High Commissioner

“ It seems to me that Judge Williams, in the speech he made at the banquet I had the honor to give to the British High Commissioners in New York, expressed sentiments which can only be similarly construed. ‘Many persons,’ he said, ‘no doubt, will be dissatisfied with their [the Joint High Commissioners’] labors; but to deal with questions so complicated, involving so many conflicting interests, so as to please everybody, is a plain impossibility ”

“ Each province has at its head a Royal Commissioner who has extensive powers, but who holds office at the pleasure of the king, though in the first instance his appointment is generally for some definite period. The Commissioners are not simply responsible for the good government, or for the collection of the taxes in the district under their charge, but they are intended to form connecting links between the central and the outlying portions of the kingdom. ”

“ The Commissioner—often wrongly described as the Chief Commissioner—is appointed by the Crown on the recommendation of the Home Secretary, and has wide, almost autocratic powers. It is an Imperial force which has duties apart from the care of London. ”

“ They do not appoint the superior officers, but it is to be expected that their advice will be considered by the Secretary of State, with whom the nominations lie. As a Commissioner cannot be in more than one place at a time, they cannot be expected to have any intimate knowledge of the capability of the men who depend for promotion on them ”

“ And in the case of death, sickness, resignation, or necessary absence, the place of every such Commissioner respectively shall be supplied in the same manner as such Commissioner was first appointed; and the new Commissioner shall take the same oath or affirmation and do the same duties. ”

“ He has plenty of energy, a cool head, experience in public affairs, and may be expected to do all that can be done with the powers of his new office, the value of which must depend much on the character of the Commissioner and the support and direction of the Secretary and of the President. ”

“ The Commissioner of the General Land Office exercises a general superintendence over the subordinate officers of his department, and is clothed with liberal powers of control, to be exercised for the purposes of justice, and to prevent the consequences of inadvertence, irregularity, mistake, and fraud, in the important and extensive operations of that officer for the disposal of the public domain. ”

“ This commission ought to be composed in part of graduates of West Point, in part of captains of police in sympathy with the work, the police commissioner, and one or two civilians, of whom one at least should be a lawyer thoroughly versed in municipal affairs. There is an old adage that, "A commission is a noun of multitude which may signify many, but seldom signifying much;" but we have equally good authority that, "In a multitude of counselors is safety." ”

“ A commissioner, appointed by the President and Senate, was to control the Bureau, with an office force not exceeding ten clerks. The President might also appoint commissioners in the seceded states, and to all these offices military officials might be detailed at regular pay. ”

“ The commission shall elect annually a chairman from its own members. It shall have the power and authority to employ experts, clerks, and a secretary, and to pay for their services and such other expenses as may be necessary and proper, not exceeding, in all, the annual appropriation that may be made by said city or village for said commission. The body creating the commission shall by ordinance or resolution provide what compensation if any, each of such commissioners shall receive for his services as such commissioner. ”

“ Now I think we had better go to-morrow and see Broek, and also Saandam, and I am going to take a commissioner."
Mr. George had employed a commissioner once before, as the reader will perhaps recollect, namely, at the Hague; and perhaps I ought to stop here a moment to explain more fully what a commissioner is. He is a servant hired by the day to conduct strangers about the town where they reside, and about the environs, if necessary, to show them what there is that is curious and wonderful there. ”

“ I speak from experience in saying that nothing can exceed the kindness and urbanity of the Commissioner of Crown Lands to all and every one going to his office for the purpose of taking up land; but it would be obviously impossible for this gentleman, and incompatible with the public duties of himself and his assistants, to enter minutely into the wants and requirements of each individual emigrant, or to give that detailed advice and assistance which in many cases is so absolutely necessary. ”

“ The power of a commissioner, therefore, is judicial in the highest sense,—in the sense of the constitution. His decision cannot be reheard or reëxamined by any judge, or by any court, of any state, or of the United States. In no other case can a commissioner perform any judicial act, or issue any executive order, whose validity may not be reëxamined in the court for which he acts, or in some other. He cannot strike a blow, nor fine a dollar, nor punish by imprisonment for an hour. ”

“ He is but an agent of the commissioner, appointed by him, and removable by him at his pleasure, to procure information needed to aid in the performance of his own official duties. He may appoint one or a dozen persons to do the same thing. ”

“ The question is frequently put whether it is better to have five commissioners and let them choose their own chairman as a mere presiding officer, or to provide that one commissioner specially elected shall be chairman, with special executive and administrative powers. ”

“ Unfortunately the Governor, who has to appoint this Commissioner, and the Senate, which has to confirm the nomination, could not agree upon a suitable person, and the law, which, if the right man be chosen for the responsible position, has great advantages, did not go into effect. ”

“ No more than three commissioners may be appointed from the same political party, and the President has the power to remove any commissioner for inefficiency, neglect of duty or malfeasance in office. Authority is given to the commission to inquire into the management of the business of all common carriers subject to the provisions of the act and to require the attendance of witnesses and to invoke the aid of any court of the United States for that purpose. ”

“ The writer, after dwelling on the unexampled powers that the commissioners enjoy, remarks that they are not likely to be abused, because a commissioner’s prospect of future employment in this profitable capacity depends on his character for integrity and justice. ”

“ The organization and functioning of the Legislative Council shall be determined by its internal regulations. Article 52 The People's Commissioners shall be elected by direct universal suffrage, with one People's Commissioner for every 100,000 inhabitants; each fraction of the population equal to or greater than 50,000 inhabitants shall give the right to one additional People's Commissioner. ”

“ The commissioner is usually an officer in what may be called the prime of Indian official life, about forty years of age, and of about twenty years’ standing in his service. He is usually selected by Government from the executive officers known as collector-magistrates of districts, and the selection not unfrequently causes considerable jealousy and dissatisfaction, especially if the selected commissioner happens to be junior to any of the collector-magistrates in the division to which he is appointed. The commissioner is the local representative of Government in his own division. ”

“ One commissioner shall be named by His Majesty and one by the President of the United States, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate thereof, and the said two commissioners shall agree on the choice of a third, or, if they can not so agree, they shall each propose one person, and of the two names so proposed one shall be drawn by lot in the presence of the two original commissioners ”

“ The variety of the concerns and the magnitude and complexity of the details occupying and dividing the attention of the Commissioner appear to render it difficult, if not impracticable, for that officer by any possible assiduity to bestow on all the multifarious subjects upon which he is called to act the ready and careful attention due to their respective importance, unless the Legislature shall assist him by a law providing, or enabling him to provide, for a more regular and economical distribution of labor, with the incident responsibility among those employed under his direction. ”

“ The Commissioner is independent and subject only to the national Constitution, this Constitution and the law, and must be impartial and must exercise the powers and perform the functions of the office of Commissioner without fear, favour or prejudice. ”

“ STROEBEL. How do you want me to get my data, Commissioner? Shall I summon the important people involved?
COMMISSIONER [with emphasis] . Only ... the important ... names ... that's all. By the way, how far have you gone in the case? Have you taken any further steps?
STROEBEL. No. I will examine the Hochstetter woman in a little while....
COMMISSIONER. And Schmuttermaier? Has he orders to make any further raids?
STROEBEL. Not yet. I want to read the diary first.
COMMISSIONER. Above all, I do not want him to act without instructions. People of no importance like to do important things. ”

“ He joined the home circuit, but his practice was mainly at the parliamentary bar, where his clear elocution and power of lucid statement soon secured him a good position. In 1868 he was appointed an assistant commissioner to inquire into the employment of children, young persons, and women in agriculture. ”

“ Such commissioner shall devote his entire time to the duties of the office, and shall not hold any position of trust or profit, engage in any occupation or business interfering with or inconsistent with his duties, or serve on or under any political committee or as manager of any political campaign for any candidate or party. ”

“ No supernumerary commissioner shall be appointed without being examined, and giving bonds for the administration of his office. No dependent or member of a household of our said president and auditors may be appointed to such commissionership, under penalty that the clerk appointed contrary to this ordinance shall lose all fees and salary for the time during which he shall occupy himself with the commissionership. ”

“ Before entering upon his work the commissioner shall take and subscribe his oath to perform his duties faithfully and impartially. He shall prosecute the work with diligence and dispatch, and shall have authority to employ such assistants as may be needed therein, and he shall include in his report a statement of the work done, the time employed, and the expenses incurred. ”

“ They say that the conduct of the commissioners for years has been such as to poison a patrolman from the time he first applies for admission to the force. The payment for appointment, the reputation of the politicians in the Board, the uses made of him by his executive superiors in their private schemes, and by the Commissioners, directly and indirectly, for their partisan purposes, together with the general moral tone490 of the force and the work, all tend to teach him how he is to do for himself when he can. ”

“ The Commissioner's suggestions in reference to the propriety of consolidating into one statute the principal features of the pre-emption and homestead laws, are, in my judgment, specially worthy of the attention of Congress. The necessity of a re-organization of the clerical force in his office, and of vesting him with authority to appoint special agents who shall bring the subordinate land-officers more immediately under his supervision, is clearly and forcibly stated, and the matter will, I earnestly hope, receive the early and favorable action of Congress. ”

“ The commissioner at the head of the department and all officers and employés, including street-sweepers in charge of districts, should be selected solely because of their fitness for their respective duties, and should not be removed except for good and sufficient cause. ”

“ The duties of a commissioner are almost as varied and numerous as it is possible to imagine, but he must also fully appreciate the doctrine lately enunciated by Mr. Gladstone regarding the duties of the Chancellor 122of the Exchequer. It is not sufficient that he shall deal with all the work that comes to his hand, but he must have time to look about him, and seek for and make work, and initiate those reforms and improvements for which there is such ample opportunity in almost every condition of civilised society. ”

“ As a member of the Board and the official responsible for selecting the membership of its panels, 35 U.S.C. § 7 (1964 ed.) , the Commissioner may be appropriately considered as bound by Board determinations. No such consideration operates to prevent his secking review of adverse decisions rendered by the CCPA. ↑ Act of March 2, 1927, c. ”

“ The necessity of a living, central, permanent authority had been rendered obvious by the disastrous working of the old system, arising partly from the absence of such control—an authority accumulating experience in itself, independent of local control, uninterested in favour of local abuse, and responsible to the Government. A Board of three Commissioners was therefore appointed under the Act, themselves appointing assistant Commissioners, capable of receiving the powers of the Commission by delegation. ”

“ The Commissioner and such of the officers subordinate to him as may be authorised by the Central Government by notification in the Official Gazette in this behalf may, for the discharge of their functions under the Scheme, exercise all or any of the powers which the Central Government may exercise under section 5.
(4) All officers and authorities of the Government shall act in aid of the Commissioner. ”