And State Papers 687 



and the success of the merit system largely depends 

 upon the effectiveness of the rules and the machinery 

 provided for their enforcement A very gratifying 

 spirit of friendly co-operation exists in all the De- 

 partments of the Government in the enforcement and 

 uniform observance of both the letter and spirit of 

 the civil-service act. Executive orders of July 3, 

 1902, March 26, 1903, and July 8, 1903, require 

 that appointments of all unclassified laborers, both 

 in the Departments at Washington and in the field 

 service, shall be made with the assistance of the 

 United States Civil Service Commission, under a 

 system of registration to test the relative fitness of 

 applicants for appointment or employment. This 

 system is competitive, and is open to all citizens of 

 the United States qualified in respect to age, physi- 

 cal ability, moral character, industry, and adapta- 

 bility for manual labor; except that in case of vet- 

 erans of the Civil War the element of age is omitted. 

 This system of appointment is distinct from the clas- 

 sified service and does not classify positions of mere 

 laborer under the civil-service act and rules. Regu- 

 lations in aid thereof have been put in operation in 

 several of the Departments and are being gradually 

 extended in other parts of the service. The results 

 have been very satisfactory, as extravagance has 

 been checked by decreasing the number of unneces- 

 sary positions and by increasing the efficiency of the 

 employees remaining. 



The Congress, as the result of a thorough inves- 



