The evening times., 1899-11-01

| other way Of meeting the condition
which must be faced in the absence of {
larger appropriation for this purpose.
THE present appropriation - namely
| S7,00Q--is required to cover all travelling
and other expenses of the Commission.
| examiners when away from Washington
rent of examination rooms and furniture
| wherever necessary, and compensation FOL
janitors' service in places where accom-
modations are not furnished in pub IL
buildings, and all other expenses connect
ed with the organization and instruction
of local boards of examiners and the in
spection Of their work. as well as all in
vestigations Of the operation of the law
and rules conducted under the authority Of
the Civil Service Commission. No COM
ment is necessary to show how inadequate
that amount is for the satisfactory per-
/ formance of the duties which the law SC
! evidently intended should be scrLpllously
observed by the Commission.
| Several important changes have recently
been made in the examinations. most nota-
BILE of which are the introduction OF test
| of physical endurance, with weight OF
| so per cent, In the examination for printer 8
| assistant, the addition Of the subject oi
experience in the skilled laborer group OF
examinations for the Government Printing
| Office and the change in the method OF
| giving dictation tests in the stenography
! examination.
Attempts Mt Frauds.
notwithstanding the scrupulous care
exercised by those in charge with supervis-
ing and conducting examinations, occa-
sionally competitors are discovered who.
for the sake of improving their standing
| in the examinations. are willing to resort
to every form of deceit and cunning to ac-
complish that purpose
Section of the civil service act makes
1t part of the duty of the chief examiner
| to secure uniformity and justice in all ex-
aminations. 1t therefore becomes his duty
to guard all honest competitors from these
fraudulent designs upon the integrity OF
the examinations. In order to better ae-
complish this purpose. every set Of exami-
uation papers is subjected to the closest
scrutiny, and where any evidences OF at
tempts at fraud or collusion are disclosed
all the papers of such competitors are sus-
pended pending the result of an inyesti-
cation. One of the first steps taken In
these cases Is to require such competitors
to make a specific affidavit covering all the
points involved. IL the affidavit appears to
be satisfactory. and nothing further has
been developed tending to discredt the
competitor. he Is relic yed from the sus-
picion of fraud and allowed a re-examina-
tion. During the past year SS2 persons
were re-examined for this purpose. While
in some cases where slight evidence OF
fraud is found. it is not sufficient to justify
their presentation to the Department Of
Justice for prosecution. However, the ex-
aminations of such competitors are always
Cancelled. and in many cases they are not
again allowed to compete in the examina-
fions. From the cases which have been
submitted for prosecution several convic-
tiQpe have bePn Spcnrpd Because of the
extreme watchfulness which is exercised
at all times by the Commissions exam
iners and the careful scrutiny to which all
examination papers are subjected In order
to detect Evidences of fraud. it Is believed
to be impossible for such attempts to be
successful. and that the integrity of the
examinations has been preserved from the
assaults of these unscrupulous persons.
The Appointment of Women.
That the question Of the employment OF
women in the Government service is OF
very considerable interest to the public is
shown by its recent discussion in the
press. For this reason. and because let
tiers are frequently received from women
complaining that they had been induced
to enter the Commissions examinations
without being correctly informed as to
their prospect of appointment if success
of Examinations issued for several years
past has contained a table showing for the
principal examinations the number OF both
men and women who were examined.
passed, and received appointments). it has
been thought proper to include state
ment in this report which will exhibit the
facts as disclosed by the Commissions rec
ords.
THE following information has been
lal -
records for the past ten years
for the departmental and post
office services, the last five years for the
custom-house service, and for the four
years since the classification of the internal
revenue and government printing services
Attention has been given to the fifty
seven kinds of examinations in which both
men and women have competed for ap
pointment. A consolidated statement is
presented for the departmental and govern
ment printing services because so many Of
the appointments for these services are 10
Gated in the District Of Columbia.
For these two services 30,52I persons
passed the examinations referred TO. of
whom Il, 400 were women 5.023 OF those
who passed were appointed, of whom 1.293.
or 25.7 per cent. were women. However,
probably 500 of the latter number should
not be included, as they were appointed to
tle POSITIONS Oh Skiiieu idDOIeFS III tue
Government Printing Office or printers
assistant in the Bureau of Engraving and
Printing positions which are practically
confined to women. After deducting these
We find that 1S4 women have
been appointed out of a total of 4,414 ap-
pointments In other words, women were
appointed to III per cent of all the posi-
tions in the departmental and government
printing branches of the service which !
are open to competition for both men and |
During the last ten years 40,92s Persons |
passed the examination for postof1ice clerk. |
which is the only position in that service |
for which both sexes may compete. or |
his number $3.50 were women; 13057 per-
sons were appointed to this position as a
result of the examinations, of whom $50,
1r 6.52 per cent, were women.
"Of the 1858 persons who have passed |
in the customhouse service
open to both men and women, during the
past five years. 233 were women. During
hat period $50 appointments were made.
nents have been made. of which II. or 90
per cent, were given to women.
During the four years in which exam
nations have been held for the internal
revenue service 3.307 persons have sue
,essfully passed them. of whom 157 were
women. During this period 4S3 appoint
nents have been made, of which II, or 90
per cent were given to women.
During the last ten years the highest
percentage Of appointments given to wo-
men, in all branches of the service, as q
.esult of these examinations Q3 per cent?
vas during 1898. The next highest percent