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required to pass a competitive examination, to the satisfaction of examiners appointed by the minister of the department in which the vacancy or vacancies occur. Promotion follows in order of merit.

The chief officials in the government bureaus, the directors of museums, libraries, and archives under government control, managers and engineers in connection with public works, and the judiciary are appointed by royal order, the minister of the department concerned submitting the names of persons whose qualifications specially recommend them for the vacant post. Previous service in the civil service is not necessary in these cases.

The judges of the supreme court and members of the council of the accountants' bureau are appointed by royal order, the states-general submitting the list of names of persons recommended to the Sovereign.

With the exception of the burgomasters, who are appointed for a period of seven years with the option of reappointment at the termination of each period, all positions in the civil service are of a permanent nature. All Government servants, from the highest to the lowest, on leaving the service are accorded a pension at a fixed rate, no person being allowed more than three-fourths of the highest salary enjoyed while in service. In many cases there is an age limit, which in no case exceeds 70 years.

Examinations. It is required of all persons seeking admission to the service that they shall have some knowledge of at least three modern languages, French, German, and English, their ability in the use of these three languages varying according to the class of the service for which they solicit admission. In addition to the special requirements of each class, it is demanded that they shall have attained the age of 17 years, and shall be citizens of the Netherlands.

Public-school certificates and university degrees are regarded as recommendations, and in the consular and diplomatic examinations the candidates may give proof of their ability in other languages than the three already mentioned.

FRENCH GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES.

The Commission is indebted to the State Department for the following report: During the recent parliamentary debates on the budget, public attention has been called to the army of employees whose names are on the pay rolls of the states. There are 527,000 persons whose salaries cost the French Government more than $140,000,000 per annum.

The manner in which these salaries are distributed is worth noting. One thousand eight hundred employees earn from $1,800 to $1,000 a year, 11,000 receive between $600 and $800 annually, 28,000 are paid from $400 to $600, the salaries of 110,000 persons vary from $200 to $400, and 184,000 work for less than $200 per

annum.

These office holders do not include the army and navy officers, whose salaries are carried on a different list, but they are principally those employed in the state, post and telegraph, commerce and industry, and instruction and religion departments. There are a certain number of state officers whose services are well paid, notably the ambassadors, ministers, and consuls, and special functionaries whose duties call them out of France.

The smallest salaries are received by the employees under the ministry of interior. Many school-teachers are obliged to live on less than $100 per annum. The country clergy receive salaries that are most inadequate, not more than $100 a year.

The lowest grade of wages on the state's lists are paid to the postmen in rural districts, and the "cantonniers" (highway repairers); some of these can not average $75 for the twelve months. It should be borne in mind that the cost of living in France does not vary much from what it is in the United States; that taxes are higher; that all food products pay an octroi duty at the cities' gates, and that rents alone are cheaper. Therefore it is evident that very little comfort or luxury are attainable with such wages.

Certain advantages are gained by being a public servant, and the applications for places are numerous. It is said that there are at least ten applicants for each office. One reason that these poorly paid situations are so much sought after is the privilege of retiring from service, either after arriving at the limit of age as fixed by law or after having passed a given number of years in the government employ, on a pension

of half or three-fourths pay. This guarantee of the French Republic makes many men and women willing to endure privations and inferior wages for a long time, knowing that should they live to an old age their means of support will not be entirely cut off.

It is not an uncommon thing to see men still in the prime of life retiring from public service to enter into some private business. They are assured of their livelihood by their pension and require a little more income to make them comfortable.

As a rule French employees compare favorably with those of other European nations. Although the grade of men employed in certain positions is not as high as may be found in other countries, still the usual politeness, which is a distinguishing quality of the French nation, is characteristic of the French employees, who as a class have the reputation of being extremely honest.

The hours of work are considerable, from nine to twelve hours per diem. School teachers, post and telegraph employees, and overseers have the longest days. The gratuities given to the post and telegraph men help to increase the government stipend.

In proportion to the wages paid by the railroads, corporations, and business houses the state gives away a very fair average compensation to her employees; but as employment is scarce and applicants are numerous in every branch of trade, it is not possible that the French government employee will ever gain much wealth from his salary.

UNITED STATES COMMERCIAL AGENCY,

WALTER T. GRIFFIN, United States Commercial Agent.

Limoges, France, May 29, 1896.

REGULATIONS GOVERNING PROMOTIONS.

DEPARTMENTAL SERVICE.

FROM POSITIONS BELOW THE GRADE OF CLERK OR COPYIST TO GRADES EQUAL TO THE GRADE OF CLERK OR COPYIST.

(Adopted June 22, 1896.)

REGULATION I.

No employee hitherto designated as a laborer and brought into the classified service by the Executive order of May 6, 1896, and no person holding any other subordinate position below the grade of clerk or copyist shall be promoted to the grade of clerk or copyist until the Civil Service Commission certifies that he is eligible from an examination equal in grade to the examination required for original entrance to the position to which the promotion is proposed.

REGULATION II.

Competitive examinations shall be provided in accordance with Rule XI for promotions from subordinate positions in the departmental service to grades equal to the grade of clerk or copyist. Until provision is made for ascertaining the office record of competitors in the manner hereinafter provided, the examination shall consist of the clerk-copyist examination or one equal to it in grade.

REGULATION III.

After service of two years any person who is more than 20 years of age and who occupies a subordinate position, the entrance examination for which is below the grade of clerk-copyist, may file an application with the Commission for promotion, in form and manner to be prescribed, and may be examined. The names of such competitors who obtain a general average of 70 per cent or over shall be entered upon a register of eligibles from which certification for promotions shall be made to the lowest class in the grade for which examined, upon request of the head of the Department, in the same manner as for original entrance to the service. The period of eligibility shall be one year. A separate register of eligibles shall be kept for each Department, or the Commission may keep separate registers for one or more bureaus of a Department when requested by such Department.

REGULATION IV.

Prior to each promotion examination the head of the Department for which the examination is to be held shall furnish a report of the office record of each applicant for promotion, in form and manner to be prescribed by the Commission, from which the relative efficiency of competitors shall be ascertained in accordance with the rules adopted for that purpose. The efficiency record shall be a part of each promotion examination: Provided, That until such records are available the efficiency record may be omitted.

NAVY DEPARTMENT,

* DEPARTMENTAL ORDER No. 13.

WASHINGTON, D. C., March 26, 1897.

INSTRUCTIONS RELATIVE TO MARKING EFFICIENCY, OFFICE HABITS, ETC.

In determining the actual efficiency of an employee, or the value of his services, five elements are considered: (1) Character of work, or the degree of its importance; (2) quality of work, or the degree of its excellence; (3) quantity of work, or the amount performed; (4) office habits, or punctuality, application, and conduct; (5) attendance, or the number of days' service rendered.

Reports of efficiency are made semiannually, but certification for promotion is based upon the average actual efficiency for the year next preceding the six months in which the certification is made, or for such lesser period as the employee may have served.

Character of work. This element is given a weight of 3. A fixed mark or credit will be given for character of work according to its difficulty and importance. For this purpose the following marks will be used:

SUPERVISORY WORK.

Mark.

1. Supervisory work of a routine character, involving no original thought, consideration, or investigation....

2. Supervisory work of a routine character, involving some original thought, consideration, or investigation....

75

85

3. Supervisory work not of a routine character, involving much original thought, consideration, or investigation..........

100

CLERICAL WORK.

1. Clerical work of a routine character, requiring care and accuracy, but no special skill or judgment..............

2. Clerical work of a routine character, involving no original thought or consideration, but requiring some skill as well as judgment.......

3. Clerical work of a routine character, involving some original thought, consideration, or investigation.

4. Clerical work of a routine character, involving some original thought, consideration, or investigation, and requiring special clerical ability

5. Clerical work not of a routine character, involving much original thought, consideration, or investigation, and requiring the highest order of clerical ability..

6. Clerical work not of a routine character, involving much original thought, consideration, or investigation, and requiring professional, technical, scientific, expert, or special knowledge, as well as a high order of ability..

SKILLED LABOR.

1. Skilled labor not requiring the knowledge of a recognized mechanical trade.....

2. Skilled laber requiring the knowledge of a mechanical trade.....

3. Skilled labor involving duties of a supervisory character or considerable personal responsibility...

4. Skilled labor requiring the knowledge of a mechanical trade and involving duties of a supervisory character and great personal responsibility.

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WORK OF WATCHMEN OR MESSENGERS.

Mark.

1. Routine work of watchmen or messengers involving no special or unusual personal respon. sibility....

40

2. Work of watchmen or messengers of a confidential character or involving special or unusual personal responsibility

55

If the employee shows special aptitude or fitness for a grade of work higher than, or different from, that upon which he is engaged, it should be noted under the head of "Remarks."

Quality of work. This element is given a weight of 4. The mark for quality of work will be given without regard to character or quantity, and should indicate the accuracy, skill, promptness, penmanship, neatness, and intelligence with which the work is performed, as compared with the standard.

Quality of work should be rated as follows (fractions should not be used):

Excellent: Indicating work of extremely high quality.
Superior: Indicating work of high quality

Good Indicating work of average quality..

Fair: Indicating work of acceptable but not good quality

Mark.

95 to 100

90 to 94

80 to 89

70 to 79

60 to 69

Poor Indicating work of very inferior quality .

Lower marks indicate the unfitness of the employee for the work to which he is assigned. Extreme marks, high or low, should be explained under the head of "Remarks."

Quantity of work.--This element is given a weight of 3. The mark for quantity of work is given without regard to character or quality, and should indicate the amount of work actually performed as compared with the standard. If the quantity of work performed is small because the duties of the employee do not fully occupy his time, it should be explained under the head of "Remarks," together with an estimate of the quantity of work he is capable of doing. If the work performed is of such a character that it is not practicable to keep a comparative record of the quantity of work, an estimated mark should be given for this element, and the fact that it is estimated should be noted under the head of "Remarks." Quantity of work should be rated as follows (fractions should not be used):

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Lower marks indicate either that the employee has not sufficient work to fully occupy his time, or that he is unfit for its performance.

Office habits. No credit is directly given for good office habits, as an employee should strictly comply with office regulations. Deductions from the credit earned for character, quality, and quantity of work will be made for violations of regulations. A charge of 2 will be made for each infraction of office regulations with respect to punctuality or application, and a charge of 5 or a multiple of 5 will be made for misconduct, according to the gravity of the offense. Care should be taken to distinguish between necessary rest from fatiguing work, and lack of application while assigned to work not fatiguing. The date and character of each case of misconduct should be specifically noted under the head of "Remarks."

General average and actual efficiency.-The general average of an employee is the average of the marks for character, quality, and quantity of work, less any deductions for office habits, and is determined as follows: Multiply the marks for character, quality, and quantity by their respective relative weights; find the sum of the products; subtract the aggregate deductions under the head "Office habits," and divide the remainder by 10-the sum of the relativo weights. If the employee was actually or constructively present during the entire period under consideration, his general average will indicate his actual efficiency; otherwise, his actual efficiency is ascertained by multiplying his general average by the number of days of service actually or constructively rendered, and dividing by the number of calendar days in the period under consideration.

An employee shall be considered constructively present on Sundays and holidays, and also when not absent in excess of the time allowed by law for annual leave.

These rules will also govern in marking the efficiency of draftsmen and other employees whose duties are of a professional or technical character.

U. S. CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION,

JOHN D. LONG, Secretary.

Washington, D. C., March 27, 1897.

Approved.

By direction of the Commission.

JOHN R. PROCTER, President.

DEPARTMENTAL ORDER No. 14.

WASHINGTON, D. C., March 26, 1897.

CIVIL-SERVICE REGULATIONS GOVERNING PROMOTIONS IN THE DEPARTMENTAL SERVICE OF THE NAVY DEPARTMENT.

In pursuance of the requirements of section 7 of the civil-service act, and in conformity with Rule XI of the civil-service rules, promulgated by the President on the

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