Charles Sumner: his complete works, volume 04 (of 20)Sumner, Charles
History
Charles Sumner: his complete works, volume 04 (of 20)
Sumner, Charles
Slavery -- United States; Speeches, addresses, etc., American
The original debate in the Senate on the Nebraska and Kansas Bill,
in which Mr. Sumner took part, was closed by the passage of that
bill--after a protracted session throughout the night--on the morning
of Saturday, March 4, 1854, by a vote of thirty-seven yeas to fourteen
nays. The bill was then sent to the House of Representatives. It was
there taken up and referred to the Committee of the Whole; but, owing
to the mass of prior business, it became impossible to reach it. Under
these circumstances, a fresh bill, nearly identical with that which
passed the Senate, was introduced and passed the House. This, of
course, required the action of the Senate. On the 23d of May a message
from the House announced its passage, and asked the concurrence of the
Senate. It was at once read a first time; but, on the objection of Mr.
Sumner, its second reading was stopped for that day. The next day, on
motion of Mr. Douglas, all prior orders were postponed for the purpose
of considering it. The debate upon it continued during that day and
the next. The interest it excited was attested by crowded galleries to
the end. Among spectators on the floor of the Senate was the Earl of
Elgin, Governor-General of Canada, with his suite, then in Washington
to negotiate the Canadian Reciprocity Treaty. Late in the night of the
last day, after the bill was reported to the Senate, and the question
put by the Chair, "Shall the bill be engrossed and read a third time?"
Mr. Sumner took the floor and said:--
Mr. President,--It is now midnight. At this late hour of a session
drawn out to unaccustomed length, I shall not fatigue the Senate by
argument. There is a time for all things, and the time for argument
has passed. The determination of the majority is fixed; but it is not
more fixed than mine. The bill which they sustain I oppose. On a former
occasion I met it by argument, which, though often attacked in debate,
still stands unanswered and unanswerable. At present I am admonished
that I must be content with a few words of earnest protest against the
consummation of a great wrong. Duty to myself, and also to the honored
Commonwealth of which I find myself the sole representative in this
immediate exigency, will not allow me to do less.
But I have a special duty, which I would not omit. Here on my desk are
remonstrances against the passage of this bill, some placed in my hands
since the commencement of the debate to-day, and I desire that these
voices, direct from the people, should be heard. With the permission of
the Senate, I will offer them now.
THE PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. STUART in the chair). The remonstrances
can be received by unanimous consent.
SEVERAL VOICES. Let them be received.
THE PRESIDING OFFICER. The Chair hears no objection.
MR. SUMNER. Taking advantage of this permission, I now present
the remonstrance of a large number of citizens of New York against the
repeal of the Missouri Compromise.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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