ALBERT C. RITCHIE, GOVERNOR.                  255

SEC. 6. And be it further enacted, That this Act is hereby
declared to be an emergency law and necessary for the imme-
diate preservation of the public safety and health, and being
passed upon a yea and nay vote supported by three-fifths of
all the members elected to each of the two houses of the Gen-
eral Assembly the same shall take effect from the date of its
passage.

Approved April 6, 1931.

CHAPTER 119.

AN ACT to repeal and re-enact with amendments Section 9 of
Article 64A of the Annotated Code of Maryland (Edition of
1924), title "Merit System, " limiting the privileges accorded
ex-service men and women to those who served during a war
in which the United States was engaged.

SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Mary-
land, That Section 9 of Article 64A of the Annotated Code of
Maryland, Volume 2, Edition of 1924, title "Merit System, " be
and the same is hereby repealed and re-enacted with amend-
ments so as to read as follows:

9. Examinations held by the Commissioner to establish lists
of persons eligible for appointment may be written or oral
or in the form of a demonstration of skill or any combination of
these and shall be of a character fairly to test and determine
the relative figures and ability of candidates actually to per-
form the duties of the class of positions to which they seek to
be appointed. Any investigation of training and experience and
any test of technical knowledge, manual skill or physical fit-
ness that in the judgment of the Commissioner serves to this
end may be employed. Examination shall be competitive, free
and open to all persons who may be lawfully appointed to any
position within the class for which the examination is held, with
such limitations as may be specified in the rules by the Com-
missioner as to age, sex, health, habits, moral character, physical
condition, and other qualifications that are in the judgment of
the Commissioner prerequisite to the performance of the duties
of such positions; provided, however, that the Commissioner
may, from time to time, provide for general rules exempting from
competitive examinations, positions to be filled by unskilled manual
laborers, including positions for road patrolmen under the State
Roads Commission, and may, if he sees fit, provide in lieu of