When  the  Senate   meets  at  its  next  session,  the  Presi-
dent must  send  to  that  body,  for  its  action,  the  name  of
the  appointee.      If  the  Senate  confirms  the  nomination,
that  is  the  end  of  the   matter.      If  it  refuses  to  confirm,
the  President  must  then  make  a  second  nomination.   In
-either  case  the  removal  of  the  former  incumbent  is  final
and  absolute.
477.  Vacancies. — When  a  vacancy  in  any  office  oc-
curs while  the  Senate  is  in  session,  the  President  makes
a  nomination,  and  matters  proceed  just  as  explained  in
the  last  paragraph.   When  the  vacancy  occurs  in  a  recess
of   the  Senate,   the  President  appoints  and  commissions
the  officer,  and  the  Senate  acts  on  the  nomination   at  its
next  session  just  as  in  the  case  of  a  removal  made  in  the
recess.
350  THE  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES

478.  The  Civil  Service. — The  persons  who  serve  the
Government  in  civil  or  non-military  capacities  are  collect-
ively called  the  civil  service.     They  are  divided  into  two
classes  called  officers  and  employes.     The  two  classes  are
not  separated  by  any  consistent  rule  or  practice.   Officers,
who  are  much  inferior  in  numbers  to  employe's,  are  ap-
pointed and  removed.      Employe's  are  employed  and  dis-
charged, not  appointed  and  removed.      Laborers  in  the
navy  yards,  arsenals,  and  the  like  are  employes;   so  are
many  persons  in  continued  service  at  custom  houses  and
in  other  offices  as  well  as  many  clerks.      In  1896  the  civil
service  consisted  of  178,884  persons.     Of  these  113,276-
were    in    the    Post-office    Department,    23,553    in   the
Treasury  Department,  14,967  in  the  War  Department,
and   13,846  in   the   Interior   Department.      The   others
were  distributed  among  the   other  Departments  of  the
Government.
