EXAMINATIONS AND APPOINTMENTS.

During the year ended June 30, 1911, 23,256 persons were appointed, transferred, or promoted, upon examination, to positions in the competitive classified service, and 2,099 others were transferred, promoted, or reinstated, on certificate without further examination. Including appointments to the Philippine service, to the Thirteenth Census force, and to positions of mere unskilled laborer, and excluding temporary appointments, 25,293 appointments were made as the result of competition. The number examined, number passed, and number appointed were as follows:

1 Appointments were from examinations held the previous year. The positions are unclassified, but appointments were made after examinations held by the commission, not under the rules, but under the

census act.

Excluding unclassified laborers and persons examined for the Philippine service, there was an apparent decrease in the number of persons examined of 10,620 from the figures for the preceding fiscal year, and of 20,329 in those appointed. Both these decreases are due largely to the omission of figures relating to the positions of laborer and mechanic at navy yards and employees of the Thirteenth Census from the figures for 1911, though they were included in 1910. These omissions are proper, for navy yard mechanics and laborers are unclassified according to the Attorney General and no part of the work connected with their employment is done by the commission, while Thirteenth Census employees are both unclassified and temporary. Omitting them from the figures for 1910 also, it appears that the number examined for the competitive classified service was 105,024 in 1911, against 83,045 in 1910, an actual increase of 21,979; and the number appointed as a result of such examination was 23,256 in 1911, against 26,412 in 1910, an actual decrease of 3,156. The most noticeable decrease in the number appointed was that of 2,194 in the postoffice service.

WORK PRELIMINARY TO THE HOLDING OF EXAMINATIONS.

Every effort is made to bring to the attention of prospective applicants information in regard to examinations. Mailing lists are kept of educational institutions, periodicals, and class publications, and announcements of examinations are sent to all whose students or subscribers may furnish properly qualified applicants. In addition the announcements are posted in 1,900 cities throughout the country and are furnished to press associations and local newspapers.

In connection with examinations in which difficulty is experienced in obtaining enough qualified persons to meet the demands of the service, special publicity campaigns are conducted. Posters are sometimes prepared calling attention to the opportunities in the Government service for persons qualified in certain branches, and these posters are sent to the post offices of cities where the examinations are to be held and to every school in the country known to teach these subjects. At times circular letters are addressed to all the members of a scientific society, calling attention to an examination in the branch of science in which the society is interested.

Each application must be carefully inspected to ascertain whether the applicant meets the preliminary requirements of law, rule, and regulation for the particular position for which he applies. For example, in examinations for appointment in the departments at Washington the law (act of July 2, 1909) provides in substance that a person shall not be examined unless he has been actually domiciled in the State of his residence for at least one year prior to the examination. The civil-service act provides, substantially, that where there are already two or more members of a family in the classified service no other member of such family shall be eligible for appointment; that persons honorably discharged from the military or naval service by reason of disability resulting from wounds or sickness incurred in the line of duty shall be given preference in appointment; and that no person who habitually uses intoxicating beverages to excess shall be appointed. The civil-service rules provide that the commission may refuse to examine an applicant if he has been guilty of infamous, dishonest, or immoral conduct, if he has made a false statement in an application or otherwise attempted to deceive the commission, or if he has been removed from the service within a year for causes which constitute delinquency or misconduct; and the regulations usually provide that the applicant shall be within certain age limits, physically sound, and possessed of a certain minimum of experience in the occupation at which he seeks employment, or that he shall have pursued a standard course of study in his profession. These requirements must be kept in mind in the review of applications, and when an applicant falls short in any respect he must be informed wherein he is deficient. Many cases require investigation, especially when

there is an attempt to deceive the commission in a material fact touching the applicant's eligibility for examination.

EXAMINATIONS WITH UNUSUAL REQUIREMENTS.

The constant aim of the commission is to provide examination tests as practical as it is possible to devise for ascertaining the relative capability of competitors for the positions to be filled.

During the past year material changes with a view to improvement were made in 58 different examinations, most of them of a scientific, professional, or technical character. The preparation of examinations for newly created scientific and technical positions is an increasingly large and important part of the commission's work. Highsalaried positions of this kind for which examinations were prepared and held during the year include soil scientist in the Department of Agriculture, $2,500 a year; professor of chemistry in the Public Health and Marine-Hospital Service, $3,600; law examiner in the Bureau of Mines, maximum salary, $3,600; assistant director of the Office of Public Roads, Department of Agriculture, $3,000; engineer-physicist in the Bureau of Standards, $3,000; hydroelectrical engineer in the Forest Service, maximum salary, $3,000; agronomist in rice investigations, Department of Agriculture, maximum salary, $2,500; chemical engineer in forest products in the Forest Service, maximum salary, $2,500, and superintendent in the Lighthouse Service, maximum salary, $2,400.

FOURTH-CLASS POSTMASTERS.

There is little competition for positions of fourth-class postmaster, especially for positions paying less than $500 per annum, the number of applicants averaging less than two. The number of applicants for offices paying $500 or more averages about three. Ninety-six per cent of the competitors pass the mental tests. The majority of applicants are merchants whose stores are centrally located, since suitable location and facilities are essential requirements, and in many cases there is but one such person in a community.

The commission believes that the examination, especially for offices paying $500 or more, should include such elements as personality, standing in the community, habits, reliability, and character, as well as general intelligence and facilities for transacting postal business. These elements can be determined only by personal inquiry in the community, which would require a corps of examiners. With such a system, however, political influence could be eliminated, and the commission could determine positively the relative qualifications of competitors.

On June 30, 1911, there were 14,278 classified fourth-class postmasters, 224 offices having been discontinued during the year, 118

of them for want of applicants. The average compensation of the offices discontinued was $95 a year. During the year 1,043 vacancies occurred, 714 by resignation, 142 by removal, 127 by death, and 60 by establishment of new offices. For filling them the commission examined 1,617 persons. There were 995 appointments during the

year.

In Illinois, Massachusetts, New York, and Ohio 367 persons were appointed to offices paying less than $500 a year upon the recommendation of post-office inspectors, as provided by the regulations. Forty of the vacancies thus filled were caused by removal, a percentage smaller than in offices for which examinations are held. The entire action in these cases is taken by the department and is merely reviewed by the commission.

CLASSIFICATION OF ASSISTANT POSTMASTERS AND CLERKS IN CERTAIN FIRST AND SECOND CLASS OFFICES.

The President's order of September 30, 1910, bringing into the competitive classified service positions of assistant postmasters of first and second class offices and of clerks at first and second class offices, not previously competitive, provided that no occupant of one of these positions should receive a competitive status who failed to satisfy the Post Office Department of his capacity to fill the position. On June 30, 1911, 24 of the occupants of these positions had been given a competitive status, the Post Office Department having delayed action in the majority of the cases until reports on the efficiency of these employees could be secured through post-office inspectors. By the President's order of May 26, 1911, this requirement was incorporated in the rules and is thus made to apply to all future classifications of post offices.

TEMPORARY APPOINTMENTS.

During the year 18,557 temporary appointments were made to competitive classified positions in the various branches of the service as compared with 15,445 during the preceding year. This increase is not due to the natural growth of the service, as there were fewer permanent appointments.

In Washington 1,789 temporary appointments were made, an increase of 98 over the preceding year. This increase is more than accounted for by the additional employees required in the Government Printing Office during the special session of Congress, and the appointments made for short periods in the Post Office, Treasury, and Interior Departments in connection with the work of compiling data for the President's Commission on Economy and Efficiency, and in positions about to be abolished with a view to reduction of force. These, together with increases in several other departments and bureaus, counterbalance a decrease of 130 in the Department of Agriculture

and 86 in the Census Bureau. More than 75 per cent of the temporary appointments in Washington were made from appropriate registers, and the greater part of those not so made were to technical or other positions for which the commission is not able to maintain registers at all times. Such appointments, when made to positions that are permanent, cease as soon as registers can be established and selection made therefrom. Job appointments made outside the registers are usually for brief periods.

Outside of Washington 16,768 temporary appointments were made during the year, an increase of 3,014 over the preceding year. Of this increase 77 per cent was divided about equally between the Reclamation and Post Office Services. The increase in the Reclamation Service was due to the starting of work on several large projects, and the uncertainty of future operations on others, which required work nearing completion to be rushed. These appointments were relatively short.

The increase in the Post Office Service resulted in part from appointments made in the post offices added to the classified service by the President's order of September 30, 1910, at which registers had never been established, and partly to the increased volume of mail handled during the Christmas holidays. Most of the appointments in other services outside of Washington were for job employment of brief duration and many at localities where the commission has so far been unable to maintain registers for temporary service.

The average length of job employments in the entire service is less than two months, and of appointments pending the establishment of registers and selection therefrom the average length is between two and three months. There has been a marked decrease in the number of temporary appointments continuing six months or more.

The broader application of the district system, which now includes a large majority of positions in the field services, and the unification of examinations, tend to greater expedition in filling vacancies, since a selection may be made from among eligibles examined at the place of employment. This shortens the period of temporary appointments and tends to reduce their number. Efforts are being made to establish lists of eligibles available for immediate temporary appointment and these lists will be placed in the hands of field officers for use in cases of sudden emergencies.

The commission has given close scrutiny to the approval of temporary employments without examination either where there is a failure of eligibles or where appointments for brief job employments can not be made from the registers. A tendency exists on the part of some appointing officers to continue the services of temporary employees, either out of sympathy for individuals or because of the