The evening times., 1897-12-09
REPORT ON CIVIL SERVICE
Statistics Of the Work Performed
by the Commission.
More Efficient Employees Than Pre-
viou>ly Declared to Be the Re-
suit uf Examinations.

The following are extracts from the an
Civil Service Commission:
From June 80, 1896, to June 80, 1897,
1000 requests for Information regard
ing examinations were attended to; 52,-
los approved applications for examination
were filed; 50,5s7 persons were examined.
and 1881 examinations were held in ,llf-
ferent parts of the country.
The number OF examinations held aid
the number OF persons examined for the
different branches of the service W ere as
follows: Departmental and Government
Printing Office services, 9O7 examina ions
were helc ana CO., ,2O6 persons examined;
for the custom house service, 217 exalni-
nations were held and $3.50 persons tx
amined; for the Internal Revenue Ser .ice
1874 examinations We're held and 3,02S
persons examined. There were 97S perso ms
examined for positions IN the different
trades, where no educational requirements
were necessary; 231 persons were exam
ined especially for the District Commits
sioners. for positions on the police force
and as station-keepers, etc.
Between the l ST of February and the 1st
Of June about 900 persons We're exam.
ined, which wa bout as many as were ex-
aminei during the whole OF the preceding
year, bi: on the first day of the nrs..s 1t
month every one of these papers were ma rk
ell al nj the persons examined were notified
oftheir standing. There still remains about
500 sets of papers taken in August and Sep
teInber, which il is expected To have fin
ishcd by the first of February.
All %: the examination rapers are mark
ed in The office or the commissioners DIT
Wa Shins ton, no matter where the exam
ination was held. Under the order OF May
the number of new positions broug;l;
under the civil service was about 10000.
II Is the aim of the commissioners 70
apply the same tests in the selection ii
employees for the Government sarvice is
are employed 10y the most successful pri-
vate business concerns, believing that the
nearer this method is approached the BET
ter VIII bc the results.
The employees of business concern are
selected for their demonstrated superiority
in their special line, and the record Il ca ch
applicant thoroughly investigated, and Com
Gress has expressed the SO me intent by pass
ihS the 10" IHoNiuinS loE thc SiltIE Vi
applicants By means of open Competitive
exarnina tions. All examinations are divided
into th' ee general classes; the first clas
is designed TO distinguish merely the gen
eralintelligcnce and adapta bility o IT he com
petitor; the second class o,mbines tests OF
general intelligence with tests bringing
out the particular information needed to
perform cuties of technical nature. the
third class is where there is no educational
requirements, but special mechanical skill.
While 1t is not claimed that these meth
obs will always secure the ernployes best
qualified. 1t il beIieN ed tfat they have re-
shifted in securing more efficient en-
ployes tnan by any previous method
which has been tried. In every place
where the Commission can see that the
requirement can best lie determined by
the previous experience, that
is used as part, if not all, of the examina
tion.