In the exercise of the power vested in the President by the Constitution, and by virtue of the seventeen hundred and fifty-third section of the Revised Statutes and of the civil-service act approved January 16, 1883, the following special rule for the regulation and improvement of the executive civil service is hereby promulgated:
SPECIAL RULE.
The names of all persons who shall have successfully passed their examination under the civil-service rules previous to July 16, 1884, may remain on the register of persons eligible for appointment two years from the date of their respective registrations, unless sooner appointed.
Approved, July 18, 1884.
CHESTER A. ARTHUR
Chester A. Arthur, Executive Order Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/204646