As officers naturally prefer to be on full pay
instead of half pay while on leave, the provision of the Philippine
law is in their interest; it is also in the interest of the service,
as the periods of the absence from duty are not so prolonged.
The Philippine Civil Service Law is now about to be put to its
first really severe test as a result of the change in the national
administration. Heretofore those whose duty and privilege it has been
to enforce it have been in the most full and hearty sympathy with its
purposes. President McKinley was from the outset definitely committed
to the widest application of the merit system to appointments in the
Philippines. Mr. Roosevelt and Mr. Taft firmly supported that system,
as has each succeeding governor-general up to, but not including,
Mr. Harrison, who is as yet an unknown quantity.
It is interesting, however, to note that on the day following his
arrival there was a demand for the instant resignation of Mr. Thomas
Cary Welch, a faithful and efficient employee of the government,
who had been for nearly ten years in the service, whose position
was desired for, and immediately given to, Mr. Stephen Bonsal. That
gentleman had been appointed at Washington a member of the Municipal
Board of Manila immediately after Mr.
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