To prevent David's widowed mother, Elizabeth, from being influenced by her son against their fake tropical rubber plantation investment, the promoters trick David into managing the plantation in Mexico. Seeking to prove his worth after a failed marriage proposal, David travels to the tropics. There, he encounters the brutal reality of the rubber slavery system. He meets Ludwig Hertzer (the villainous "Planter," played by Tyrone Power Sr.), a feared and hated man who runs a slave-labor-based operation. David also encounters Senora Morales and her daughter, Consuela, who are involved in the slave trade. David discovers his family's investment is actually a "rubbish heap." He attempts to warn his mother via cable, but the message is intercepted by Hertzer for his own gain.

Dennis O'Hara is a poverty-stricken Irishman who believes that if he comes to America he will immediately land a job as a policeman. So he manages to scrape together the funds to get him to Manhattan, and leaves his sweetheart Katie O'Grady behind while he makes his fortune. Naturally he discovers that joining the force isn't as easy as he expected, and when he does finally get in, he winds up in trouble because of the graft collections of his boss.

A bandit reforms himself and gives up his baby into better hands. Years later, he attempts to reunite with his daughter without revealing who he is.