ANNUAL REPORT OF THE CHIEF EXAMINER.

NOVEMBER 3, 1902.

The Commission:

The report of the chief examiner for the year ended June 30, 1902, is respectfully submitted.

Attention is invited to the following tables, showing, for the classified service, the number of persons examined, passed, and appointed, promoted, or transferred, as the result of such examination during the past year, with like information for the preceding year, the increase in this part of the Commission's work being thus clearly exhibited.

In addition to the 60,558 persons examined for the classified service, 1,174 persons were examined at the request of the Philippine civil-service board, of whom 480 passed and 694 failed, and 185 persons were examined at the request of the Commissioners of the District of Columbia, of whom 50 passed and 135 failed. This makes a grand total of 61,917 persons who were examined and whose papers were rated under the supervision of the chief examiner. At the request of the Secretary of the Navy facilities were provided for the examination of 112 persons for appointment to the Naval Academy, whose unrated papers were forwarded to the Superintendent of the Academy at Annapolis at the conclusion of their examinations.

A comparison of the number examined for original entrance to each of the different branches of the classified service during the past two years shows increases for this report year as follows: Departmental, 215; customs, 2,495; internal revenue, 606; post-office, 9,703, while for the Government printing branch there was a decrease of 813.

The increase for the customs service is explained by the fact that general examinations were held at all of the customs ports during the past year, while during 1901, owing to a change in the time of year for holding such examinations, no general examination was held for this service except at the port of New York. The large increase shown for the Post-Office Service was principally caused by the extension of the classification to include the Rural Free-Delivery Service, for which 6,101 persons were examined, and by examinations held for the first time at 61 additional postoffices, for which 1,481 persons were examined. During no other year in the history of the Commission have examinations been held for the first time at so many postoffices, because of natural growth of the service. In addition to the foregoing, every possible means was employed by way of extra announcements to give added publicity to the 1,705 special examinations held for the Post-Office Service and the Commission's local representatives were urged to unusual exertions in the effort to secure an adequate supply of eligibles for the different classified offices.

APPLICATIONS AND ARRANGEMENTS FOR EXAMINATIONS.

During the year the application division prepared and distributed announcements for 1,742 different examinations specially held to secure eligibles to meet the urgent needs of the classified service, for which 25,160 applications were received, recorded,

examined, and approved or rejected. This division also prepared and distributed information for 380 different examinations to replenish the Commission's permanent registers of eligibles, for which 33,532 applications were received and disposed of in like manner. During the same period 11,850 applications for registration positions were received and similarly disposed of by the Commission's local representatives, as follows: Engineer Department at large, 2,108; Government Hospital for the Insane, 313; Light-House Service, 1,004; Marine-Hospital Service, 400; Mint and Assay Service, 501; Ordnance Department at large, 1,175; Rural Free-Delivery Service, 6, 101; Secret Service, 248. This gives a total of 70,542 applications for examination for original appointment to the classified service which were received and disposed of during the year by the application division and its local representatives. This division also arranged for the noncompetitive examination of 470 persons for promotion or transfer, 4 persons for appointment to excepted positions in the Customs Service, and 5 persons for appointment to excepted positions in the Mint and Assay Service. The division distributed to persons desiring information concerning examinations 100,000 copies of the general manual of examinations, 120,000 copies of "Instructions to Applicants" for the Post-Office and Customs services, and 165,000 copies of announcements of examinations held specially, accompanied by the appropriate application forms. Local boards of examiners were organized for 59 newly classified post-offices, given such instructions as the circumstances permitted, and supplied with the necessary equipment. During the year arrangements were made for carrying forward the work connected with the Custodian Service which enabled the Commission to discontinue the local boards of examiners specially designated for that service. On June 30, 1902, the total number of local boards of examiners was 1,128, with a total membership of 3,723. Of these boards 38 are joint or consolidated, the membership of each being composed of employees of the different branches of the service represented in the city where the board is located.

The long-continued effort to establish a civil-service district similar to the Boston district, with headquarters at San Francisco, Cal., in immediate charge of a consolidated board of examiners, has finally been successful. The board is now being furnished with the necessary equipment and instructions to proceed with its work, and the final steps are being taken to consummate the complete organization of the district. In view of the experience with the Boston district it is expected that the new district will be of substantial aid to both the local public officials and the Commission in the administration of the civil-service system and will provide the public in that section of the country with better facilities for competing in the Commission's examinations.

The average number of persons employed in the application division for the entire year was 16. The number of different persons employed in this division during the year was 25, of whom 9 were employees of the Commission and 16 were serving on detail.

EXAMINATIONS.

The examining division was called upon to prepare the tests for 547 different kinds of examinations which were held during the year. In 235 of these examinations the educational, professional, scientific, or technical qualifications of the competitors were demonstrated by written replies to specific questions on required subjects, while for 312 different examinations the ability of the competitors for various mechanical trades and skilled occupations was established by affidavits and certificates of employers or fellow-workmen. The written examinations required the preparation of 438 sets of examination questions on different subjects, which necessitated the preparation of 1,851 separate sheets of tests. In providing for the 61,917 persons whose qualifications were investigated by the Commission more than 250,000 sheets of examination questions were required.

In addition to those used at Washington there were 5,269 shipments to other

places, where examinations were being conducted by personal representatives of the Commission or by members of the local examining boards. Requisitions from the different departments required the preparation of 89 different examinations, which contained combinations of qualifications never previously tested by the Commission. A list of these new examinations will be found in the appendix as well as a list of the 21 examinations in which changes have been made during the year. The examination papers of 49,247 persons were rated by the examiners at Washington, while 11,850 sets of papers were rated by members of the Commission's local boards of examiners, including the central board of examiners for the Rural Free-Delivery Service, located at Washington, D. C.

The examiners in this division, with the aid for limited periods of 79 specialists from other parts of the Government service, prepared suitable tests and determined the value of the answers submitted by competitors in all of the higher examinations. The board of appeals, which considers and determines the claims of all competitors not satisfied with the ratings they have received, disposed of 367 cases during the year, in nearly all of which it was found that no change could be made in the ratings originally given. Notwithstanding the large increase in the number of persons examined, it is a source of gratification that only 39 cases of attempted collusion or fraud in examinations occurred during the year. The average number of persons employed during the year was 35, of whom 23 were employees of the Commission and 12 were serving on detail from other offices. There were 60 different persons employed in this division during the year, of whom 29 were employees of the Commission and 31 were serving on detail from other parts of the service.

SPECIAL OR TECHNICAL EXAMINATIONS.

In order that the great complexity of the work of this division may be clearly understood attention is particularly invited to the large number of examinations which include subjects of a special, professional, scientific, or technical character. During the year 208 examinations of this kind were held for the service, the ability of the competitors being determined by specific question and answer. The total number of persons taking examinations of this description for the classified service was 8,257. As it is the policy of the Government to appoint to positions in the Philippine Service so far as possible natives or American residents of the islands, the 35 kinds of examinations held in the United States on request of the Philippine civilservice board have all been to secure eligibles having qualifications of so high an order as not to be obtainable there. The number of competitors in these examinations was 1,174, of whom 128 were appointed.

This class of examinations embraced 307 separate branches of professional or scientific knowledge. The wonderful diversity of this part of the Commission's work is forcibly demonstrated by a table in the appendix showing the different subjects comprised in the Commission's written examinations. Well nigh every field of professional or scientific inquiry and research is represented in this list.

APPOINTMENTS THROUGH EXAMINATION.

The number of persons appointed from the 208 examinations of a professional, scientific, or technical character, just referred to, was, for the classified service, 1,661, and for the Philippine Service 128. Many of the persons so appointed demonstrated in their examinations extraordinary ability in their chosen fields of knowledge. Among these were physicians, surgeons, pharmacists, pharmacologists, botanists, physicists, chemists, bacteriologists, animal and plant pathologists; civil, mechanical, and electrical engineers; geologists, linguists, architects, artists, dairy experts, entomologists, mathematicians, horticulturists, zoologists, ethnologists, accountants; mechanical, electrical, architectural, topographic, ship, heating and ventilating, and hydrographic draftsmen; machine designers, assayers, mechanicians, forestry experts, irrigation engineers, copperplate and lithographic engravers, examiners of merchan