCESS KAIULANI ARRIVES.