and working on his farm. He also translated the Constitution of Norway to English and studied the Free Silver issue. This was the subject of his first Senate speech, on December 31, 1895, when he advocated a paper currency. Nelson maintained—as he did throughout his career—a strong anti-Populist, though pragmatic, profile. His most important first-term accomplishment was probably the Nelson Bankruptcy Law, intended to give farmers the means to enter into voluntary, as opposed to forced, bankruptcy by creditors. He positioned this as an alternative to the Judiciary Committee that was much harsher to debtors. Although he championed the bill on its own merits, it also gave him an opportunity both to disassociate himself from his background as an attorney and to build favor with his agricultural constituency. After 18 months of painstaking negotiations, Nelson managed to get the bill passed by Congress on June 24, 1898. Filing bankruptcy would be known for some time afterwards as "taking the Nelson cure." If Nelson showed independence in the bankruptcy law, he toed the party line on the Spanish–American War, enthusiastically supporting the war effort. He got embroiled in a bitter debate on the Senate floor on the issue of annexing the Philippines and Hawaii. He and one of the authors of the treaty, senior Minnesota senator Cushman Davis, voted with the majority in ratifying the Treaty of Paris. He is often quoted as saying: Providence has given the United States the duty of extending Christian civilization. We come as ministering angels, not despots. Return to Norway Nelson always took care in public to define himself first and foremost as an American, with no conflicted loyalty to his birth country. But in the background he supported Norway in various ways, notably by inviting Norwegian officers to observe and learn from American tactics in Cuba. He had been planning a trip to Norway for some time, but made sure he would also visit Sweden and Denmark, emphasizing his Scandinavian-American background. He traveled alone and made his home town of Evanger one of the first stops. He arrived at the village in a horse-drawn buggy with only his luggage and was received as an honored guest. He spoke in his native dialect of Vossemål, slipping into Riksmål only when he felt it necessary to make an important political point. His hosts quickly started addressing him in the familiar "du Knut," which he appeared to