Section 5
SEC. 5. This Act shall take effect on January first, nineteen hundred and seventeen; but the provisions relative to the members of the two Houses of the Legislature and to the Department Secretaries and Under Secretaries shall take effect beginning with the day of their election or appointment, as the case may be: Provided, however, That save in the case of vacancies, the Department Secretaries, acting jointly, are hereby authorized to postpone until a date not later than December thirty-first, nineteen hundred and eighteen, any provision of this Act affecting any position or employment in the Bureaus and Offices under their authority and control, provided such action is really required by the interest of the service; and in such case said Department Secretaries, acting jointly, shall take the necessary steps for the purpose of effecting a gradual and slow reduction of the salaries, distributing the difference between the present salaries and the salaries fixed by this Act over one or more items, as said Secretaries shall deem most advisable. Approved, December 14, 1916.