If not by Act of Congress, let it be by a new Amendment of the Constitution; but it must be at once.
Editor's note · Context
Sumner calls for immediate action, either through Congress or a constitutional amendment, to secure rights.
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More from Charles Sumner
Nay, more,--if it would be criminal in these several clusters of States to reëstablish the Institution of War as Arbiter of Justice, then is it criminal in the Commonwealth of Nations to continue it.
They belong to a system so essentially irrational, that all the admitted virtues of many of its agents cannot save it from judgment.
Their existence is a disgrace to civilization; for it implies the common consent of nations to the Arbitrament of War, as regulated by these laws.
Without yielding to any of these extreme views with regard to the mischiefs or the benefits of party, all should agree that the only true and legitimate object of such an association is to uphold, advance, and develop certain principles…





