Western Carolina Democrat and French Broad hustler. [volume] (Hendersonville, N.C.) 1913-1915, 1913-09-25
CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION
TAXES FORMAL NOTICE.
CONFINED from LIST Rage.9

narily in the first seven grades of the
common schools; but / do not believe
many children fresh from the seventh
grade at school could pass the exam
ination, because they would not have
rhe ability to reason which is tested
In the examination, and furthermore
and especially they would no have
had the experience nor the sort OF
general intelligence which enables
ole to apply knowledge obtained in
school. 1t is the reasoning power
and the ability to apply knowledge
that the Commission seeks to bring
out in these general intelligence
tests; and where it falls short of so
doing, it falls short of attaining it's
object.
Specifically, in the examination
mentioned twenty words in spelh
were given which are only a little
above the average words in common
use in difficulty. The subject of
arithmetic consists of five questions,
Two requiring operations with abb
stract numbers, two with concrete
numbers, and n a statement of a
simple account in a given form. The
FIRST question is in addition-verti-
cally and crosswise; the second re-
ouires the reduction of common frac-
tons to decimals, and the addition,
subtraction, multiplication and divi-
sion of decimals; the third and fourth
questions are designed to develop the
competitors reasoning ability. The
following subjects of arithmetic given
in most of our common school text
h@0Ge orn rnUor 1CnH ~ fhSc ovonos
nation: greatest common divisor,
least common multiple, longitude and
time, annual interest, compound in
terest, partial payments and interest,
foreign exchange, equation of pay
ments, square root, cube root, arith-
metical progression, and mensura-
! ton
In the subject of report-writing the
competitor is given a statement OF
facts of about 400 to 500 words, not
closely connected, and required to
summarize and arrange it into a
complete and logical report in letter
form containing not more than zoo
words
In the subject of copying and cor
recting manuscript the competitor is
asked to write a corrected copy of {
manuscript furnished, which contains
errors in syntax, spelling, punctua-
ton. and capitalization
In penmanship, legibility is the
prime consideration although rapid
ity, neatness, and general appearance.
as we'll as uniformity in the forma-
tiCr of the letters and characters are
considered in the rating on this sub
ject.
In geography and civil government
of the United States the questions
consist of the location Of States,
bndies of water, and cities, and two
az estions of an elementary character
In civil government. This subject is
given a weight of 10 per cent of the
entire examination, so that if an ap-
Il1cant was unable to answer a single
question in geography and civil gov
eminent his general average would
be reduced only 10 points out of 100,
and he would still have a margin OF
20 points on the remaining subjects,
since 70 is the minimum passing
average.
The subjects of spelling, arithmetic,
report writing, penmanship, and copy
ing and correcting manuscript as ac-
taally given and as herein briefly de-
scribed are practical tests because.
first. they are tests of practical gen
eral intelligence necessary in posi-
tons in the Internal Revenue Ser
vice, and, second, they are actual
tests of knowledge that must be had
to do the work in these positions.
The last subject, geography and civil
government, is included with q light
weight as a further test Of general
Intelligence, and in the belief that a
nan who seeks employment in the
service of his government ought to
have some idea of the geography of
mis- country and of the form of his
COuntry's government.
The Commission watches carefully
the results of its examination, n
if it is found that there is something
wrong with the character of an ex-
animation as it is given, the Commits
SOD is ready to make suitable
changes. If you care to make any
suggestions as to improvements in
he examination given for the Inter
nal Revenue Service, they will be
gladly received and most carefully
considered. We are here to see that
the examinations are fair n honest
and practical IN anu we
are at all times endeavoring to make
improvements that will be beneficial
to the service. Practical suggestions
for such improvements will be well
coined.
It may be that you and IScould not
agree on the proposition that appoint
1nents to the civil service should be
based on competitive examination
without regard to political considera-
tons. I am firmly convinced that
such a system is absolutely necessary
snd I believe that you would see the
necessity of it very clearly II you
we're an appointing officer in the FED
eral service.
Very sincerely yours,
JOHN A. McILHENNY,
President.