he is eligible to file an application as soon as he establishes a residence, and such residence shall be held for that purpose to be established when the change from his former residence to the new one is actually made. (Minutes, Mar. 8, 1892, clause 2.) 7. Whenever an eligible changes his legal residence to a State different from the one from which his application was made he will be required to furnish new certificates of vouchers as in the first instance. (Minutes, Mar. 22, 1898, clause 1.) Retired army officers. Drawing of civil salaries by.—See Decisions of Attorneys-General, ante, 7. Secret service. To constitute secret service, the employment as well as the service must be concealed. (See opinion of Attorney-General, May 7, 1885, Vol. XVIII, p. 172.) Storekeeper. Customs service.-A storekeeper employed for occasional duty has the same status as a clerk employed for occasional duty. (Minutes, May 28, 1897, clause 7, vol. 21. p. 232.) Substitutes. 1. In view of the fifth section of the act of March 3, 1893, defining the hours of labor in the departments, and showing under what circumstances leaves of absence may be granted, substitutes may no longer be employed. (First Comptroller, March 14, 1893. See opinion at p. 128 ante. 2. Postal service.-Probationary appointment begins with appointment to substitute place, and promotion may be made to regular place in that order before expiration of probationary period. (Letter to St. Paul postal board, Nov. 23, 1889, Book L, p. 360.) 3. In all future cases it will be insisted upon that promotions from substitute to regular positions shall be made in the order of the date of probational appointment, a course which must be pursued in order to preserve the spirit of the civil-service law and rules. The method which you followed in the case cited, promoting according to seniority in substitute service in each separate division, if adopted, would result in the promotion of substitutes serving in divisions where changes are frequent, while those serving in divisions where changes occur less frequently would remain upon the substitute list long after their more fortunate associates, probationally appointed after they were, had secured places on your regular force. (Letter to Louisville postmaster, dated Nov. 23, 1892, File 4080. See, also, Minutes, May 18, 1888, clause 3; July 7, 1888, clause 1; Aug. 14, 1888, clause 2.) 4. For the purpose of determining with certainty the order of appointment as substitute, and therefore the order of priority for appointment to the regular force, the date given in the nomination to the Postmaster-General of a person for appointment to the grade of substitute carrier is to be taken as the date of such appointment. The date of commencement of service and of pay of a person appointed to the substitute force of any other grade is to be taken as the date of such appointment. (Circular letter No. 2, of January, 1891.) 5. When more persons than one are nominated on the same day for appointment as substitute letter carriers, their seniority as such substitute letter carriers shall be determined by their standing or rating on the eligible register, and not by the order of their selection. (See Post-Office Department's circular letter to postmasters, dated Oct. 10, 1894.) 6. Effect of cessation of temporary employment.-Certain persons employed temporarily on account of the increase in the business of an office during the summer H. Doc. 314—18 months have been separated from their temporary employment: the question arises as to whether they are relegated by this separation from temporary regular employment to their former positions on the substitute force of the office, or whether they become entirely separated from the service. The Commission holds that they are relegated to their former positions on the substitute force of the office, and do not become separated from the service unless so separated by some action of the PostOffice Department intended to have that effect. (Minutes, Oct. 5, 1893, clause 5. 7. A substitute letter carrier may perform any duty, with or without compensation, in the post-office at which he is employed, when he is not actually engaged in the performance of substitute letter-carrier work. (Minutes of Jan. 2, 1891, clause ?,, 8. The Commission in its discretion may authorize a senior substitute to waive his right of promotion to a vacancy in the position of clerk or carrier in favor of the substitute standing next highest on the list and retain his position at the head of the substitute list; but this will not be permitted until the Commission shall have ascertained through direct correspondence that such is the wish of the parties concerned. (Minutes of Mar. 2, 1895, clause 20.) See Decisions of Attorney-General, ante, 17. Transfer. 1. Where charged to apportionment.—In the event of a transfer being made from the classified postal service or the classified customs service to the classified departmental service, such transfer shall be treated as an original appointment to enter the departmental service and shall be charged to the apportionment of the State of which the person transferred is a legal resident. (Minutes, Apr. 25, 1888, clause 2; Sept. 5, 1896, vol. 20, p. 336.) 2. Substitutes are not eligible for transfer. (Letter Book 10, p. 83.) 3. A person may not be transferred to a department, under the rules governing transfer, if not eligible under the age limitation for entrance examinations. (Minutes. April 3, 1889, clause 3, vol. 11.) 4. Transfers from an excepted to a nonercepted place in an office, with a view to further transfer immediately to another office or department. Where this purpose is stated in the papers in the form of a requisition for such transfer, a single examination may suffice for both transfers, the examination to test fitness for the place to which the second transfer is made, provided that such transfer requires an examination of equal or higher grade than the transfer from the excepted to the nonexcepted place; but if, on the other hand, transfer to the nonexcepted place requires a higher examination than the subsequent transfer, then that examination shall serve as the basis for the double transfer. (Minutes, July 28, 1893.) 5. An eligible on the clerk register who asks that his name may be transferred to the carrier register, since the clerk and the carrier examinations are the same, will be informed that his request can not be complied with, the Commission holding that although the examinations for clerk and carrier are the same, the registers are not interchangeable, and can not be so made, for the reason that age limits for the two grades, clerk and carrier, differ under the rules, and because it would open the way for eligibles on one register to seek advantage by transfer to another register, and, for the same reason, retransfer again. This ruling in this case will have general application to all classified post-offices. (Minutes, Nov. 20, 1893, File 4448.) 6. Transfers from classified post-offices to the classified Railway Mail Service can not be made without examination, notwithstanding entry into the postal service through examination, but transfers may be made from the classified Railway Mail Service to the classified postal service without examination, if the person to be transferred entered the Railway Mail Service through examination. (Minutes, Nov. 7, 1894.) See Mechanical trades. Vacancy. Method of filling when the compensation is smaller than the highest eligible will accept.A vacancy occurred in a certain division of the Railway Mail Service. The salary of the position was only $470 per annum. The ninth eligible on the list will accept the appointment, but there are eight men ahead of him on the register. The Commission held that these eight men must be offered the appointment seriatim, in order of their rank. If none of them accepts, the ninth eligible may be appointed, but the first eligible in point of rank who says he will accept the place must be appointed. (Minutes, Jan. 31, 1895, clause 6.) Voluntary service. Not permitted. The performance of voluntary service without compensation for the purpose of acquiring the necessary knowledge and skill to pass an examination prescribed by the Commission is a contravention of law. (See act of May 1, 1884, 23 Stat., 17, sec. 1; Minutes, Oct. 9, 1888.) |