John Sherman: “I say now, as I said at the commencement, that the passage of this bill seems to me a matter of public duty.”

Our family of states is already large enough to create embarrassment in the Senate, and a republic should not hold dependent provinces or possessions.

Proud of Ohio, of its history and people, willing at all times to sound its praise in the sisterhood of states, yet, according to my convictions, the United States is entitled to my allegiance, and all parts of it should receive equal care…

During forty years of public life, though many able men have aspired to the office I hold, the people of Ohio, through their general assembly, have preferred me to represent them.

The Union already embraces discordant elements enough without adding others.