wire service: see news agency.

service mark: see trademark.

selective service, in U.S. history, term for conscription.

Conscription was established (1863) in the U.S. Civil War, but proved unpopular (see draft riots). The law authorized release from service to anyone who furnished a substitute and, at first, to those who paid $300. General conscription was reintroduced in World War I with the Selective Service Act of 1917. All men from 21 to 30 years of age (later extended 18 to 45), inclusive, had to register. Exemptions from service were granted to men who had dependent families, indispensable duties at home, or physical disabilities. Conscientious objector status was granted to members of pacifist religious organizations, but they had to perform alternative service. Other war objectors were imprisoned, where several died. By the end of World War I about 2,800,000 men had been inducted.

The United States first adopted peacetime conscription with the Selective Training and Service Act of 1940. The act provided that not more than 900,000 men were to be in training at any one time, and it limited service to 12 months—later (1941) extended to 18 months. After the United States entered World War II, a new selective service act made men between 18 and 45 liable for military service and required all men between 18 and 65 to register. The terminal point of service was extended to six months after the war. From 1940 until 1947—when the wartime selective service act expired after extensions by Congress—over 10,000,000 men were inducted. A new selective service act was passed in 1948 that required all men between 18 and 26 to register and that made men from 19 to 26 liable for induction for 21 months' service, which would be followed by 5 years of reserve duty.

When the Korean War broke out, the 1948 law was replaced (1951) by the Universal Military Training and Service Act. The length of service was extended to 24 months, and the minimum age for induction was reduced to 181/2 years. The main purpose of the Reserve Forces Act of 1955 was to strengthen the reserve forces and the National Guard. It required six years of duty, including both reserve and active duty. The Military Selective Service Act of 1967 required all men between the ages of 18 and 26 to register for service. The regular exemptions along with educational deferments were granted. These loopholes and other technicalities tended to discriminate against working-class and poor men, and thus a higher percentage from these groups were drafted.

Due to this perceived discrimination by class and also because of the great unpopularity of the Vietnam War, conscription became a major social issue. There were numerous demonstrations at draft boards and induction centers. Many young men evaded the draft through technicalities or fraud; thousands fled the country or went to prison. In 1973 conscription was abolished in favor of an all-volunteer army. President Gerald R. Ford granted clemency to many draft resisters in 1974, and President Jimmy Carter granted amnesty to draft resisters in 1977. In 1980, Congress reinstituted draft registration for men 18 to 25 years old. If there were to be a crisis, registered men would be inducted as determined by age and a random lottery.

postal service, arrangements made by a government for the transmission of letters, packages, and periodicals, and for related services. Early courier systems for government use were organized in the Persian Empire under Cyrus, in the Roman Empire, and in medieval Europe. Private systems operated sporadically but were gradually abandoned or incorporated into government services. The English postal service, an outgrowth of royal courier routes, was established in 1657. Reforms proposed by Sir Rowland Hill were adopted in 1839; they provided for universal penny postage prepaid by an adhesive postage stamp or an official envelope.

The first organized system of post offices in America was created by the British Parliament in 1711, but as early as 1639 there was a post office in Boston. The mails were carried over a system of post roads; the New York City-Boston service was established in 1672. Postage stamps were first used in the United States in 1847; other developments were the registering of mail (1855), city delivery (1863), money orders (1864), and penny postcards (1873). Special-delivery service started in 1885, rural delivery in 1896, the postal savings system in 1911 (discontinued 1966), and parcel post in 1913. Mail was transmitted to the West Coast by the pony express of 1860-61. Mail service by railroad was instituted in 1862, and airmail in 1918.

In the United States, postal service is under the direction of the U.S. Postal Service, having been reorganized in 1970 from the old Post Office Department. It is governed by an 11-member board, who choose a Postmaster General; since the reorganization, the Postmaster General is no longer a member of the cabinet. A separate five-member commission is charged with reviewing and approving rate changes proposed by the board. The U.S. Postal Service operates as an independent, self-supporting agency within the government.

The Universal Postal Union (UPU), which facilitates the exchange of mail among nations, was established after the International Postal Convention of 1874; the UPU is now a specialized agency of the United Nations. Many governmental postal services have special divisions for serving stamp collectors (see philately). Since the early 1970s in the United States, private shipping services, such as Federal Express (now FedEx) and United Parcel Service (UPS), have competed for special services, and by the 1990s electronic services such as fax (see facsimile) and electronic mail also cut into the postal service's business.

knight service: see knight.

foreign service: see diplomatic service; consular service.

domestic service, work performed in a household by someone who is not a member of the family. It was performed by slaves in many early civilizations, e.g., in Greece and Rome. Under the feudal system the work was done by serfs. The guild system required indentured apprentices to perform household duties while learning a trade. With the disappearance of feudalism and guilds, servants were recruited from free wage earners. Domestic service came to be regarded as an unattractive occupation because of the long hours, low wages, poor living conditions, low social status, and dependence on the personal habits of the employer. In the colonies of North America, domestic service was performed by transported convicts, bond servants who sold themselves into service for stated periods to pay their passage, Native Americans, and black slaves. After the American Revolution indentured servants were largely replaced, except in the South, by free labor. Growing numbers of upper middle-class families in the late 19th and early 20th cent. increased the demand for domestic servants, which was largely met by immigrants. Immigration quotas established in 1921 cut down this supply, and the demand for servants was subsequently reduced by the use of labor-saving devices. As the growing number of working women has created an increased need for child-care workers, many families have turned to professionals for such services. The number of domestics has declined from a peak of 2.4 million in 1940 to 795,000 in 1997. In 1950 the old-age insurance system was expanded to include household employees who were regularly employed, and in the social security amendments of 1954 old-age and survivors' insurance were extended to domestic servants regardless of work regularity. In Great Britain domestic workers are covered by national health and unemployment insurance schemes.

diplomatic service, organized body of agents maintained by governments to communicate with one another.

Origins

Until the 15th cent. any formal communication or negotiation among nations was conducted either by means of ambassadors specially appointed for a particular mission or by direct correspondence among heads of states. This procedure was not always satisfactory, however, and by the mid-16th cent. several countries had established permanent representatives in foreign states. One of the first powers to do this was Venice, which in 1496 appointed two merchants as representatives in London because the journey to England was "very long and very dangerous." Other countries later followed suit.

The Modern Diplomatic Service

The Members of the Service

By the end of the 17th cent. permanent legations had become widespread in Europe. There was no uniformity in titles and status among various ambassadors, however, and agents operating below the ambassadorial level, although influential, were often corrupt. At the Congress of Vienna (1815) this system was corrected, and a classification of diplomatic ranks was adopted. Four grades of diplomatic representatives were recognized: ambassador, papal legate, and papal nuncio; minister plenipotentiary and envoy extraordinary; minister; and chargé d'affaires. This codification went far toward professionalizing the diplomatic service and established it as a branch of the public service in each nation.

As the diplomatic service became a regularized institution, its functions began to grow. While the ambassadors themselves continued to act as personal representatives of their particular heads of state, their staffs necessarily expanded as various types of attachés were assigned to the embassies. Today secretaries, military, cultural, and commercial attachés, clerical workers, and various experts and advisers are all part of the diplomatic corps. Diplomatic business is generally conducted according to forms long established by custom, including memorandums, informal oral or written notes, or formal notes. Although French was once the universal language of diplomacy, both French and English are used today.

Diplomatic Service of the United States

In the United States, ambassadors are appointed by the President and are subject to the approval of the Senate. Although the consular service and the diplomatic service were once separate in the United States, the Rogers Act of 1924 combined the two branches into the Foreign Service. The Foreign Service Act of 1946 reorganized the Foreign Service, raising salary levels and introducing the merit system for promotions to all but appointive positions. Today the Foreign Service is under the control of a Deputy Undersecretary of State, assisted by the Foreign Service Institute.

Diplomatic Immunity

The persons of diplomats enjoy diplomatic immunity, i.e., they are exempt from search, arrest, or prosecution by the government to which they are accredited. This immunity, which derives from the concept of extraterritoriality, is deemed necessary for diplomats to properly carry out their official duties. They are allowed communications and transportation without interference, and their embassy and residence enjoy similar privileges of extraterritoriality. This tradition of diplomatic immunity was violated by Iran during the Iran hostage crisis.

Diplomatic Relations

The larger countries of the world have permanent diplomatic relations with scores of other nations, whether those nations are considered friendly or unfriendly. If two countries have no diplomatic relations, their interests may be represented by diplomats of other powers, and when two states are at war their interests are usually represented by neutral states. In the event that a nation refuses to admit a diplomat from a foreign nation or demands his or her recall, the diplomat's government must either comply or break off relations.

Recent Developments

In the 20th cent. there have been numerous meetings of heads of state and foreign ministers and various types of international conferences, all of which have tended to lessen the traditional diplomatic function. Moreover, some claim that modern communications have also changed diplomacy greatly by removing whatever autonomy diplomats may once have had in making policy decisions. The possibility of telephone or other direct contact with a superior has allegedly reduced diplomats to a quasi-messengers. Even if this may appear true, diplomats continue to serve as expert advisers, and while not empowered to make final decisions, they greatly influence the decision-making process.

consular service, organized body of public officers maintained by a government in the important ports and trade centers of foreign countries to protect the persons and interests of its nationals and to aid them in every possible way. Consuls are officially recognized by a foreign state through the issuance of an authorization known as an exequatur, which may be revoked by the admitting state at any time. The many duties of U.S. consuls in foreign states include promoting and protecting American commercial interests; issuing passports and verifying citizenship; certifying the sanitary conditions of the cargo, crew, and passengers of vessels leaving for U.S. ports; and mediating with local officials in cases of legal matters involving American citizens. The consular service was once strictly distinguished from the diplomatic service, but because of the interrelated duties of the two branches, the Rogers Act of 1924 consolidated both into the Foreign Service of the Department of State. The Department of Commerce and the Department of the Treasury may place commercial attachés at a consulate office to aid in gathering statistics and promoting trade. The persons of consuls enjoy immunity and extraterritoriality in all matters pertaining to their official functions, and the premises of consulates are likewise privileged. Such privileges are granted either by courtesy or through special consular treaties.

civil service, entire body of those employed in the civil administration as distinct from the military and excluding elected officials. The term was used in designating the British administration of India, and its first application elsewhere was in 1854 in England. Modern civil service personnel are usually chosen by examination and promoted on the basis of merit ratings. In democratic nations recruitment and advancement procedures are designed to divorce the civil service from political patronage.

History

General Development

The use of competitive examinations to select civil officials was begun in China during the Han dynasty (206 B.C.-A.D. 220), and expanded to include all important positions during the Sung dynasty (960-1279; see Chinese examination system). In the West, however, selection of civil administrators and staff on the basis of merit examinations is a late development. Despite important contributions to administrative structure and procedure, the Roman Empire seems to have recruited and promoted officials largely on the basis of custom and the judgement of superiors.

The establishment of the modern civil service is closely associated with the decline of feudalism and the growth of national autocratic states. In Prussia, as early as the mid-17th cent., Frederick William, elector of Brandenburg, created an efficient civil administration staffed by civil servants chosen on a competitive basis. In France similar reforms preceded the Revolution, and they were the basis for the Napoleonic reforms that transformed the royal service into the civil service. Development of a professional civil service came several decades later in Great Britain and the United States.

In the United States

Owing doubtless in part to the spoils system so strongly established in the Jacksonian era, the United States lagged far behind other nations in standards of civil service competence and probity. Agitation for reform began shortly after the Civil War. In 1871, Congress authorized the President to prescribe regulations for admission to public service and to appoint the Civil Service Commission, which lasted only a few years. The scandals of President Grant's administration lent weight to the arguments of reformers George W. Curtis, Dorman B. Eaton, and Carl Schurz. President Hayes favored reform and began to use competitive examinations as a basis for appointment to office.

The assassination of President Garfield in 1881 by a disappointed office seeker precipitated the passage of the Pendleton Act in 1883, reestablishing the Civil Service Commission after a nine-year lapse. The commission draws up the rules governing examinations for those positions that Congress places in the classified civil service. All Presidents since Cleveland have expanded the classified list, and the great majority of federal employees during peacetime are now classified. In 1939 the merit system was extended to sections of state administration receiving federal grants. The Hatch Act of 1940 forbade campaign contributions by officeholders, with the intention of divorcing the civil service from politics. A 1993 revision of the act allows most civil servants to engage in political activity on their own time.

Appointive power is shared by the President, who appoints the heads of all government departments and may remove his appointees at will; by Congress, which controls its own employees; and by the Civil Service Commission and departmental-appointing officers, in whose charge are vacancies in the classified service. Important changes were made in the structure of the U.S. civil service as a result of the reports issued (1949, 1955) by the two commissions known as the Hoover Commission. The organization of the government bureaucracy was streamlined by the creation of the General Services Administration, combining the operations and activities of some 60 government agencies.

In Other Countries

Of the world's civil services, the most outstanding on several counts is still the British, extremely powerful because of its permanency, its extensive grants of power from Parliament, and its reputation for absolute honesty, although it is criticized for a lack of flexibility and for class exclusiveness in its upper ranges. A Civil Service Commission and the beginnings of a system of competitive examinations were established in Great Britain in 1855, and the influential Whitley Councils, representing both government employees and administrators in questions dealing with service conditions, were set up after World War II. British civil servants are strictly excluded from politics. In Communist nations, on the other hand, the official party and the civil service have tended to interpenetrate. The secretariat of the League of Nations and of the United Nations are possible precursors of an international civil service.

United Service Organizations (USO), organization that supplies social, recreational, welfare, and spiritual facilities to members of the armed services. The associated agencies include the YMCA, the YWCA, the National Catholic Community Service, the Salvation Army, the Jewish Welfare Board, and the National Travelers Aid Association. USO was organized in 1941; its services, discontinued at the end of 1947, were resumed early in 1949 at the request of President Truman. With programs in over 120 centers worldwide, it is supported by voluntary contributions.

Service, Robert William, 1874-1958, Canadian poet and novelist, b. England, educated at the Univ. of Glasgow. He went to Canada in 1897 and held odd jobs in British Columbia and at White Horse in the Yukon. His famous ballad "The Shooting of Dan McGrew" appeared in Songs of a Sourdough (1907, repr. 1915 as The Spell of the Yukon). Celebrations of the rough ways of Klondike life continued in Ballads of a Cheechako (1909) and in the novel The Trail of '98 (1910). Service became a foreign correspondent in 1912 and drove an ambulance during World War I, an experience that gave him material for Rhymes of a Red Cross Man (1916). He spent the rest of his life, except during World War II, in France and Monte Carlo. His later works did not win the tremendous popularity of the earlier ones. His autobiography was issued in two volumes, Ploughman of the Moon (1945) and Harper of Heaven (1948).

Service Employees International Union (SEIU), labor union representing U.S. and Canadian workers in health care (doctors, nurses, health technicians), public services (government workers, school employees), building services (janitors, elevator operators, security officers) and other areas. Founded in Chicago in 1921 as the Building Service Employees International Union to represent largely immigrant janitors, it expanded during the 1930s to include hospital workers and public employees and was renamed in 1968. By the early 21st cent. the SEIU had more than 1.8 million active members, and was the largest and most rapidly growing union in North America. With headquarters in Washington, D.C., the SEIU has more than 300 local affiliates and 25 state councils. From 1980 to 1995 its president was John J. Sweeney, who left to head the AFL-CIO. In 1996 he was succeeded by Andrew Stern, who nine years later led the SEIU to disaffiliate from the AFL-CIO and, with several other unions, form the Change to Win Federation.

Secret Service, United States, a law enforcement division (since 2003) of the Dept. of Homeland Security. It was established in 1865 in the the Dept. of the Treasury to investigate and prevent counterfeiting of currency, officially becoming a distinct organization within the department in 1883. The Secret Service enforces federal laws relating to currency, coins, obligations, and the securities of the United States and foreign governments, including forgery and fraudulent electronic transfer. After the assassination of President William McKinley in 1901, the force was charged with protecting the president. This protection was later extended to the members of the immediate families of the president, vice president, president-elect, and vice president-elect; major presidential and vice presidential candidates; former presidents and their spouses; widows of former presidents until their death or remarriage; minor children of a former president; and visiting heads of state.

Internal Revenue Service (IRS), division of the U.S. Treasury Dept. that is responsible for the assessment and collection of most federal taxes, except those relating to alcohol, tobacco, firearms, and explosives. Established in 1862, the IRS derives most of its revenues from the collection of corporate and individual income tax.

Distinguished Service Cross, Distinguished Service Medal, and Distinguished Service Order: see decorations, civil and military.

Cooperative Extension Service, in the United States, publicly supported, informal adult education and development organization. Established in 1914 by the Smith-Lever Act, it constitutes one of the largest adult education programs in the world and consists of three levels of organization—federal, state, and county. Its overall objective is to plan, execute, and evaluate learning experiences that will help people acquire the understanding and skills essential for solving farm, home, and community problems. This objective is met through educational programs that make use of research findings emanating primarily from the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture and the state land-grant colleges and universities. The Extension Service also sponsors Four-H Clubs for youth throughout the country.

or news service or wire service

Organization that gathers, writes, and distributes news to newspapers, periodicals, radio and television broadcasters, government agencies, and other users. It does not publish news itself but supplies news to subscribers, who, by sharing costs, obtain services they could not otherwise afford. All the mass media depend on agencies for the bulk of the news they carry. Some agencies focus on special subjects or on a local area or nation. Many news agencies are cooperatives, with members providing news from their area to a pool for general use. The largest news agencies are United Press International, Associated Press, Reuters, and Agence France-Presse.

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also called social work

Any of various professional activities or methods concerned with providing social services (such as investigatory and treatment services or material aid) to disadvantaged, distressed, or vulnerable persons or groups. The field originated in the charity organizations in Europe and the U.S. in the late 19th century. The training of volunteer workers by these organizations led directly to the founding of the first schools of social work and indirectly to increased government responsibility for the welfare of the disadvantaged. Social service providers may serve the needs of children and families, the poor or homeless, immigrants, veterans, the mentally ill, the handicapped, victims of rape or domestic violence, and persons dependent on alcohol or drugs. Seealso welfare.

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Industry that provides services rather than goods. Economists divide the products of all economic activity into two broad categories, goods and services. Industries that produce goods (tangible objects) include agriculture, mining, manufacturing, and construction. Service industries include everything else: banking, communications, wholesale and retail trade, all professional services such as engineering and medicine, all consumer services, and all government services. The proportion of the world economy devoted to services rose rapidly in the 20th century. In the U.S. alone, the service sector accounted for more than half the gross domestic product in 1929, two-thirds in 1978, and more than three-quarters in 1993. Worldwide, the service sector accounted for more than three-fifths of global gross domestic product by the early 21st century. As increases in automation facilitate productivity, a smaller workforce is able to produce more goods, and the service functions of distribution, management, finance, and sales become relatively more important.

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or Seeing Eye dog

Dog professionally trained to guide and protect its blind master. They have also been used to assist persons with hearing impairments and restricted mobility. Systematic training of guide dogs originated in Germany during World War I to aid blinded veterans. At the age of approximately one year, the dog is trained for three or four months. Retrievers and German shepherds are the most widely used breeds.

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Body of government officials employed in civil occupations that are neither political nor judicial. In well-ordered societies, they are usually recruited and promoted on the basis of a merit-and-seniority system, which may include examinations; elsewhere, corruption and patronage are more important factors. They often serve as neutral advisers to elected officials and political appointees. Though not responsible for making policy, they are charged with its execution. The civil service originated in the earliest known Middle Eastern societies; the modern European civil services date to 17th- and 18th-century Prussia and the electors of Brandenburg. In the U.S., senior officials change with each new administration. In Europe, regulations were established in the 19th century to minimize favouritism and to ensure a wide range of knowledge and skills among civil service officers. Seealso Chinese examination system; spoils system.

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or diplomatic service

Staff of a state's international-affairs department that represents the state's interests in foreign countries. It fulfills two functions, diplomatic and consular. The standards for foreign-service jobs are similar in most countries. Before the 20th century, wealth, aristocratic standing, and political connections were the chief requirements for high-ranking diplomatic positions. Political appointees still hold the top positions in many foreign missions, but their subordinates generally must demonstrate their education and intellectual ability through a competitive examination. Foreign-service personnel have special legal rights (e.g., they do not have to pay taxes to their host country). Seealso ambassador.

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Employment of hired workers by private households for tasks including housecleaning, cooking, child care, gardening, and personal service. It also includes the performance of similar tasks for hire in public institutions and businesses, including hotels and boardinghouses. In ancient Greece and Rome domestic service was performed almost exclusively by slaves. In medieval Europe serfs provided much of the necessary labour force. Indentured servants were widely used in colonial America, as were black slaves in the pre-Civil War South. In Victorian England many middle- and upper-class households hired domestic servants; the royalty and gentry often employed huge staffs with an elaborate hierarchy. Domestic service has declined in the U.S. and Europe since the early 1920s, a trend attributed to the leveling of social classes, greater job opportunities for women, and the spread of labour-saving household devices.

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or draft

Compulsory enrollment for service in a country's armed forces. It has existed at least since the Egyptian Old Kingdom in the 27th century BC. It usually takes the form of selective service rather than universal conscription. (The latter generally refers to compulsory military service by all able-bodied men between certain ages, though a few countries—notably Israel—have also drafted women.) In the 19th century Prussia's system of building up a large standing army through conscription became the model for competing European powers. During the American Civil War both the federal government and the Confederacy instituted a draft, but the U.S. did not use it again until entering World War I in 1917. Like the U.S., Britain abandoned conscription at the end of World War I but reverted to it when World War II threatened. During the ensuing Cold War, Britain retained the draft until 1960 and the U.S. until 1973. Seealso U.S. Army.

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(born Jan. 16, 1874, Preston, Lancashire, Eng.—died Sept. 11, 1958, Lancieux, France) English-born Canadian popular verse writer. He immigrated to Canada in 1894 and lived eight years in the Yukon. His Songs of a Sourdough (1907) and Ballads of a Cheechako (1909), about life in the “frozen North,” were enormously popular. He became known as “the Canadian Kipling” with such rollicking ballads as “The Shooting of Dan McGrew” and “The Cremation of Sam McGee”. His other works include the novel The Trail of '98 (1910) and Rhymes of a Red Cross Man (1916).

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