It is that indebtedness which is filling our almshouses with people skilled in many industries and eager to toil for their living. It is that foreign debt. that annual gold indebtedness for interest on the principal. that is stripping the thrifty and industrious laborer of his earnings hoarded through years in savingsbanks. that is compelling him to see his humble but mortgaged home pass to the capitalist at a nominal price. because he has not been permitted to earn the little stipend that would enable him to pay his monthly dues to the building association. or his semiannual installment to the capitalist. It is that foreign debt which is causing a vast tide of emigration to flow from our shores. and repelling hundreds of thossands of immigrants who hoped and expected to find shelter. freedom. and prosperity under our republican institutions. And. sir. the bill just read by the Clerk is a proposition to abate this foreign indebtedness by authorizing the Government to avail itself of the resources of the American people. and to solocate a large part of the public debt immediately. and all of it ultimately. that when it shall pay its interest it will pay it to those from whom it has drawn the money by hard and heavy taxation. This is my sole object in proposing the issue of convertible bonds. and I stand not upon the phraseology of my bill.
Keywords matched
immigrants emigration