tions are held at intervals in different parts of the country. Candidates who wish to try these examinations make application in regular form, and then appear before the examiners at the specified time and place. An "eligible list" is kept of those who pass the examinations, arranged in the order of candidates' standing; when a vacancy occurs, selection for the position is made from the three highest on the list. The appointment is probationary for a term of six months. If the service of the applicant be satisfactory, the appointment is made permanent; if not, the applicant is discharged. In the non-competitive examinations, the same procedure is observed, except that appointments are made without regard to relative standing. There is absolutely no distinction of candidates on the ground of party connections or party services; all are on equal footing within certain age limits and other necessary qualifications. As for the examinations, the law requires only that they" shall be practical in their character and, as far as may be, shall relate to those matters which will fairly test the relative capacity and fitness of the persons examined to discharge the duties of the service. into which they seek to be appointed." It is the practical, specific character of these examinations that have commended them to confidence. For clerks and accountants, for instance, tests are made as to quickness and exact ness in figures, clearness and rapidity in writing, familiarity with bookkeeping methods, etc. For technical positions, such as engineering, architec ture, and mining, technical knowledge is of course required; and in all cases practical experience and business capacity are the chief requisites. The merit system" of selection of candidates for government office, while highly developed, has not reached a state of complete perfection, to be sure; but it is by far the best that has yet been devised and infinitely superior to old methods. There is no question but that it is extremely effective in securing far more honest and efficient public service than was possible under the old régime, besides removing the corrupting influence of the dictum that "to the victors belong the spoils." When a man is secure in his position no matter which party is in power, he will not only do better work but be of morally higher tone than when his abilities and much of his salary were diverted into efforts to keep his party" at the public crib." President Arthur, who signed the Civil Service Law in 1883, brought nearly 16,000 places within its provisions. Every President since his time has added to the number, President McKinley having the lowest record, and President Cleveland the highest, civil service with the latter being a practical application of his famous aphorism: " Public office is a public trust." There are now more than 400,000 offices and employés of the Federal Government under the National Act. Many States and cities also especially cities under the "commission" form of government - have civil service laws and are amenable to their conditions. Recent innovations are the bringing of consular service under civil service rules, and also certain departments of the postoffice, including 8,000 assistant postmasters. This marks a long step toward removing the Postoffice Department, where pat ronage has seen some of its worst abuses, from the field of politics.* * William Harrison Clarke, The Civil Service Law (1891); George William Curtis, Orations and Addresses, vol. ii. (1894); Theodore Roosevelt, American Ideals, pt. ii. (1900); Carl Schurz, Some Object Lessons (1903); George S. Bernard, Civil Service Reform vs. The Spoils System (1905); Carl Russell Fish, The Civil Service and the Patronage (1905); Henry 1. Greene, The Enforcement of the Provisions of the Civil Service Law in Regard to Political Assessments (1906); annual reports of the United States Civil Service Commission; reports of State and municipal commissions; and the reports, pamphlets and addresses issued by the National Civil Service Reform League. TREATIES WITH FOREIGN NATIONS. Ever since the colonies succeeded in winning their independence from the Mother Country and formed a National government, American statesmen have endeavored to foster the spirit of friendship and trust between the United States and foreign nations by means of treaties, conventions, compacts, agreements, etc., and scarcely a year passes that does not witness the enactment of one or more of such evidences of mutual confi dence. Furthermore the United States is noteworthy among the nations of the world as a treaty-keeping power, for while the history of foreign countries will show many pledges ruthlessly broken upon the slightest provocation, the history of the United States is remarkably free from such blemishes. Treaties of course have been abrogated but their abrogation, in the majority of cases, was at the notice or request of the foreign power. In addition to treaties with separate and distinct countries, the United States has been a party to many important international agreements, executed at Geneva, Brussels and The Hague, and has shown its willingness to avoid war by the great number of disputes submitted for settlement to the International Court of Arbitration at The Hague. The following is a list of the important international agreements to which the United States has been a party: |