Charles Sumner; His Complete Works

Resolution and Speech in the Senate, December 12, 1861. April 8, 1852, during his first session in the Senate, Mr. Sumner brought forward a resolution for a revision and consolidation of the national statutes, which was duly referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. Though the resolution attracted attention at the time, the committee did nothing. Early in the next Congress, December 14, 1853, he presented the same resolution a second time, which was duly referred, and again neglected. In the succeeding Congress, February 11, 1856, he offered the same resolution a third time, and with no better success than before. Absence from the Senate and protracted disability prevented the renewal of this effort until the administration of President Lincoln, who was induced to make a recommendation on the subject in his annual message of December 3, 1861. Mr. Sumner followed, December 12th, with his oft-repeated resolution: -