The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1904-11-03
EDWARD ATKINSON
ALSO STANDS PAT

III calling tho attention Of the A,neri-
/ can public to the enormous incEease IN
i the expenditures Of government Under tho
\ Republican administration Judge Parker
used figures furnished him by MI lid-
ward Atllnsoil, the Boston stat,sticiail.
These figures have been attacked by
l several Representatives OF the administrn.
| ton. and Mr.. Atkinson has now prepared
| another statement showing that his fig
/ ures nre substantially correct. lie snys
! that III tic years 1902, 1903 and 1904 he
! published analysis or the Official reports
| OF the government III minute detail-the
/ two first under the title of THE Cost
\ of War and Warfare, which ARE now to
| be found in nearly every public library,
| the third presented to the Senate and orr
4 dcrctl to be printed MS n public document.
| lIo declares TINT The figures were copied
| from the official reports, year by year,
I'm tho last reports for twenty years be-
fore tho Spanish, war and eight years
| or war and warfare to June goth of the
present year. lie omitted Items which
| did not belong to the current expense
| Of tho government and did not ircludo
MS asserted by Secretary shaw tho
| gross postal expenditures
In the first Of these reports he pointed
}Sout that in five years OF war and war
fare the expenditures had exceeded the
normal rate OF the previous twenty years
hS 500, 100000. In the second report ho
showed that to December of that year tho
excess over the normal rate would DO
saOo,01O,0oO. In July he again extended
the computation from the official state
ments Of expenditures and appropria-
lions TO the end or the fiscal year June
90 1905, proving. he alleges, by tram
script Of tho official figures that the
Expenditures on war and warfare IN cS-
cess Of the normal rate for the previous
twenty years with the exclusion of every
extrancous or non-current itenl would
be sl,6o0OO0,0O0 He now says that this
is not an absolutely true account. be-
cause the present system of government
bookkeeping Is out Of date. lie explains
that largo expenditures for public build
irgs that have no connection with the
military service are listed under that
titlc ana that the cost OF lighthouse
service and OF the fish commission Is
listed under the head Of naval service.
But lie says that these errors are due to
defective bookkeeping and not to defec-.
tive compilations. There is no error, he
maintains, in his transcrlptions Of the Of
ficinl figures In the additions. subtrac-,
z tons or divisions, as thoy have I'LL been,
proved by double entry Nor Is there
any error in tho comparison Of the SER
vice charges to each department of the
government and none in the final arth-
mctical conclusion. The figures, he
rcitcrates, prove an excess Of expendi-3
lures computed per head OF the popu-
alation by n comparison OF the last eight
years with tho previous twelve years. or
the previous twenty years, amounting
juno 80, 1905, 10 the sum OF @l5o0, 90, 900
or more. E
~ lie denies the statement made by Sec
rotary Shaw that he included In his flg-
5ures s900.000,00O expanded for the Pana-,
ma purchase and for postal service. lie
denies the statement Of Secretary Taft
that he included the cost Of eighteen.
battleships not yet ordered. He denies
the statement Of Secretary Hay that II
tho future expenditures should be again
reduced to the normal rate of S per
head, less the reduction OF the interest
and pension charge of over 80 cents per
head, or to the normal rate Of $3.50 per
head, as proposed BY Judge Parker. it
would be necessary to disband the army
and to lay up the vessels in the dock
yard.
years, covering the administrations Of
Cleveland and Harrison. during which
period the new navy was constructed and
completed, and the work on coastwise
Qualifications begun and carried out in
part. He says that the expenditures for
this period amounted to $3.50, 01o,0po
while 1t now appears certain that the
expenditures Of eight years OF war! and
warfare to June 80, 1906 will exceed FL
200, 200.
He further says that the expenditures
of eight years OF Civil War and recon-
structIon from June 30, 1864, to June 30.
1872 were S4,s00.Ooo,O0o, largely paid in
deprecated paper at an average Of a
little over 5000 100000 q year, reduced to
gold at a discount OF only 10 per cent.
fractions, being $3.50. co., 900
a year. while II now appears certain that
the expenditures of the present fiscal
year, ending June 80. 1905, will exceed that
amount and may reach 00,bG0,00o or a
least $500. o00Q9p in excess OF the normal
rate Of $3.50 per head.
He then gives the following table. show
ing in detail the expenditures for the
twelve years coyered by the Cleveland
and Harrison administrations:
civil ..,.......-....... 81, llG,3lI,04d
War .......,.. 1890. 564,4s2,5 500
Navy ........ .......... 29G,377, 500
Interest .............. 440,322,T15
Pensions ............. ], S94, 75D,34D