A commission for a term of years gives to the officer no greater legal right to the office than though it ran "during the pleasure of the President." Howard v. U. S. (1887), 22 Ct. Cl. 305.

Where an act of Congress gives the President power to appoint an officer, without defining the tenure by which the office is to be held, a commission may legally issue to the officer to hold the office during

the pleasure of the President. (1818) 1 Op. Atty. Gen. 212.

New commission.-Where a new commission is accepted it supersedes the old one; and the four years, prescribed by law as the official term of the appointee, must commence to run from its date. The bonds taken under the first commission cease to have effect when the commission terminates. (1830) 2 Op. Atty. Gen. 333.

13. Threats against the President. That any person who knowingly and willfully deposits or causes to be deposited for conveyance in the mail or for delivery from any post office or by any letter carrier any letter, paper, writing, print, missive, or document containing any threat to take the life of or to inflict bodily harm upon the President of the United States, or who knowingly and willfully otherwise makes any such threat against the President, shall upon conviction be fined not exceeding one thousand dollars or imprisoned not exceeding five years, or both. Act of Feb. 14, 1917 (39 Stat. 919).

Notes of Decisions.

Words constituting.-U. S. v. Stickrath (D. C. 1917), 242 Fed. 151; Clark v. U. S. (C. C. A. 1918), 250 Fed. 449; V. S. v. Jasick (D. C. 1918), 252 Fed. 931.

Words not constituting.-U. S. v. Franch (D. C. 1917), 243 Fed. 785; U. S. v. Metzdorf (D. C. 1918), 252 Fed. 933.

Question for jury.-U. S. v. Stobo (D. C. 1918), 251 Fed. 689.

Intent. It is no defense to a prosecution under this act that the language used was intended as a joke, it not being claimed that it was so understood or intended so to be understood. Ragansky v. U. S. (C. C. A. 1918), 253 Fed. 643.

A threat under this act is "knowingly " made if the maker comprehends the meaning of the words used and "willfully " made if, knowing their meaning, he voluntarily and consciously utters them as the declaration of an apparent intention.

Id.

Other offenses.-Joinder of count under this act with counts under the espionage act, post 2857, in same indictment, held improper by court below. Hall v. U. S. (C. C. A. 1919), 256 Fed. 748, 749.

Nature of threat.-An oral threat to take the life of the President violates this act. Nor need the threat be communicated to the President, to complete the offense. V. S. v. Stobo (D. C. 1910), 251 Fed. 689; U. S. v. Metzdorf (D. C. 1918), 252 Fed. 933. The indictment should aver that the threat was against the President in his public charac ter. U. S. v. Metzdorf (D. C. 1918), 252 Fed. 933. The mere fact that the threat was made conditional upon an opportunity to fulfill it makes it none the less an offense. U. S. v. Jasick (D. C. 1918), 252 Fed. 931.

CHAPTER 2.

PROVISIONS APPLICABLE TO SEVERAL CLASSES OF OFFICERS AND EMPLOYEES.

14. Notification of appointments when made without consent of the Senate.-—
Whenever the President, without the advice and consent of the Senate, desig-
nates, authorizes, or employs any person to perform the duties of any office,
he shall forthwith notify the Secretary of the Treasury thereof, and the
Secretary of the Treasury shall thereupon communicate such notice to all
the proper accounting and disbursing officers of his Department. R. §. 1774.
See notes to 91, post.

15. Notification of rejections and confirmations by the Senate.—The Secretary
of the Senate shall, at the close of each session thereof, deliver to the Secretary

of the Treasury, and to each of the Assistant Secretaries of the Treasury, and to each of the Auditors, and to each of the Comptrollers in the Treasury, and to the Treasurer, and to the Register of the Treasury, a full and complete list, duly certified, of all the persons who have been nominated to and rejected by the Senate during such session, and a like list of all the offices to which nominations have been made and not confirmed and filled at such session. R. S. 1775.

Of the two Comptrollers in the Treasury, mentioned in this section, who were authorized by R. S. 268, the designation of the First Comptroller was changed to Comptroller of the Treasury, and the office of Second Comptroller was abolished and its duties, powers, etc., were transferred to the Comptroller, by sec. 4 of the Dockery Act of July 31, 1894 (28 Stat. 162).

16. Recess appointments.-No money shall be paid from the Treasury, as salary, to any person appointed during the recess of the Senate, to fill a vacancy in any existing office, if the vacancy existed while the Senate was in session and was by law required to be filled by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, until such appointee has been confirmed by the Senate. R. S. 1761.

Notes of Decisions.

'Vacancy" defined. The general rule is that, where Congress has not authorized the officer to hold over, his incumbency must be deemed to cease at the end of his term, though no appointment of a successor may then be made. (1882) 17 Op. Atty. Gen. 448.

A vacancy caused by death or resig nation or by the creation of a new office is within this section. (1907) 26 Op. Atty. Gen. 234.

17. Civil service regulations.-The President is authorized to prescribe such regulations for the admission of persons into the civil service of the United States as may best promote the efficiency thereof, and ascertain the fitness of each candidate in respect to age, health, character, knowledge, and ability for the branch of the service into which he seeks to enter; and for this purpose he may employ suitable persons to conduct such inquiries, and may prescribe their duties, and establish regulations for the conduct of persons who may receive appointments in the civil service. R. S. 1753.

The authority conferred upon the President by this section was not taken away by the civil service act of Jan. 16, 1883 (22 Stat. 403), except in so far as it was inconsistent with the provisions of that act, by a provision of sec. 7 thereof, post, 18.

Notes of Decisions.

**Civil service" defined.-Persons in the employment of the Government, whose services are special, being rendered to it as a government, and whose salary or pay is directly fixed or indirectly limited by law, constitute the civil service. Persons in the employment of the Government, whose services are such as might be rendered to any employer, whose wages come under the restriction of no statute, and who receive for their services whatever they may be worth in the place where they happen to be rendered, are not in the civil service. Baker t. U. S. (1868), 4 Ct. Cl. 227.

Who are officers. See notes to 91, post.

Regulations for appointment.-The President may by his regulations restrict original entry into the civil service to one or more of the classes that may exist, or permit such entry to all of them, as in his judg ment will best promote the efficiency of the service. (1883) 17 Op. Atty. Gen. 621.

Determination of qualifications. An employee's fitness, capacity, and attention to his duties are questions of discretion and judgment, to be determined by his superior officers, and such questions are beyond the jurisdiction of any court. (1907) 26 Op. Atty. Gen. 364.

A statute which empowers an officer or tribunal to appoint a person having certain

qualifications confers upon that officer or tribunal the power to determine the qualifications and eligiblity of the appointee. (1910) 28 Op. Atty. Gen. 180.

Removal. Neither this section nor the civil service act of Jan. 16, 1883, puts any restrictions on the power of removal from appointive offices, except for refusal to contribute to political funds or neglect to render political service. Page v. Moffett (C. C. 1898), 85 Fed. 38, 39, 40. See, also, as to the equitable jurisdiction of the Federal

courts, In re Sawyer, 124 U. S. 200, and World's Columbian Exp. v. U. S., 18 U. S. App. 159, 6 Circ. Ct. App. 71, 56 Fed. 667; Butler v. White, 83 id. 578; Carr v. Gordon, 82 id. 373.

Officers in classified service. See post, 52, and notes.

Restoration to office.-An officer who has resigned or been dismissed can not be restored to the office formerly held by him except by reappointment. (1906) 25 Op. Atty. Gen. 579.

18. Examination for the civil service. That after the expiration of six months from the passage of this act no officer or clerk shall be appointed, and no person shall be employed to enter or be promoted in either of the said classes now existing, or that may be arranged hereunder pursuant to said rules, until he has passed an examination, or is shown to be specially exempted from such examination in conformity herewith. But nothing herein contained shall be construed to take from those honorably discharged from the military or naval service any preference conferred by the seventeen hundred and fiftyfourth section of the Revised Statutes nor to take from the President any authority not inconsistent with this act conferred by the seventeen hundred and fifty-third section of said statutes; nor shall any officer not in the executive branch of the government, or any person merely employed as a laborer or workman, be required to be classified hereunder; nor, unless by direction of the Senate, shall any person who has been nominated for confirmation by the Senate be required to be classified or to pass an examination. Sec. 7, act of Jan. 16, 1883 (22 Stat. 406).

Provisions of R. S. 164, for examination for appointment of clerks in the executive departments, were superseded by those of this act.

Notes of Decisions.

Determination of eligibility.-Jurisdiction to determine the eligibility of an applicant for appointment in the classified service ies with the Civil Service Commission; and, the Attorney General can not properly render an opinion to the head of an executive department regarding the eligibility of a temporary clerk to permanent appointment ander the civil service. (1910) 28 Op. Atty. Gen. 393.

Certification of eligibles.-The head of a department has no authority to withdraw his notice to the Civil Service Commission of his revocation of a selection for appointment and appoint the same party previously certified without a further certification from the Commission, though, through a misunderstanding, a wrong has been done the party originally selected. (1831) 20 Op. Atty. Gen. 64.

An irregularity in the certification of the name of an eligible for appointment under the civil service is cured by the probational and absolute appointment of such a person. (1896) 21 Op. Atty. Gen

289.

The certificate of eligibles delivered to the appointing officer by the subordinates of the Civil Service Commission is a complete authority to such officer to make any selection he may desire therefrom, and is a complete protection to the appointee. (1896) 21 Op. Atty. Gen. 335.

Nothing in this act prevents the certifcation by the Commission of eligibles for a vacaney from registers not designating functions of the nature suggested by the title of the position given in the specific appropriation providing for the compensation of the employees. (1908) 26 Op. Atty. Gen. 522.

An appointment by the Secretary of State, without reference to or conformity with the regulations prescribed for appointments in the classified service, made pursuant to the act of July 1, 1898 (30 Stat. 645), authorizing the temporary employment of stenographers and typewriters in his department, is lawful, (1899) 22 Op. Atty. Gen. 556.

Under an act making an appropriation for an engineer and assistant engineer of