Page:Collier's New Encyclopedia v. 03.djvu/20

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CIVIL SEBVICE REF'M LEAGUE 4 CIVIL WAR tions subject to competitive examination under the civil service rules. On June 30, 1920, the total number of employees was approximately 640,000, Examina- tions are held in the principal cities throughout the country through the agency of local boards of examiners, of which there are approximately 3,000. The members of these boards are de- tailed from other branches of the service. During the fiscal year ended June 30, 1919, the commission examined 438,259 persons, and of this number 179,533 were appointed. The present force of the commission consists of 287 clerks and examiners and 37 sub-clerical employees at Washington, and 12 district secre- taries and 29 clerks and examiners in the field service. The expenditure for sala- ries in the Executive Civil Service is over $200,000,000 a year. The commission also holds examina- tions in Hawaii, Porto Rico, and the Philippine Islands. Under the rules, it is required to render all practicable as- sistance to the Philippine Civil Service Board. Appointments of unskilled laborers in the departments at Washington and in the large cities are required to be made in accordance with regulations promul- gated by the President, restrictmg ap- pointments to applicants who are rated highest in physical condition. This sys- tem is outside the civil service act, and is auxiliary to the civil service rules. Similar provisions have been made in most of the States and their political sub- divisions. CIVIL SERVICE REFORM LEAGUE, an organization founded in 1881, for the purpose of investigating the efficiency of governmental civil service. It has per- formed effective work in this connection and largely through its influence many important civil service measures have been passed. During the World War its work was especially valuable in securing civil service efficiency as a factor in mili- tary success. After the signing of the armistice in November, 1918, the League effected an investigation into the sources of inefficiency in the civil service at Washington, and recommended the re- organization of the Civil Service Com- mission. CIVIL WAR, AMERICAN, a war in the United States, caused by the attempt of the Southern States to establish an independent government under the name of the Confederate States of America. The first gun was fired, on Jan. 9, 1861, by batteries in Charleston harbor, which drove back the steamer "Star of the West," bearing supplies to Fort Sumter. The actual outbreak of war, however, is dated from April 12, when Fort Sumter was bombarded. The first blood was shed in Baltimore on April 19 in a street attack on the Sixth Massachusetts regi- ment, which was on its way to Wash- ington. Bull Run (July 21, 1861) was the first great battle. It resulted in a severe defeat for the Union army; its effect was to encourage the South and raise a determined spirit in the North, and to unify both sections in support of their respective policies. The Mississippi was opened to Union vessels by the cap- ture of New Orleans in April, 1862, and of Vicksburg and Port Hudson in July, 1863. The latter month also saw the Union victory of Gettysburg, by which the Confederate attempt to carry the war into the Northern States was overthrovni From July, 1863, the final victory of the National cause was assured. Sherman's march to the sea in the latter part of 1864, cut through the heart of the Con- federacy and did incalculable damage to the Southern cause. The vigorous blows which, in 1864 and the spring of 1865, Grant dealt to Lee's army in Virg:inia, brought the war to a conclusion. Lee surrendered at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865. Johnston's army sur- rendered on April 26, and within two months more all the Confederate forces had laid down their arms. The result of the war was to establish the fact that the United States is a nation and not a league of States, and that no State has the right to secede from the Union. It also resulted in the abolition of slavery. The proclamation of emancipation, issued by President Lincoln on Jan. 1, 1863, declared the freedom of all slaves within certain designated territory which was in rebel- lion, and the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution, adopted after the war, extinguished slavery in the United States. During the Civil War there were 2,778,304 men mustered into service on the Union side and about 600,000 on the Confederate. The number of casualties in the volunteer and regular armies of the United States during the war, accord- ing to a statement prepared by the Adju- tant-General's office, was as follows: Killed in battle, 67,058; died of wounds, 43,012; died of disease, 199,720; other causes, such as accidents, murder, Con- federate prisons, etc., 40,154; total died, 349,944; total deserted, 199,105. Number of soldiers in the Confederate service who died of wounds or disease (partial statement), 133,821. Deserted (partial statement), 104,428. Number of United States troops captured during the war, 212,608; Confederate troops captured, 476,169. Number of United States troops paroled on the field, 16,431; Con-