of the appointments being made in the District of Columbia are from the reemployment registers. These registers are made up of the names of employees who have been dismissed from the service because of necessary reduction of force and not for inefficiency.

There is a general failure to realize the magnitude of the work which naturally follows a war, and that for a considerable number of Government offices armistice day marked the expansion of their activities. History shows that years were required to complete the records and wind up Government affairs following the Civil War and the Spanish American War; and there can be no comparison between the operations of the World War and those of other wars. As an example of after-war work, the Office of The Adjutant General has probably received some inquiry either from the man himself or from a relative in the case of every one of the approximately 4,000,000 men who were enlisted in the American Army. In some cases scores of inquiries have been received concerning a single man. Citizens are entitled to the information sought. A great many instances of after-war increases in work could be mentioned; for example, the work of the Bureau of Internal Revenue, of the Finance Division of the War Department, of the Public Health Service, of the Division of Loans and Currency of the Treasury Department in bond issues, and of the Federal Board for Vocational Education.

The Fourteenth Census has nothing to do with the war, but it came afterward and has added several thousand employees to the force of the Department of Commerce in Washington, all of whom had to be recruited by the commission.

TEMPORARY APPOINTMENTS.

While temporary appointments in the service at Washington show a decrease during the past year as compared with the three previous years, the level of prewar times has not been reached. The condition is largely explained by the favorable opportunities offered outside the Government service, which render most difficult the securing of sufficient eligibles to meet the demands of the service for stenographers, typists, chemists, laboratory aids, laboratory helpers, laboratory assistants, radio operators, draftsmen, and nurses, as well as for high grade technical, professional, and scientific employees. Temporary appointments were therefore necessary in order that the work might not be unduly interrupted; and were authorized subject to examination. However, in many instances the temporary appointee secured a more attractive position in the commercial world and resigned from the service before he had qualified for permanent appointment, thus necessitating a second temporary appointment in the position before it could be filled probationally. Frequent resigna

tions from positions for which the supply of eligibles was inadequate further tended to augment the number of temporary appointments.

As was the case during the fiscal year 1919, temporary appointments have been made in various branches of the War Department in professional and technical positions for duty in the adjustment of contracts and claims and the disposal of surplus property, many of these appointments being in the field service. The larger number of these appointees were former commissioned officers of the Army, who continued to perform, in a civilian status, work similar to that upon which they were engaged while in the Army.

The number of temporary appointments in ordinary clerical positions in Washington has been small. Such appointments have been confined almost exclusively to 30-day appointments of returned soldiers in positions paying from $900 to $1,000 per annum, there being no male eligibles on the clerk register willing to accept these salaries, and were authorized subject to the appointee entering the next reopened examination for soldiers.

Many temporary appointments have been authorized in unskilled laborer positions, as it has been impossible to secure a sufficient number of eligibles willing to accept the low compensation offered by the Government as compared with the wages paid by private employers. Some of these temporary appointees were later given permanent appointment upon qualifying through examination, but the majority resigned in a short time to accept other employment.

There was a great decrease in the number of temporary appointments in the field branches of the service. A considerable number were found necessary in establishments which were about to close, as many of the employees left to secure other employment instead of waiting to be dropped at the cessation of the work, and this necessitated temporary appointments for its completion. Large numbers of temporary appointments were made at post offices because of the low salary provided for clerks and carriers regularly on the rolls, whereas more money could be earned as temporary carriers and as substitutes. The number has been greatly reduced recently on account of the increased postal salaries paid since July 1, 1920, and the more favorable conditions provided, such as pay for overtime work and 15 days' annual leave with pay. In one civil-service district the total number of temporary employees has been reduced to less than 50.

POLITICAL ACTIVITY.

During the year covered by this report there has been a slight decrease 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_

Reprimand and warning___

Withdrawal from candidacy or political activity.

MILITARY PREFERENCE.

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Discharged service men and women in great numbers are profiting by the opportunity for employment which is offered by the law which provides that men who have been honorably discharged from the Army, Navy, or Marine Corps, widows of such, or wives of those seriously disabled, shall be given preference in making appointments to clerical and other positions in the executive branch of the Government. Thus far the commission has received about 80,000 claims for preference, which has been operative since March, 1919. Approximately 4,500,000 persons are entitled to preference should they desire to enter the Government service.

The commission has made every possible effort to aid soldiers and sailors and their widows and the wives of injured service men in securing appointment under the Government, not only in the matter of preference but also in the matter of reopening examinations, which will continue until February 1, 1921. The large expense of these reopened examinations has been cheerfully borne by the commission, although it has necessitated holding back other important work.

The commission is, therefore, gratified to quote from pages 74-75 of the report of the national legislative committee to the second national convention of the American Legion at Cleveland, Ohio, on September 27, 28, 29, 1920, as follows:

This committee has established a most satisfactory relationship with the Civil Service Commission, and, as a result of handling hundreds of cases directly with the commission, has found that the complaints made have not been due to fault or neglect on the part of the commission, but in most instances have been due to the appointing power. The preferences given to veterans result in placing the veterans at the head of the eligible list submitted to the department. The law requires that the names of three highest eligibles shall be submitted and leaves to the discretion or preference of the department head the selection of one of these three. The law does not require the selection of the preference eligible, and this has been the cause of many complaints made against the Civil Service Commission.

The records show that since the enactment of the law preference claims of more than 75,000 former service men have been allowed; that about 60,000 of these veterans were successful in passing the examinations; that fully twothirds of those who passed the examinations and were placed on preference registers have been certified for appointment; and that 15,750 have actually been appointed. When a veteran is a preference eligible he is in competition only with other veterans of the same class, and the names of eligibles not

entitled to preference are not certified for positions until the list of preference eligibles is exhausted. The figures given do not include many hundreds of men who have been reinstated in positions they left in order to enter the service.

As a result of handling directly with the Post Office Department cases involving appointments as postmaster under the civil service, out of 307 appointments to presidential post offices where a soldier had an average of 65 per cent or more, 271 veterans were appointed, regardless of whether he was the highest man on the list; so that in 90 per cent of the cases the ex-soldier was appointed.

In conclusion, by reason of numerous conferences and close personal contact, this committee can state that the Civil Service Commission is desirous of cooperating with the American Legion and assisting the ex-service man in every way possible within the limits prescribed by the present law.

The figures given do not include 1,500 soldiers who have been reinstated in positions they left or in other positions. On July 18, 1918, an Executive order was issued by the President, upon the recommendation of the commission, which provided for the reinstatement in the civil service of men who left that branch of the Government to participate in the war. Also the names of those who had passed examinations and had not yet been appointed and whose eligibility was interrupted by their war service, were restored to the eligible registers upon their return to civil life, as provided by law.

In order that the service men might have early information concerning opportunities for employment in the Government service, the commission placed its announcements on the transports which brought the men home and appointed special representatives to serve at all establishments of the Army and Navy in the United States, where men were to be assembled in considerable numbers, to assure that the examination announcements might be considered by the men before their discharge.

The commission was represented in the hospitals as well, and this part of the organization is still maintained.

Besides the opportunities offered by pending examinations, the commission authorized the reopening for veterans of examinations which had been announced after the American declaration of war, and opportunity to enter which was missed through service with the armed forces.

In the interest of men who were injured in the war the President was authorized, on the recommendation of the commission, an amendment to the civil-service rules which permits the commission to exempt from physical requirements established for any position a disabled and honorably discharged soldier, sailor, or marine, upon the certification of the Federal Board for Vocational Education that he has been specially trained for and has passed a practical test demonstrating his physical ability to perform the duties of the class of position in which employment is sought.

The War Department, the Federal Board for Vocational Education, and the Civil Service Commission adopted a plan of cooperation, whereby the employment under the War Department of partially disabled soldiers, including those who ordinarily would be barred from civil positions because of their physical condition, will be facilitated in every way possible, and which will permit the employment of partially disabled men on the same basis as those who have not sustained physical injury.

WOMEN IN THE PUBLIC SERVICE.

Much interest is being manifested concerning employment of women in the Federal service, and especial inquiry is frequently made as to their holding supervisory or administrative positions.

Before the United States entered the World War men outnumbered women in the Federal civil service by about 10 to 1. The proportion of women in the Government offices in the District of Columbia was about two-fifths, but extensive branches outside the District of Columbia, made up principally of occupations not ordinarily followed by women, such as the Railway Mail Service, the mechanical forces at navy yards, ordnance plants, and the like, the city lettercarrier service, etc., brought the proportion of women in the entire Federal civil service down to about one-eleventh.

The war has effected a material change. In the District of Columbia the Government civil force was increased from about 38,000 to approximately 118,000, and of this increase of 80,000 fully 75 per cent were women. This brought the number of women employees in the District of Columbia up to approximately 75,000, as against 43,000 men. The addition of women employees outside of the District of Columbia was not proportionately great, for the reason which has been explained, but it was considerable. At the present time, after the return to civil life of former soldiers, sailors, and marines, and after extensive reductions in the war personnel, women hold in the Government service, at the lowest estimate, 50 per cent of those positions which they ordinarily seek; and since November, 1919, the commission has opened to them every examination irrespective of whether the appointing officer in any case expressed a preference for male eligibles. This gives women opportunity to have their names entered on every eligible register and to be considered for appointment in any office which is willing to employ women.

The commission in its own organization has at different times promoted a number of women to senior supervisory positions, and this is true of other branches of the service, notably the various bureaus of the Treasury Department. There are hundreds of women in the employ of the Government who have won their way to these more responsible and better-paid assignments.