Speech #880044997

I wish to take advantage of this occasion to note Norwegian contributions to American life and our common alliance in defense of the ideals of freedom. Norwegians. faced with an unsolvable agricultural problem due to shortage of land and a fall in the world price of corn. had the sense of adventure to start life in a new country. Emigration to the United States was nothing new. but in the half century before the First World War. it reached its peak. with almost 700.000 Norwegians making the voyage across the Atlantic. Most of these pioneers left their chief mark on the new world in Dakota territory. Minnesota and Wisconsin.