When we began this shortsighted policy. a third of a century ago. there were some palliating circumstances. as we have seen. but they have ceased to exist at the present time. At the time Hawaii was knocking at our door our country spread away in almost unbroken stretches from the Missouri to the Rockies. and herds of buffalo roamed the plains not yet wrested from hostile bands of Indians. Bismarck. who was overshadowing Europe like some Colossus. had just said that no other country could do what we had accomplisheddisband the two greatest armies the world had yet seen without disturbance. and find homes for all of them. as well as for every immigrant who reached our shores. Land was abundant. distances immense. and transportation crude. Our natural resources were as yet almost untouched. while many industries that today support millions of our people and annually add other millions to our wealth had scarcely started. much less been developed.
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immigrant