=How the Merit System Works.=—The actual operation of the civil service or merit system is as follows: Whenever a classified position is to be filled, the appointing officer calls upon the Civil Service Commission to send him the names of suitable persons. If the commission has recently held competitions for a similar position, it may have names on hand. For example, if the appointment is to the position of mail-clerk, stenographer, postman, or policeman, there is no delay in sending in the names because examinations for these posts, owing to the steady demand, are held frequently. But if some unusual position is to be filled, such as that of chemist in the city’s water department, it is usually necessary to hold a special competition. Public announcement is made; applications are received; examination papers are made out; the tests are taken by the various applicants, and the results are figured out. Then the Civil Service Commission certifies to the appointing officer the names which are highest on the list, usually the three highest, and the appointment is made from among these names. [Sidenote: They are practical in their nature.] Do not imagine, however, that a civil service competition takes the form of examinations like those given in school or college. The questions relate to the work which the applicant will have to do. Candidates for appointment as stenographers are given a practical test to determine whether they can take dictation rapidly, read it accurately, and write it out neatly with a typewriter. Civil service tests for policemen take the form of a physical examination, questions on elementary law, and on the duties of a policeman. There are different examinations for each kind of position. The examiners study what qualifications a position demands and then devise a set of examinations which will test these qualifications. The Civil Service Commission does not make the appointments; it merely certifies the names of those who stand highest. From these names the appointing officer usually selects the first on the list, but in some cases he is permitted to choose any one of the first three names. =Value of the Merit System.=—The merit system does not always succeed in picking out the best among those who apply for a vacant position. No system of competitive tests is infallible. Even school examinations do not always prove who is the best scholar. But they come nearer doing so than any other method. Civil service tests do succeed in weeding out the unfit. They protect the public service against the appointment of officials who are clearly incompetent and have no qualifications except political influence. If the civil service system does not always select the best it certainly enables us to avoid the worst, which is something that the spoils system never did. [Sidenote: The democratic character of the civil service system.]