El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-06-14
High Salaries Deceptive
Americans Holding Philippine POSI-
lions Bring Little Money Homes
Filipino Control Growing.
TrrasTnrTu TFnur<Fm
, AsHINGTON. D. C.. June ]

y
w The provincial system Of ad-
w ministration in the Philippine
islands in in two parts. The pro-
cinciaI system proper is the part
which operates solely in the prov
irces. The other part is as much cen
trail as provincial, being the several
insular bureaus which are located in
Manila, but who do most of their work
in all parts Of the islands. Strictly
speaking, they are a part of the cen
trail government. but as the bulk of
their duties pertain to the provinces
they viii befcOnsidered in this con-
nectiOn.
All Officials in Charge Americans.
The principal bureaus are executive,
education, audits, treasury, customs,
internal revenue public works justice,
cOnstabulary. lands. forestry, science.
health, printing, supply. posts. nayiga-
important offices which do not rank
railway expert consulting architect,
Philippine hospital, coal expert, the
big ice plant and the Philippine Ii
brary. All the leading officials Of
these bureaus ana offices are Ameri-
cans The only one dominated by
FilipinOs is the bureau of labor, where
all the officers and employees are Fill
plnOs. Salaries for bureau directors
average $4,000 per annum. The direc-
tor Of public works draws S. 500 and
( his assistant director $4,000. The d.
o
forestry director is paid $1,000. All
I the others get $4,000. Assistant di-
rectOrs average from $500 to $425O.
. Chief clerks and chiefs of divisions
range from $4,000 to So. 0OO OF these
positions 90 per cent are held by Amer
/ leans In addition there are hundreds
of American clerks who are paid from
. $1,000 to $4,000
Furnish Target Tor Attacks.
This fat salary roll which the Amer
( leans subsist upon is always a target
tor Filipino attacks. especially as lib
eral accrued leave and vacation priv
F.. ueges go with them But here the
same problem of supply and demand
has to be met. Just as with the mem
bers Of the commission and the SUI
pTeme court. as previously explained
Z Competent Americans will not go over
there for less. The high cost Of living
averaging in Manila and some DrO-
vincial points as high as in san Fran
cisco. Seattle. Denver or Washington.
also cuts into the apparently high sal
/ aries The necessity Of frequent va
cations to Japan or to this country.
plus the life saving trips to the United
states Tor the women and children OF
an employees family. make another
drain on his purse
Bring Little Money Back.
Fully half OF the American civil
service personnel finally returns to the
United States with very little more
money than they started away with.
As rule. the only benefits derived
years in the Philippines is the varied
experiences. important Official respOn-
SlblllUieS tfOr which a young man has
to wait 20 years or more in this cOun-
ened persDective. Against this must
be checked complete exile from home
and relatives. loss of material adj
Vancement here which his stav-at-
home brother has grabbed in his ab-
sence, and an impaired physique. The
only ones who make their Philippine
experience pay fincially are such of
the young. unmarried men who happen
to be frugal and the men whose wives
also hold government Jobs and get
from $1,000 to $4,000 There is only
one married woman who. earns the
latter sum. and she is chief clerk Of
a bureau OF the other two women
, who eniOv similar conversations. one
IS widow and the other is unmarried
Many others make $1,000 and $500.
Competence Is n Factor.
Competence is another factor The
/ plain truth is that for the present at
least the bulk OF the positions in the
. bureaus even the ordinary clerkships
and stenOgraDhic posts. are not held
by the FilipinOs. It has only been
within the last three years that
handful here ard there have been able
to pass the first grade civil service
eNaml nation in English which entities
them TO salary of $1,000. At present
not over 20 Fi'ininO clerks hold such
positions and Of Filipino stenOgraDhers
q IN the entire list of bureaus As to
I the high POSTS. some Americans say
{ that no Filipino has demonstrated ad-
mini Stra tive ability to entitle him to
D be director or assistant director of a
( bureau This is the kind Of talk in
[ dulged by anti-FilipinO Americans.
despite the good records made by two
ulplnO NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. as chiefs Of
I the bureau Of Justice No other Fill
Pine ever has been given a chance
/ either to succeed or fail at the head Of
u
educated IN the United States or Eu-
{ rope are gradually working into such
/ positions, however, and in the main. do
I fairly well.
Many Bureaus Maintained.
/ Every part OF the provinces feels
/ the influence Of the bureaus. For in
] stance, the bureau of education main
/ tainS schools in every hamlet Not a
! road is built or a bridge thrown across
! 2 stream without the supervision of
/ the bureau Of public works through
! the district engineer The military
I policing of the islands is done by the
/ consta bulary- Every provincial treas
! urer is an agent Of the inSular trea g.
! urer in Manila. The forest reserves
| are under the bureau of forestry. All
/ surveying and marching Of land is con
| trOlled by the director of forestry. All
/ the pOStoffices come under the sway
| Of the director of posts. Internal rev
/ enue agents are the ewes and ears. and
] sometimes the fists. of the insular col
! lectOr Of internal revenue
I In everything these bureaus do IN
/ the provinces thew are directed to work
/ tremendously with the FilininO pro-
I vincial officials. Tt is well known
| that an American treasurer or con-
stabularv officer must keen on good
terms with the native Officials If they
wish to stand high with their chiefs I'm
/ Manila Not infreQuently the word
Of the native is accented in Manila
Z above that Of the American with whom
( he has clashed.
FfIipinOE In Control.
It has been shown how this process
of turning their government over TO
the FilipinOs has been going on in the
I central administration though very
/ slowly Tn the province ii is now COM
Dlete. The Filipino TODAY is in abso-
lutte control Of provincial administra-
! ton. have been in fact since 1905 and
Z have dictated their own municipal af-
/ fairs almost from the very first
{ The % provinces are governed by a
( municipal board OF three members.
/ composed of the provincial governor
Z the third member and the provincial
4 treasurer. The first two are FilipinOs
/ who are elected by the people for four
! years The last named is an American
although few provinces now have
/ Filipino trea SurerS. who. of course sit