The daily morning journal and courier., 1904-10-03
ACCEPTS NOMINATION
 FOR VICE PRESIDENCY
LETTER OF IF. c. DAVIS, THE
 DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE.

or the OOSefhnhent ANc AnSNo'isihs s
 an Alarming Rate-Things Belonging
 More to an Empire Than Repulic.
 Elklns. ". Va, Oct. 2.-The letter of Henry c. Davis accepting the demo- cratic nomination for the vice-presi- dency was given out to-day. It fol- lows:
 Hon. John Sharp Williams Chairman,
 and other Members of the Commit
 tee:
 Dear Sirs-In accordance with GUS tom, and my pronis when notified by your committed at White Sulphur Springs, on August r, of my nomina- tion for the office of president, I submit the following observations upon some of the questions now before the country:
 Times PrOpItious for Change.
 The times are propitious for the re- instatement of the democratic party in control of the government. The public mind is being disillusioned of the pre- tension of the republican party, so long and so arrogantly made, that the ma terial prosperity of the country depends upon its own ascendancy. Thoughtful land patriotic people are becoming more and more distrustful of the heady and personal element of the present admin istration, and are more than willing to see 1t replaced by one that better rec ognlzes constitutional and other lawful restraints. They demand that the pres ent wasteful extravaganza in the ex- Ipenditure of the money, drawn by tax ation from the industry of the people, shall cease, and that economy and hon esty in the public service shall be again regarded as virtues in the high places of the government.
 Expenses of Government.
 The expenditures per capita of the government are incerasing at an alarm ing rate. When the present administra- ton went into power there was large surplus, but notwithstanding the enor- nous taxation, the revenues therefrom are not now adequate to meet the de- nlands made by reckless appropriations. The revenues fell short during the last fiscal year of over $4O,O00.0OO. In the first sixty days of the fiscal year tn ex- penditures exceeded the receipts by $24,- O0O,oON and if this rate of excess should continue the deficit for the present fis- cal year would be in the neighborhood of s14O00O.0OO. This needless deficit is due to the extravaganza of the admin istration. and can only be met by i'm posing additional taxes and selling bonds, thereby increasing the interest bearing debt of the government Which course will the republicans adopt? The cost of government during the fiscal year was $7.14 per capita, which means that the average tax paid in some form or another by every family of five per- sons toward the support of the national administration of public affairs was over $25, which, in the case of wage earners, is a considerable percentage of their entire earnings for the year. No more money should be taken from the people by taxation, direct or indirect, than is necessary for the needs Of a government economically administered, To show the rapid growth of the cost #of government 1t is only necessary to give the cost of government in the last fiscal year of the following administra- i tions:
 ! Buchanan, 1860, ssS 100000. Per capita, $s01.
 Cleveland, 1892. ss45,ooo,ooo. Per cap Iita, $5.2s
 Roosevelt, 1901, $5s2ooO,oOo. Percapita, sI14.
 Army.
 In answer to criticisms about the size and expense of maintaining the army the president has said that the number of soldiers now is no greater per capita than in former times. But an army then i was necessary to protect soldiers from the Indians and to do other police duty ; in the unsettled portion of the country
 conditions which do not now exist The army, however, has greatly increas- ed in cost, much faster relatively thar l it has i1l numbers.
 The expenses are:
 Under Buchanan in 1S60.....,$ 16,500,0O Under Hayes in 1880 .......... 3S,000,00C l Under Roosevelt in 1904 ..115, ,000, ,000C Panama.
 We all hail as the hamburger of tht new era in the commerce of the world the inception of the great work ot I building the canal that is to join thu 1 two great oceans; but we deprecate tn l action of the present administration which inflicted a wound upon our na, l tional honor by its disregard of thu I rights of a weaker nation, in order tc l gain a doubtful credit for energy il forwarding that great enterprise. Ter ritory of a neighboring republic, witt which we are at peace, was seized by ; band of revolutionists, protected by tn, guns of the United States navy ant erected into state over night, whicl the president promptly recognized al an independent nation. A gross offens against friendly republic which it wa 1 helpless to resent. s l Imperialism.
 These and many other unwarrantet things that belong more to an efnpir
 than republic, have occurred unde 1 the present administration, an
 brought deep concern and alarm t I thoughtful and patriotic minds. The,
 must be regarded as the first fruits Q imperialism, and show how fast we ar drifting toward absolutism and central lized power The effect of the imperial
 istic tendency of the republican part upon our foreign affairs is in opposi