Here were the platforms of the two great parties embodied in the form of bills, and the choice between them, not having been decided in Congress, was submitted to the people, and the people of the United States passed their judgment upon the general principles involved in these bills.
Sherman highlights the political significance of the tariff bills, which were ultimately decided by the electorate.
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I have participated in framing many tariff bills, but have never succeeded in securing one that I entirely approved.
If that party had been content with the compromise of 1850, and had faithfully observed the pledges in its platform, there would have been no Civil War.
The worst evil that could befall our country is civil war, but the outrages in Kansas cannot be continued much longer without producing it.
It was the same old story of injustice and wrong, of might against right.
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