Centre Democrat. [volume] (Bellefonte, Pa.) 1848-1989, 1879-12-11
4 POLICY OF SILENCE.
General Gordon's Plans for the South.

VIEWS WHICH WILL he IMPRESS
I'D on THE DEMOCRATS.
Special to the Philadelphia Times.
WAsHINGToN, December /.
General Gordon arrived here last
night from Georgia, and was present
in his seat in the Senate to-day. The
Senator comes here i'll very earnest
frame of mind, and in this and in his
purposes he represents those who have
come to be known as the conservative
men of the South. What he says will
be found to be the opinions Of men
like Senators Lamar, Ransom, Jones
of Florida, and Wade Hampton. |
found him to-day in his committee
room making ready for the business of
the session. He was looking ruddier
and in much better health than when
he left Washington ut the close Of the
last session, the result of Il long, pleas.
ant summer of domestic aud farm life
Mt his home near Atlanta. Speaking
of this, and very modestlv of the ex-
tremely interesting story OF his part in
the last battles of the war, published
some time since in the Times, he said
mt length in answer to question put
by me rs to his idea of the kind OF a
session we are about to have II trust
we are devoted to the interests of the
whole country. | came here to do
what | can to prevent the keeping
alive of sectional strife and the dis
cord that prevailed at the last session
and will prevail SO long as this South
ern question is kept alive
SOUTHERN MEN TO KEEP QUIET.
General Gordon is man of such
sincere conviction and withal i so
thoroughly in earnest that he i very
eloquent even in conversation, and he
seemed to-day to be pouring out what
had been kept in and checked for
many months. He said that he had
come here with the purpose to do what
he could TO prevent Southern men
from answering any of the abuse that
might be heaped upon them and which,
he saw, had already been threatened
by some Republicans. This was his
first object aud for that he was prepar-
ed to lay by for the time all discussion
of the doctrine of State rights. II am,
indeed n Democrat said he, "and |
believe thoroughly in the right of lo-
cal selt.government. | think the pcO-
pie in all the States, North a. we'll a
South, believe in that, and not one
State in the Union would surrender a
single right for which would contend.
Why. | would not have it spoken Of
now, however, is because it Is covered
over and blackened by the leaders of
the Republican party in Congress, and
made to be equivalent to the dead and
buried issues of secession. Of course
YOU know and they know that our
doctrine of State rights has nothing of
the old dogma about it. 1t is precise
" what the citizens of every State be
lieve in, but the Democratic party
stands by what | consider the Consti.
tutional right of the States, while the
Republican party is drifting from it
and towards Capitalization"
NO." he said in answer to a qucs-
tion. II have no sympathy with the
cry that the Republican party wants
to change the form of government,
that Is, the masses Of its voters do not
The tendency of the party il in that
direction. however, and the tendency
of the Democratic party is the other
way. Therefore, | am a Democrat
! believe that when the air is cleared
Of passion and when this Southern
question is taken out of politics we
shall have the sympathy OF the North
in our political notions. The people
of the North do not hate us. 1t is
only the men here in Congress who
hate US and they hate us because they
fear that the Democratic party is
about to turn them out of their places
here. We of the South know that
the people of the North are intelligent
and virtuous and honest and brave,
and they know that the people of the
South are equally so. What makes
them distrustful of us is that they
think US rash, and they think so be-
cause of the utterances of few men
in Congress who permitted themselves
to be dragged into personal contro-
versy with men who deliberately set
traps for them for unpatriotic and
partisan purposes"
TAKE ABUSE CALMLY.
General Gordon contended "that
what the Southern members ought to
do was to sit still and not answer any
charges that might be made against
them or any attacks that should be
made on the South. lie instanced
the speech that the late Senator Nor
ton made on the Louisiana case as an
illustration of the great good that the
Southern members of Congress might
do their own section and the entire
oountrv hty rarnoinino aiIant under tho