work and, throughout the State service, the pay is now closely related
to the duties performed and the responsibilities exercised.

Various other matters affecting the personnel of the service, such as
transfers, leaves of absence, service ratings, disciplinary action, lay-
offs, resignations, and removals, are handled centrally through the
State Employment Commission, on a business basis similar to that
obtaining in big business enterprises.

The cost of the operation of the State Employment Commission has,
each year, been approximately one-half of one per cent. of the salary
budget for the several departments and institutions of the executive
division of the Maryland government. This is considered a nominal
cost for the operation of a personnel system in which the recognized
features of personnel management are handled, and from statistics
available and in the judgment of those who are familiar with the opera-
tion of personnel programs, Maryland ranks among the first, both in
effectiveness and in economy of operation. Such a rating has recently
been made by the Bureau of Public Personnel Administration, a central
organization established to serve as a clearing-house and research agency
for public personnel groups in the United States and Canada.

The Merit System Law provides that the Commissioner shall classify
positions in the classified service, pass upon the qualifications of appli-
cants, and certify eligibles when vacancies are to be filled, recommend
minimum and maximum salary ranges with intermediate salary rates
for each class of position, pass upon transfers, promotions, reinstate-
ments, leaves of absence, ana other actions affecting the status of clas-
sified employees, provide for the removal of employees and hold hear-
ings when charges are filed by an appointing authority or a citizen,
prescribe the standards of performance and the form and scope of the
personnel records that appointing authorities keep, investigate the
efficiency of employees in the classified service, and make recommen-
dations for increased efficiency and economy. The Commissioner is
also required to check payrolls in advance of the payment of salaries
to employees in the classified service, and certify to the legality of
the employment of such employees.

By Act of the General Assembly, Session of 1922. Part XVI, Chap-
ter 29, there was established the Department of State Employment and
Registration, to be composed of the State Employment Commission and
the various examining and licensing boards of the State, with such ad-
ditional boards as may hereafter be provided for, the head of this de-
partment to be the State Employment Commissioner, and to be known
as the Commissioner of State Employment and Registration.

Under the provisions of this section of the Act, the State Board of
Electrical Examiners and Supervisors and the State Board of Examiners
of Moving Picture Machine Operators, by authority of the Board of
Public Works, have their official office at 22 Light Street at the office
of the State Employment Commission and transact their official busi-
ness there.

The Seventh Annual Report, giving in detail the activities of the
Commission for the fiscal year ending September 30, 1927, and contain-
ing a recapitulation of the activities of previous years, has been issued
and is available for distribution upon application to the office of the
Commission.