OFFICER. In a genera] sense, a person who holds an office, or who is vested with authority to perform certain functions or do certain acts in the interest of, or in and about the management or direction of, a business or 0 government. As respects a private business the term is generally applied to certain members of a corporation who are specially intrusted with the management of its affairs, and upon whom service of papers is generally required to be made to be binding upon the company. Under this class are commonly in cluded the president, directors, treasurer, secre tary, and other persons similarly intrusted with an active participation iu the affairs of the com pany by the constitution or by-laws. For further information as to the rights, duties, and liabili ties of such officers, see such titles as CORPORA TION; DIRECTOR; ULTRA VIBES; CONTRACT, etc.; and also consult the authorities referred to under CORPORATION; AGENT, etc.
With relation to governmental officers it has been said that the term 'ollice' "embraces the idea of tenure, duration, emolmnent, and duties." But it seems certain that emolument is not neces sary to constitute one an officer, since there are numerous positions which are strictly termed 'offices,' but which carry no salary or emolument of any kind. It does appear necessary, however, that a Government position must have more than one of the characteristics mentioned to consti tute the person, holding it an officer. Thus, if a person simply performs such duties as are re quired of him by those employing him, and his responsibility is limited to these, and he receives no certificate of appointment, takes no oath, has no term of office. and exercises no powers and discharges no duties conferred upon him directly by law. he is not an officer, and he does not hold an office, although he is employed by public officers and is wholly engaged about public work.
An officer is to he distinguished from a mere employee. The most important basis of distinc tion is that an employee is such by virtue of a contract. while a person cannot be made an offi cer by virtue of a contract merely, hut his posi tion finds its source and limitations in some act of governmental power. The conception of an officer, however, does not depend in any way upon the character of the dirties to be performed, nor is it essential that the officer should be invested with any power of compulsion, or that he should be permanently occupied in the discharge of offi cial duties, or that his duties should or should not be discretiocary. The only requirement that appears to he necessary is that the duties shall be discharged in the interest of the Government, and that the right to discharge them shall be based upon some provision of law, and not upon a contract. Governmental officers are commonly classified as executive, or those whose duties are mainly to enforce the execution of the laws; legislative, or those whose duties relate chiefly to the enactment of laws; judicial, or those whose duties relate chiefly to the interpretation and application of the laws; ministerial. or those whose duties are chiefly to carry out the lawful instructions of their superiors; military, or those having military commissions, and floral, nr those having command in the navy. See such titles as EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT; JUDGE. etc.
Another important classification is that of honorary officers and professional officers, profes sional officers being those who devote their entire time to the discharge of public functions and are restricted by law from exercising any other occupation, and who receive a compensation sifiliciently large to enable then] to live with out resorting to other means. Honorary officers, on the other hand, are those who do not devote their entire time to their public duties, but may at the same time carry on sonic regular business as a means of support, and receive a compensa tion which is insufficient for support, or merely nominal, or may receive no compensation at all. In the United States the legal distinction which most nearly corresponds to this is that between hieratic(' and honorary officers, the conception of professional officers being not yet fully worked out. The professional officer is characteristic of the bureaucratic administrative system, such as that which existed in Prussia from 1720 to 180S, and in France in 1800; the honorary officer is characteristic of the system of administration (called self-government) which existed in Eng land in the eighteenth century. All existing systems of administration are formed by a com bination of professional and honorary officers. the honorary-officer system predominating in the United States and the professional-officer system in Europe, especially upon the Continent.
Most oflicers become such by either appoint ment or election, the method of election being much more common in the United States and in England than in most other modern countries. The official relation is sometimes formed by draw ing of lots, as in the case of the jury, or as a result of seniority, or sometimes by inheritance. In general it can be formed only in one of the ways recognized by law, and the acts of persons who assume to be officers without right are void both as against the public and third parties; but persons who, though not legally officers, are yet acting under cover of right are regarded as law ful officers for many purposes, and are called officers de facto. In England and in the States, since the reign of Queen Anne, the rule has been that the title to au office is to be tried by the writ of quo warranto or an information in the nature of a quo warranto. One who is clearly entitled to an office may obtain posses sion of the insignia of office, the public buildings, records, etc.. by mandamus.
The general obligations imposed upon officers are of two kinds; First, those which the law posi tively states that the officers must or must not do, and the violation of which is punished by penalties of criminal character. Second, those which arise from the very existence of the official relation, and which are maintained chiefly by the esprit the corps of the official body. When the esprit the corps is high, the system of positive requirements is usually correspondingly weak.
For the rights and duties of various particular officers, and for further information, see the titles treating, of various public officers. as BAILIFF, DEPUTY, NOTARY Prnme. etc.: also DE FACTO; ULTRA VINES; CONSTITUTIONAL LAW, etc. Con sult the authorities referred to under ADMINIS TRATIVE LAW; GOVERNMENT.