of competitive examinations, and if that large number, whose claims were supported by strong political influence, were rendered eligible for appointment without examination it seemed probable that the operation of the competitive system would be suspended as to all similar places for some time to come, and that competitors who had taken such examinations in good faith would find their opportunities subordinated to those of employees who had been appointed through patronage. Such a provision would inflict a grave blow upon the merit system by discrediting competitive examinations and it would render the Census employees eligible for transfer and appointment to many places for which their previous training did not give them any qualifications, and to some for which higher tests were required. Members of the Commission therefore appeared before the Census committees and stated their objections. In conference the bill was amended. As it finally passed it provided that all employees at the date of its passage, except unskilled laborers, might be appointed in the permanent Census Office at the time of its organization, by the Director, with the approval of the Secretary of the Interior, and when so appointed should be placed, without further examination, under the civil-service law. The act, thus giving discretion to the Secretary in the matter of appointments, made it easy to appoint and classify only such employees as were to be permanently retained, which the President, at the time of the signing of the bill, directed to be done. In accordance with this direction, 837 persons were appointed on July 1, 1902, and the Census Bureau, with these employees, is now part of the classified service.

OTHER EXTENSIONS.

Not only have the foregoing extensions been made by Executive order and by act of Congress, but the classified service has also expanded, both by natural growth and by its extension to places (as in the Federal service of Porto Rico) to which, although provided for by the rules, it had not yet been practically applied.

THE CIVIL SERVICE IN PORTO RICO.

In the civil service of Porto Rico there are two groups of positions, namely, those connected with the insular government created by the act of Congress and paid out of the island revenues, and those attached to the Federal service and compensated out of the United States Treasury.

No provision has yet been made by the insular government for placing its employees under a competitive civil-service system, although it is hoped that this will be done at an early date, the experience of the Philippine service having demonstrated its desirability.

The Federal positions, however, are subject to the Federal civil

service act and rules. There are approximately 301 positions in this group, of which 152 are subject to competitive educational examinations, 81 subject to competitive registration tests, 20 are excepted from competitive examination by the civil-service rules, and 48 are not subject to classification.

By direction of the Commission, Dr. Leadley, chief of its service record division, visited Porto Rico in March and April, 1902, obtained the data necessary to enable the Commission to classify the Federal service, organized and instructed an insular board of examiners, and examined 227 applicants, the majority of whom were native Porto Ricans.

The newly organized board of examiners, consisting of seven Federal employees, has its headquarters at San Juan, and auxiliary boards were established at Ponce and Mayaguez. Each member was selected because of some particular qualification which rendered his appointment desirable, and it is believed that the work of the board will compare favorably with that of similar boards in the United States.

In the main, the candidates who entered the examinations were an orderly, well-behaved, and intelligent class of applicants, who experienced but little difficulty in comprehending the instructions given and in answering the questions. The examinations (with the exception of those for scientific and professional positions in the United States) were given in both English and Spanish. For the Departmental and Government Printing services the persons taking the examinations in English, most of whom were from the United States, excelled the native Porto Ricans, who took them in Spanish, 64 per cent of the former passing to 43 per cent of the latter, while in the Custom-House Service 70 per cent of those taking the examinations in Spanish passed to 56 per cent of those taking them in English, and in the Post-Office Service, 65 per cent in Spanish to 55 per cent in English. Quite a large propor tion of the persons who passed the examinations have been or will soon be appointed.

THE PHILIPPINE SERVICE.

On November 30, 1900, the President, by Executive order, directed the Commission to assist the Philippine civil-service board in carrying out the provisions of the Philippine civil-service act of September 19, 1900.

As natives are appointed to all positions they are competent to fill, no calls are received from the Philippine government for Americans residing in the United States except for positions requiring professional, technical, or scientific qualifications or special clerical ability. For these places requisitions are usually received by cable. A special code was prepared for this purpose to save expense and delay in making appointments.

Previous to July 1, 1901, before the military government had been entirely superseded by civil authority, there were few calls received for civil employees of any kind, and these were principally for stenographers and typewriters; but during the last fiscal year the Commission was called upon to furnish Americans with special qualifications along various other lines, for example, an admeasurer, assistant anthropologists, auditing clerks, architectural draftsmen, boiler and hull inspectors, bookkeepers, bookbinders, chemists of various kinds, civil engineers, compositors, cabinetmakers, a chief clerk, disbursing clerks, department assistants, electrotypers, an expert in plant culture and plant breeding, a fire chief, foresters, forestry inspectors, a librarian, managers of Government farms and experiment stations, pharmacologists, plant pathologists, pressmen, a paper expert, a photo-engraver, and medical inspectors and physicians. Eleven hundred and seventy-four persons were examined for the Philippine service during the last fiscal year, and over two hundred have been sent to the Philippines through the agency of the Commission. This work has drawn heavily upon the Commission, as it was largely of a special character, requiring more expert knowledge, care, and attention than ordinary examinations. The Commission had difficulty in the beginning in securing sufficient eligibles; but with the organization of civil government, and the knowledge that the climate is not necessarily injurious, there has been less and less difficulty in getting competent Americans for this distant service. For instance, when in the fall of 1901 examinations were announced for stenographers and typewriters, only 48 applicants appeared, and most of these failed, while in January, 1902, 277 applicants appeared, including 40 women, and in March and April, 217 persons, including 20 women, applied. Of the Americans sent through the agency of the Commission, only five have been reported as unsatisfactory, either on account of their habits or their lack of efficiency.

Practically all positions in the Philippines are now included within the classified service, with the exception of teachers, and it is understood that these positions also will be made subject to classification at an early date. The Philippine law requires that all vacancies in the higher positions shall be filled by promotion, thus encouraging those in the lower grades to render the best possible service, with the assurance that the most capable will, as vacancies occur, be advanced to the highest administrative offices.

NUMBER OF EXAMINATIONS AND APPOINTMENTS.

The classified service has grown not only by the foregoing extensions but by the extension of free delivery to various post-offices, by which 546 employees were classified, and by the consolidation of third

and fourth class post-offices with free-delivery offices, by which means 28 employees were classified.

The number of competitive examinations and of persons appointed thereunder have also considerably increased, as shown by the following table:

During the year ended June 30, 1902, 62,029 persons were examined, with the following results:

a Includes 6 examined and appointed under Rule VI.

b The total transfers being 842, including 73 transfers to the Philippine service.
Number of appointments not known.

d These papers were not rated by the Commission.

Compared with the previous year, this shows an increase of 13,331 in the number examined, an increase of 7,300 in the number that passed, an increase of 2,987 in the number appointed through entrance examination", an increase of 20 in the number promoted or transferred on noncompetitive examination, a decrease of 21 in the number of reinstatements, and an increase of 27 in the number of transfers. This excludes the appointments in the Philippine service in both years.

CHANGES IN THE RULES.

Many important changes have been made in the rules, enabling the Commission better to enforce the provisions concerning apportionment, giving it power to procure sworn testimony from employees of the Government for its investigations and to require the withholding of salaries from persons holding office in violation of law, limiting temporary appointments of persons outside the eligible lists when eligibles were available, requiring examinations as well as six months' actual service for transfers to new positions from those who have

a The number of original appointments last year on competitive examination was 9,870; on noncompetitive examination, 37; total, 9,907.

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entered the service by mere classification of the positions they were holding, preventing reinstatement for the purpose of immediate transfer, limiting transfers to cases where the duties of the two positions were similar, guarding against improper reinstatements after dismissals for cause and against the assignment of laborers to classified work, and in other ways strengthening the competitive system. These amendments, together with the reasons for each, are presented in the appendix.

Besides these changes, an order was issued giving the proper construction to the rule concerning removals upon charges. The civilservice act had placed no limit upon the power of removal from office except to provide that it should not be exercised for a refusal to make political contribution or render political service, but a special order was promulgated by the President on July 27, 1897, providing that no removal should be made from the competitive classified service except for just cause, and for reasons given in writing, and the persons sought to be removed were to have notice and be furnished with a copy of such reasons and allowed a reasonable time for personally answering the same in writing. This rule was adopted by the President in pursuance of his general executive authority rather than of any requirement of the civil-service law. It was adopted for the purpose of putting an end to a practice which had theretofore existed of removing persons from the classified service upon secret charges which they were not permitted to see or answer. Such charges had frequently been a cloak for purely political removals, and great injustice had been done thereby. After the adoption of this rule removals upon secret charges were no longer made and the beneficent effect of the rule was generally recognized. At the same time misunderstandings arose in regard to its proper construction. It was claimed by some that the "just cause mentioned in the rule meant that some willful act of misconduct must have been committed by the person whose removal was sought. It is evident, however, that persons ought sometimes to be removed where they are not willfully at fault, in cases, for instance, where they have become disqualified through physical or mental disability or cases where their services are no longer required. Such reasons would be "just cause" within the meaning of the rule. It was further believed by many that the provisions requiring written reasons, notice, and an opportunity for answer provided substantially for a trial, for the taking of testimony, and for proceedings similar to those in a court of law. To require this would not only involve enormous labor, but would give a permanence of tenure in the public service quite inconsistent with the efficiency of that service. But so widespread was this misapprehension that appointing officers often hesitated to remove subordinates who had become useless or had lost the confidence of their superiors because it was feared that specific