SECTION 5. _And be it further enacted_, That the Board shall determine, after consultation with the President, courts, or heads of departments, as the case may be, upon the subjects of examination, and also whether the examination shall be oral, written, or both, and shall have full discretion as to the regulation of the examinations, and may employ such learned and honorable men as they may see fit to assist in the examinations, or to superintend examinations in their absence, and shall report their doings annually to Congress. SECTION 6. _And be it further enacted_, That the Board, after the examination, shall assign the rank of the applicants, according to the degree of merit and fitness shown; and he who stands at the head of the list shall have the choice of vacancies in the particular department or branch for which he was examined, and so on down the list to the minimum of merit fixed by the Board, beyond which no certificate shall be given. The Board may, if they see fit, assign the right of seniority as a result of the first examination, or may require a further examination, the result of which shall determine seniority. SECTION 7. _And be it further enacted_, That, after the appointment of a candidate recommended by the Board, he shall not be removed except for good cause, and promotions shall be according to seniority, which shall be determined in all cases by the dates of the recommendations of the Board and the rank therein assigned; but it shall be allowable to make one fifth of the promotions on account of merit irrespective of seniority. This bill found an unexpected response from the public press. The _National Intelligencer_, at Washington, welcomed it. “The object of this bill commands our entire approval, and we hope it may equally receive the approval of Congress. Its passage, more than any other single decision that could be taken by Congress in the way of needed reforms, would tend to correct abuses which threaten our whole political system with wreck and ruin.” The _Evening Post_, of New York, was equally explicit.