ds of indigent persons who would welcome an
opportunity to better their lot by migrating to the New World. And the
English statesmen, feeling that there was need for blood letting,
welcomed an opportunity to divert the surplus population to the new
colony in America.[2-20] The decline in English foreign trade and the
stagnation of home industry had brought unemployment and suffering to
every class of workers. Wages were so low that the most industrious
could not maintain themselves in comfort, while to provide against want
in case of sickness or old age was hardly to be thought of. Every
parish, every town swarmed with persons stricken with abject poverty. In
some parts of the country no less than 30 per cent of the population
were dependent in part upon charity for their daily bread, while many
were driven into vagabondage and crime, becoming an element of danger
rather than of strength to the nation.[2-21] It seemed to the planters
that the mother country constituted an abundant reservoir of labor, a
reservoir already overflowing and capable of supplying indefinitely
their every need.

The only drawback was the long and expensive voyage across the Atlantic.
The fare, even for the poorest and most crowded accommodations, was no
less than six pounds sterling, a sum far beyond the means of the
thriftiest laborer.[2-22] Obviously some scheme had to be evolved to
overcome this difficulty before Virginia could make use of English
labor. And so the planters turned to the simple expedient of advancing
the passage money to the immigrant and of placing him under strict legal
bonds to work it out after reaching the colony.

This system, around which the economic life of Virginia centered for a
full century, proved satisfactory to all concerned. The credit advanced
to the immigrant made it possible for him to earn his ocean fare, not in
England where labor was cheap, but in America where it was dear. In
other words, he was enabled without delay to enjoy the full benefits of
selling his services in the best market. The necessity for placing him
under a stringent contract or indenture is evident. Had this not been
done the immigrant, upon finding himself in Virginia, might have refused
to carry out his part of the bargain. But the indenture was in no sense
a mark of servitude or slavery. It simply made it obligatory for the
newcomer, under pain of severe penalties, to work out his passage money,
and until that was accomplished to