tions, if any, should be made in the present Executive order relating to such veteran preference." The members of the committee are Hon. Hamilton Fish, jr., Member of House of Representatives, chairman; Hon. William C. Deming, president Civil Service Commission; Brig. Gen. Frank T. Hines, Director Veterans' Bureau; Col. William J. Donovan, Assistant Attorney General; and Lieut. Col. John Thomas Taylor, of the American Legion.

TOTAL NUMBER OF PREFERENCE COMPETITORS, ELIGIBLES, AND APPOINTEES, OF THE CLASSIFIED SERVICE, COMPARED WITH THE TOTAL NUMBER OF NONPREFERENCE COMPETITORS, ELIGIBLES, AND APPOINTEES, FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDED JUNE 30, 1928.

The number of temporary appointments authorized for job work which will be completed within definite periods, or in the absence of eligibles for permanent appointment, has increased considerably during the past year. Such appointments are, so far as practicable, confined to eligibles on the registers or applicants or competitors in pending examinations. When such persons are not available for appointment a person proposed for temporary appointment to a scientific, technical, or professional position is required to show that he has the requisite qualifications.

The increase was due principally to the additional force necessary in the Veterans' Bureau in connection with the reinstatement of applications for Government insurance by ex-service men, and in the Division of Loans and Currency, Treasury Department, in connection with the redemption of the second Liberty loan. The Bureau of Prohibition has also found it necessary, in view of the unavoidable delay in establishing registers, to continue making temporary appointments to various positions such as agent, attorney, inspector, and investigator.

210,000

The Department of Agriculture each year makes a number of temporary appointments during the summer months in connection with various research investigations in the field. College students on vacation are in most cases selected for this work.

Of the total number of temporary appointments for job work, 240 were of former classified employees who were eligible for reinstatement by reason of their examination status and length of service.

Inability to secure sufficient eligibles for nurse and medical officers has resulted in a large number of temporary appointments in the Public Health Service and the Veterans' Bureau. These persons must file applications for the examination and in most cases qualify, and are later appointed.

The following table shows the distribution of temporary appointments during the year ended June 30, 1928, exclusive of those made under the district system. Very few of these appointments extended beyond six months.

1 Includes Indian Field Service, in which service it is frequently necessary to make several temporary appointments to a position before it is filled permanently.

2 Of this number, a considerable proportion were appointed from pending examinations, and eligibility was later acquired; e. g., of the 55 noted as Civil Service Commission appointees, all but four acquired eligibility through examination.

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THE DISTRICT SYSTEM

The commission's work outside of Washington is carried on through the medium of 13 district offices, each in charge of a district secretary, and 4,800 local boards of civil-service examiners so located, according to law, "as to make it reasonably convenient and inexpensive for applicants to attend before them."

The district secretaries, through their organizations and the local boards, keep in touch with personnel needs, announce examinations, rate examination papers for certain positions, certify eligibles for a constantly increasing number of positions which have been placed under the district system, audit appointments, and otherwise superintend the application and enforcement of the civil-service rules in their districts.

One of the main advantages of the district system is that it provides an expeditious, effective, and businesslike procedure for handling local appointments in the field services.

Important extensions of the district system since the commission's last report were made in the Coast Guard, the National Park, and the Indian irrigation and allotment services.

Definite progress has been made in the character investigations of applicants and in the fingerprinting of eligibles. Steps have been taken looking to the fingerprinting of all appointees in the various branches of the service in cities of the country having post offices of the first class. The work required of field representatives, in holding character investigations and oral examinations incident to the reorganization of the prohibition service, made it impracticable to accomplish the usual amount of inspection of local boards, but it is hoped that time for this important work will be found during the current year.

WOMEN IN THE SERVICE

During the fiscal year just closed astronomy and geography were added to the already popular sciences of medicine, chemistry, law, economics, mathematics, and library work through which women have qualified and entered the Government service. Although the number of women appointed to the higher grade positions seems small in proportion to the total number appointed, it must be remembered that they have not yet had time to acquire the required experience, so recent is their advent into these new fields of endeavor. The engineering profession has not yet been invaded by women, while another branch of science holding many possibilities for them is patent law. Only 16 of the 363 applicants for junior patent examiner last year were women.

In the minor scientific and technical group of positions drafting in its various phases should offer inducements, yet there were but 41 women applicants for the drafting examination during 1926-27.

In the clerical group women are no longer confined to general clerical, stenographic, and office machine operating work, but are numbered among translators, editors, editorial clerks, statistical clerks, and law clerks.

Printing is about the only skilled trade for which they are physically qualified, and in this branch of the service they are being appointed in goodly numbers.

EXTENT OF THE EXECUTIVE CIVIL SERVICE

June 30, 1928, there were 568,715 employees in the entire executive civil service, as against 559,138 at the end of the last fiscal year, which shows a net increase of 9,577 employees. There are 431,763 positions subject to competitive examination under the civil service act, a gain of 8,765 during the year.

The Postal Service, with 310,935 employees, represents 54.67 per cent, and the remaining services, with 257,780 employees, 45.33 per cent of the entire personnel. The Postal Service had a net increase of 2,195 employees, while the other services had a net increase of 7,382 during the past year. Since June 30, 1916, the Postal Service gained 60,050 and the remaining services 70,608 employees.

On June 30, 1927, there were 59,800 employees in and 499,338 employees outside the District of Columbia, while on June 30, 1928, the number employed in the District of Columbia had increased to 61,388 and outside to 507,327. Of the net increase of 9,577 employees in the entire service during the year, 1,588 were in the District of Columbia and 7,989 outside.

Of the net increase of 9,577 employees in the entire service during the fiscal year the War Department with 3,116 and the Postal Service with 2,195 shows the greatest gains. The remaining services with a gain of 4,266 employees show a normal increase. Several of the establishments show a slight decrease, their total being 193 employees. The tables following show these changes for each department and office and the extent of the service on June 30, 1928:

TABLE I.-Increase or decrease of employment in the Federal executive civil service during the last fiscal year and during the past 12 years

This is exclusive of details from other government establishments. This represents the consolidation of a large number of custodial employees and the administration of the following new activities: Arlington Memorial Bridge Commission, National Capital Park and Planning Commission, Public Buildings Commission, and Rock Creek and Potomac Parkway Commission.