Political Quotes

“Would the distinguished Senator tell me why Jefferson's position was as the Senator stated and yet, in 1803, Jefferson promoted the Louisiana Purchase, which amounted to $15 million in those days, and which money the U.S. Government had to borrow? The Government borrowed that $15 million, or a large portion of it, when Mr. Jefferson was President. He bought 827,000 square miles of territory for $15 million, which would be something like 2rac{1}{2} cents an acre, extending from the Gulf of Mexico to the Canadian border and from the Mississippi River to the Rockies. Jefferson was President, and he did one of the most wise things that was ever done in the history of this country when he purchased Louisiana on his ``watch'' and went in debt to do it. Now, he passed it on to the future generations of his day, the burden of paying for the Louisiana Purchase. What $15 million in that day would amount to in this day, I have not researched that, but it would certainly amount to a tidy sum.…”