1404 LAWS OF MARYLAND. [CH. 673

then, he shall order the employment of such veteran by such
appointing officer, and a copy thereof shall be sent to the
veteran eligible or to his designated representative; in case
there is no eligible list for the class, the Commissioner shall
forthwith call an examination, and shall post the eligible list
resulting therefrom within sixty days from the time of hold-
ing said examination, and in case no eligible list results, the
Commissioner shall repeat such call and continue to hold
examinations until an eligible list results. If necessary to
prevent the stoppage of public business, but not otherwise, the
Commissioner may authorize temporary appointment as pre-
scribed in Section 11 of this Article.

The list of eligibles for each class of position in the classi-
fied service shall be made up first of names of persons who
have previously held positions in such class and who were
laid off in good standing under Section 16 of this Article, and
then of names of persons in the order of merit, who have been
examined by the Commissioner and found qualified.

The Commissioner shall divide all classes of positions into
two groups known, respectively, as "active" and "inactive",
and shall by schedule, made a part of his rules, indicate which
classes fall into each group, and shall revise such schedules
annually. All classes in which at least three vacancies are
anticipated during the ensuing year shall be placed in the
active group and examinations for such classes shall be held
whenever there are fewer than five names left on the eligible
list. All other classes shall be placed in the inactive group,
and examinations for such classes shall be held only when
there is no eligible list and vacancies occur.

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 com-
bination of these and shall be of a character fairly to test and
determine the relative figures and ability of candidates actual-
ly to perform the duties of the class of positions to which they
seek to be appointed. Any investigation of training and ex-
perience and any tests of technical knowledge, manual skill
or physical fitness that in the judgment of the Commissioner
serves to this end may be employed.

In all examinations to determine the qualifications of a pref-
erence applicant, credit shall be given for all valuable experi-
ence, including experience gained in civic, service and organi-
zation activities, even though no compensation was received
therefor.

Examination shall be competitive, free and open to all per-
sons who may be lawfully appointed to any position within
the class for which the examination is held, with such limita-