New-York tribune., 1910-02-25
SERMON BIZ GORDON
GCODBY TO SENATE.
Traditions Broken to Cheer
.4ged 1Mississippian.
- IT,. -,.i.,..,. gnreau !

WAS broken to-day. when genuine aii"
generous applause was permitted WITHOUT
"a rebuke from the fice-Presioeht- 'oioiiei
T,,,,es Gordon. Of Mississippi, took the fioor
late in the afternoon to preach fareWeii
sarrnor n the Senate of which he has
heen a member for nearly TWO months
The message of the aged Mississippian was
"a naive. 50 free from guile and so u1eN-
rer,ei and unusual that the Senate fore0t
d. traditions and its rules. Twice Senator
Gordon was interrupted by applause. one
.f The leading offenders against the RUE
which prohibits manifestations OF approfai
or 6isapprovaI being Senator Culloin. VINO
rss member of the House IN tees' a
Presidential elector on the Fillmore ticket
4, ,Sss and has been a Senator for more
thau a quarter Of a century. MI tUif"h'
Was not the only offender. as pracucaiiS
every member Of the Senate joined I'D 'iie
handclapping approval of Senator e'oiuoii
speech. ,
,,racficaliA the entire Senate hSteheo
WITH rar, attention to the address Of the
venerable Mississtppian- He stoeo baeh
Of his own desk on the extreme r1ght OF
Tie vsoe-p President, and in homely phrase
and almost without gesture. talked 10 ms
colleagues as if they had been old frienfs-
FOR ERA OF GOOD FEELING
senator Ciordons speech came from the
heart and WAS the appeal of "a PLAIN
hlunt. old Confederate soldier VII" wore
sh. gray Cor an ers of good feeling be-
tween the Nor1h and the South More than
this II WAS A practical sermon on hrothei-
iy iuvc which found responsive chofo
in The breast of every Senator AS con-
fribution 10 the Senate records on the race
problem il stands unique in body Which
for dozen years Las been accustomed |"
The ferxid ano bitter invectives Of a TIL
man.
Reaching into his desk for book OF his
mems senator Gordon read his poem on
The old Black Nanny" which concluded;
This dear old black NANNY
love her 50 vel
/ dare not ofiend he1
..-rbsr-s our sentiment TO these old nlg-
rers~ Mr. Gordon continued Why We
l,.-e them. and they cali me Jim down
hcne."
The Senate applsaded when Nj. Gorooh
said that Mason and Dixon's line had been
ot!,terateG and on il written the "oIua
--o,,,- Country We've had enough fight
ing he continued. There are few blab-
r,outb fellows who always want TO make
fuss. but they are not worth cussins.
The hurnoi- OF Senator Gordon WAS IRE
siStible. e have been coming 10 the Sen
ate over since / Was five years old, ne
said. Then he explained that when he was
= Houuester lie acquired cardboard sorl
OF game on which he and playmate were
accustomed TO spin teetotun- NJ
ranged on the face Of this board were num-
hers and spaces. sume OF the latter repre-
senting the passions OF men, while IN the
centre Was A picture OF the Capitol with
the Senate He and his playmate spun the
.taetotum'' 10 SEQ which OF them WOULD
come 20 the Senate
I ,Ss,n.~ Senator Gordon continued and
have been On my way TO the Senate ever
since l WAS FIVE years old. In all my lie
that board has been before my eyes. but /
,,e7e1. told Of IL before When he wanted
To do something wrong the had passions OF
me -'teetotum board held him in the
Straiellf and narrow path. for he knew that
II he lee the bad places claim him he would
never realize his ambition 10 be Senator
His mother had told him, he said. that if
lie would be good and would live correct
life ne might some day hope TO sit in the
seat Of the big man who was pictured
there.
She liey-- had told me lie, and l knew
that what she said was true knew that
would some day occupy tine seat of that
big man. and. God helping me, / got there
that for Il time yesterday ne had occupied
the seat of tie presiding officer
I was born a multi-millionairc, said
colonel Gordon, but l never was happy
until / got rid Of my surplus money l
spent much of il on my slaves, and the
res, of my funds / spent like a gentleman
and got rid of the entire cncumbrance
SORRY FOR RoCKEFELLER.
speeches here. snd the more ] hear of
them the sorrier / am for the millionaires.
Why. if there is a fellow in the United
states that I am sorry for it is Rocke-
feIler because he has more money than
any one else That is his misfortune He
can't go on the street with one Of his
grandchildren unless ne is afraid that
some one might kin him. Why, 1 know
that he loves one OF those children much
better than he loves all the money he
has got.
4 think Nh. Rockefeller is a good man.
see his employees speak well OF him, and
am told that he never had & strike. I
told. also. that he has given much
money 10 churches and education Now.
] don't suppose that everybody will like
that, hut those who don't like ii can put
IL in their pipes and smoke il I'd like
sissippi and run his pipe lines through
NY land. He could have right Of way
for al the lines he wanted, for / know
that in my time coal oil has been reduced
from 80 cents 10 10 cents gallon"
Referring 10 the fact that he had been
Confederate soldier. Mr.. Gordon said: II
fought and bled, but j didn't die How
ever, skedaddled frequently lie then
told Of some OF his exploits in the war
snd Of how he had captured General Co
Shafter, he said, had fired al him five diff
ferent times during a Confederate charge
without hitting him. He admitted that
on more than one occasion he had been
''skeered," but ss5d that whenever the
Union and Confederate soldiers met they
were always good friends
Paying 4 tribute 10 soldiers of both The
forth and the South, Colonel Gordan said:
You may well try TO storm the heights
Of heaven and pluck the diadem from Je-
hoyah's crown to take away from either
OF then any of the glory of the records OF
the two men who stood upder the tree at
Appornattox and brought the war to a
close.
This is the finest body OF men that
e.er associated with he continued. speak
ing OF the Senate itself, and he beamed on
his colleagues.
Referring TO Senator Iieyburn's recent