Speech #580018404

Thus for years he advocated the appropriation of public money from the Treasury of the United States for the education of the negro race in the South in order to qualify that race for the duties of citizenship. His eloquent advocacy of that duty of our Government may yet in time appeal convincingly to legislators who are here and those who may come hereafter. He believed that our country was intended to be an asylim for all oppressed peoples. and therefore he opposed all laws prohibiting immigration of particular races. and especially opposed the enactment of the laws prohibiting Chinese immigration into our country. but later yielded to the general sentiment on that subject. I think one of the ablest speeches that has been delivered on this floor was a speech made by Senator HoAn in opposition to the enactment of a proposed law for the prohibition of the immigration of Chinese. We all remember how earnestly he opposed the entire scheme for control over the Philippine Archipelago. He believed that those people should be left to work out their own destiny in such manner as to them seemed wisest and best. differing in that respect from the great majority of his party. and possibly from a great majority of the people of the country.