The following exhibit of the whole progress in civil service reform, from its beginning to the end of 1908, was made in the annual report of the Council of the National Civil Service Reform League, presented at the meeting of the League, on the 17th of December in that year: "The whole United States civil service, in 1883, consisted of 110,000 persons, and of these 14,000 were put under the civil service law. Now the federal civil service has grown to 352,000 positions, and, including the last extension, those under the competitive system have increased from 14,000 to about 222,000. Not only in numbers but in proportion to the total has the competitive service increased from 12.7% in 1883 to 63% now." CIVIL SERVICE REFORM: A. D. 1902-1903. Extension of classification to the Rural Free Delivery Service. Order concerning unclassified laborers. "During the year ended June 30 [1903], 25,566 persons were appointed through competitive examinations under the civil-service rules. This was 12,672 more than during the preceding year, and 40 per cent of those who passed the examinations. This abnormal growth was largely occasioned by the extension of classification to the rural free-delivery service and the appointment last year of over 9,000 rural carriers. A revision of the civil-service rules took effect on April 15 last, which has greatly improved their operation. … 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, physical ability, moral character, industry, and adaptability for manual labor: except that in case of veterans of the civil war the element of age is omitted. This system of appointment is distinct from the classified service and does not classify positions of mere laborer under the civil-service act and rules. Regulations 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 unnecessary positions and by increasing the efficiency of the employees remaining." _President’s Message, December 7, 1903._ {106} CIVIL SERVICE REFORM: A. D. 1906. Excellent legislation in Pennsylvania. See (in this Volume) PENNSYLVANIA. CIVIL SERVICE REFORM: A. D. 1906-1909. The Reform of the Consular Service.