RURAL CARRIERS. On June 30, 1919, the number of rural routes was 43,250, of which number 850 by departmental requirements were operated by motor vehicles, with one carrier for each. On the remaining routes service was rendered by 42,248 carriers. There were 9,211 appointments through examination, 178 by reinstatement, and 214 by transfer from other branches of the service. Of these appointments 332 were to motor rural routes. During the year the declinations of appointment numbered 3,202; resignations, 5,017; deaths, 317; removals for cause, 348; separations without prejudice, 62; by transfer, 150; and separations during probation, 3. There was a decrease of approximately 13 per cent in the number of separations reported during the past fiscal year from those in the preceding year, there having been 5,897 separations for the past year, as compared with 6,779 for the year previous. This decrease in separations, as compared with the 100 per cent increase shown by the report for the previous year, is apparently due to the decreased demand for labor in outside employment occasioned by the demobilization of the military forces at the close of the war and to increased salaries provided for rural carriers during the past fiscal year. POLITICAL ACTIVITY. During the year covered by this report there has been a slight increase in the number of violations of Rule I, forbidding competitive employees from taking an active part in political management or in political campaigns. Briefs of the investigations made in these cases will be found in the appendix to this report. Disciplinary measures were imposed upon employees as follows: Removal or separation from the service.. Suspension without pay.. Reprimand and warning. NEEDS OF THE COMMISSION. 7 4 23 The total funds available for the commission during 1919 amounted to $845,925, of which $10,000 was an allotment made by the President from the appropriation given him for the national security and defense, and $2,650 to provide for readjustment of prices of envelopes purchased during the previous year. Of the regular appropriations for the commission, amounting to $833,275, the sum of $339,150 was for statutory salaries (those specifically designated by law), and the remainder was divided as follows: Salaries: Additional employees (lump sum). Expert examiners (lump sum)).. Traveling expenses. Printing and binding. Contingent expenses.. Textbooks. Rent..... Total.. Salaries, statutory. Total, regular appropriations.. National Security and Defense Allotment.. Envelopes, under act of July 11, 1919, to readjust prices for 1918 $300,000.00 2,000.00 20,000.00 90,000.00 30,000.00 20, 000. 00 131, 875.00 494, 125.00 339, 150.00 $833, 275.00 2 10, 000. 00 2,650.00 12, 650.00 845, 925.00 Total funds available, 1919........... Of the grand total of $845,925 available for the year, there was 1 The rental of the commission's building is $16,875; but it was necessary, owing to the crowded condition during the war, to find space outside for the headquarters of the fourth civil service district and part of the commission's files. An appropriation of $15,000 for rent of additional quarters was made by Congress and the expenditures for a portion of the year from this appropriation was $6,527.75. On July 1, 1919, accommodations were provided for the fourth district in a Government-owned building, and the commission's appropriation for rent for 1920 returned to the normal amount. 2 To cover expenses of examinations and removal to and fitting up new quarters. The funds available for the fiscal year 1920 amount to $569,642.40, which includes an unexpended balance of $16,317.40 from the appropriation for additional employees for 1919 made available for 1920. The regular appropriations, therefore, amount to $553,325, of which $396,200 is for salaries ($344,200 statutory and $52,000 lump sum), being $135,150 less than the revised estimate for salaries made after the signing of the armistice. At that time the commission reduced by $203,100 its original estimate of $734,450 for salaries for 1920, based on war conditions, which total was an increase of $93,300 over the 1919 salary appropriations, the revised estimate of $531,350 being a net reduction of $109,800 from the 1919 salary appropriations, or an increase of $40,200 in statutory and a decrease of $150,000 in lump-sum salaries. Of the revised estimate of $531,350, but $52,000 of the lump-sum salaries was granted ($50,000 additional employees and $2,000 expert examiners), and an increase of but $5,050 over 1919 statutory salaries, or $344,200. The $396,200 appropriated for salaries is thus $135,150 less than the conservative estimate made after the signing of the armistice. A supplemental estimate of $100,000 is now pending, of which $50,000 is needed to carry after December 31, 1919, the employees now on the commission's additional employees roll, and $50,000 for the employees detailed from other offices to the fourth civil-service district. As the force employed under the $50,000 appropriation is inadequate, the commission found it necessary to decentralize a part of its work and place it under the secretary of the fourth district. The details to that office were obtained upon the promise of the commission that it would endeavor to secure from Congress a sufficient appropriation to carry them on the commission's rolls at as early a date as practicable. As is generally known, the departmental service, except in a very few branches, has not demobilized to the extent which was expected following the armistice, when the commission's appropriation was granted. In many parts, such as the auditing offices and in units doing similar work, which had to be put aside during the war, the force has been constantly increasing. Other parts of the service have had large and rapid increases, such as the division of loans and currency, the Internal Revenue Service, and the War Risk Insurance Bureau, especially the latter two. The additional work devolving upon many organizations and the delay in returning to the normal status. in different parts of the service are reflected in the commission's work; and, moreover, even after the other parts of the service have reached a normal level, it will take the commission fully a year before it can reach its own normal condition. The commission has also been charged by Congress with securing a large number of employees for the compilation of the next census. The commission realizes the necessity for retrenchment, but has proved repeatedly that the application of the merit system to any part of the service results in an economy representing many times the cost of such application; in other words, it is good business and sound investment to provide sufficient appropriations to permit the civil-service act adequately to function. PERSONNEL OF THE COMMISSION. Effective February 28, 1919, Mr. John A. McIlhenny, who had served as commissioner from November 30, 1906, resigned and was succeeded on March 13, 1919, by Mr. Martin A. Morrison, of Indiana. Mr. Hermon W. Craven, of the State of Washington, resigned, effective March 16, 1919, having served from July 3, 1913, and was succeeded by Mr. George R. Wales, chief examiner, who entered on duty as commissioner on March 17, 1919. Mr. Charles M. Galloway, of South Carolina, who was appointed on June 20, 1913, resigned, effective September 7, 1919, and his successor has not been appointed. We have the honor to be, Very respectfully, The PRESIDENT, The White House MARTIN A. MORRISON, Commissioners. REPORT OF THE CHIEF EXAMINER. OCTOBER 8, 1919. THE COMMISSION: The following report of the work done under the supervision of the chief examiner during the fiscal year ended June 30, 1919, is respectfully submitted. The following table shows the number of persons examined and appointed during the year: In addition to the foregoing, certain examinations were held for services not in the classified service of the United States, with the following results: 1 Report showing the results of the examinations of all persons for designation as cadet or midshipman is made to the Member of Congress for whom such examination is held. The work of the commission in connection with examinations for entrance to the Naval Academy is confined to the conduct of examinations, the papers for the examinations being furnished by the Navy Department and returned to that department as soon as received by the commission from the various examination places. 8 The work of the commission in connection with examinations for these positions was confined to the conduct of examinations, the papers for the examinations being furnished by the Department of Commerce and returned to that department as soon as received by the commission from the various examination places. There were 706 different kinds of educational examinations held, according to the title or kind of positions, as compared with 656 during the preceding year. The noneducational type of examination was given for a large number of different kinds of mechanical trades positions; but the form of examination being the same for each kind of position, the number of different titles is omitted from this report. During the year there were 38,207 persons examined for clerk in the service at Washington, as compared with 53,830 the preceding year; and 26,579 for typist and stenographer typist in Washington, D. C., as compared with 48,848. Applications for examination to the number of 268, 601 were received during the year, against 404,227 the preceding year; and 6,342,596 forms, manuals, and announcements were distributed from the Washington office, against 4,913,065. During the same period of time the visitors to the commission's public information bureau numbered 150,200. XXVIII |