The correspondence with reference to a tobacco examiner began some time in 1904. My first rejection of each of the three names certified as being eligible is dated December 15, 1904. The request for a tea examiner was made somewhat later. I quote a paragraph from the Civil Service Commission’s letter of December 9, 1905, which, though written with special reference to the request for eligible trial lawyers, mentions both tobacco and tea examiners: “Your attention is also invited to the recent examination for tea examiner and tobacco examiner at the Port of ——. Owing to objections by your Department to eligibles certified, it became necessary to hold three examinations before a selection was made for tobacco examiner and two examinations before a selection was made for tea examiner. The examinations finally resulted in the selection of the temporary employees, who, in the judgment of the Commission, after careful investigation, have no unusual qualifications for the duties to be performed and came in at the advanced age of sixty-three years. It seemed to the Commission so apparent that the examinations in question had not resulted in securing to the government the services of the most suitable competitors, that it became necessary for it to recommend to the President that it be relieved of all responsibility for these examinations and on November 18th, the President placed in the excepted class, one examiner of tea and one examiner of tobacco at the Port of ——, which employees do not now have the status of competitive employees.” It will be noted that the Civil Service Commission itself finally recognized such a weakness in the system that it consented and even recommended that Treasury officials be permitted to select _one_ examiner of tea and _one_ examiner of tobacco at _one_ port, though the last phrase quoted seems to betray a slight apprehension of disaster resulting from there being in the United States two examiners, each requiring very accurate and technical qualifications, “who do not now have the status of competitive employees.” Appendix “A” is limited to two letters written by the Secretary of the Treasury to the Civil Service Commission refusing to approve rules and regulations which it proposed to promulgate, unless the President so directed. I will add that the President did not so direct. In this instance, as in the last two, the Secretary of the Treasury had his way. DIPLOMATIC SERVICE. While on this subject, I cannot refrain from discussing Civil Service as applied to our diplomatic and consular service.