Large business organizations, public and private, have found it desir-
able to establish a central agency to handle certain kinds of employ-
ment matters. The reasons for this are obvious, in large organizations,
the management cannot hope to maintain a close personal touch with
the large number of employes on the payroll and must, therefore, set
up certain administrative machinery to secure the degree of control over
the personnel, policies, and administration that is desired, and to bring
to bear, through the central agency, scientific methods which have been
developed for dealing with personnel problems.

With the enactment of the Merit System Law and by subsequent
executive orders, Maryland has been given a rank among the highest
of governmental jurisdictions of the country in the percentage of posi-
tions of the executive division of its government under the classified
service. These embrace positions from the lowest paid employes in the
institutions to the bureau and division chiefs of the various depart-
ments. Under the personnel program of Maryland, more Iras been done
to aid the management of State institutions to secure and retain a
high-grade working force than has been done in other jurisdictions.

The testing processes used in selecting employes for entrance to and
promotion in the service have been kept up to the highest standard by
a careful study of the development of tests used both in the field of
employment and in the educational field. During the last few years,
no feature of personnel management, perhaps no governmental activity,
Iras been subjected to so close a scrutiny, has been given a greater
analysis) has made greater progress than has the technique of testing
for employment, in this research work, many of the tests used by the
Maryland Commission have been analyzed and made the basis of tech-
nical articles and experimental tests, and have been used by personnel
agencies in both the public and private field throughout the country.

A scientific duties classification Iras been developed and is currently
in use in the Maryland service. Positions having substantially similar
duties are grouped together under a descriptive title, with a detailed
statement of the duties and responsibilities of each position. This
classification serves as a basis for the handling of many of the employ-
ment problems, in addition, it has brought about, to a considerable
degree, an equalization of the salaries of those doing the same kind of
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 measurers, 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.

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