The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1910-04-14
Speech Of
Farewell
Delivered by Senator James Gordon
of Mississippi On His Retire
ment From the Senate.

Informed that the senatorial deadlock
in Mississippi has been broken and that
we shall soon have Mr.. Leroy Percy to I,
take my place in the Senate. AS am
about to retire from the Senate, l wish
to express my feelings and sentiments
in regard to my brief experience here.
l did not expect today to make speech,
notwithsi anding l found after got
into the Senate Chamber that some OF
the newspape rs had stated l would DO
so. L wish you to understand that l
am not makinga set speech, and have
not written any such poetry as that as
cribed to me by the newspapers TINS
morning. [Laughter.l
am guilty of one little act of poet
~. published little book, which l
have got hid away in the desk here ana
which | am going to give to the Pres
ident of the Senate when l get through
here, and probably he will have worse
opinion of me then than he had before
Laughter.
Twill tell you howeI came to be a
United States Senator. Istarted when
was five years Old 1t took me long
white to get here, and found it very
rugged road to travel; but did get
here. When was little chap about
five years of age-I will tell you story
aud you may tell your children. and
you old fellows may tell your grand
chiIdren-I receive as a present some
thing ikea map on pasteboard. 1t had
this great Capitol as picture at the
top OF it and squares with numbers on
them. Those numbers represented all
the passions that had escaped from
Pandora's box. That map had marked
on it all the temptations that would 6e
fall youth growing up. lthad little
te .totem, as it was called, in OctagoI
shape. and it had numbers on it up tt
eight. on which to spin. My mothel
used to take me to her side.
If you should spin the teetotem ant
it went over the mark and got OH bat
place iu the square, that would e ont
of the bad passions; but if it ESCAPED
all those. and the teetotem got OH tn
great Capitol of the United States, yo'
would be in the United States Senate
1 saw great big fellow sitting upther
in that stand. | wanted to know
ma If would get there; and, God help
ing me, got there yesterday. Laugh
teri She told me that if l would lea
a clean life and form no bad habits
would be sure to get there. She heve
told story in her life, and so kne'
it would come trne. In all my III
Senators, that thing had stuck to M
and every time l wantei to do wrohg
saw one of those passions OH that boar
and that board has stood before my ey'
from that day until today, though
have never made it public until nov
thought this was the place to do it.
Now, | wish to talk to you about OF
affairs in Mississippi, and so forth.
am a peculiar sort of a genuis-n
much of genius, either-but | ha'
got about a thimbleful Of commt
sense that use occasionally, and wa
to use it now to the best advantage.
have had varied life. [ was bo
multimillionaire, very unhappily, tc
for never saw one of them that W
happy yet, aud never was happy m
self until got rid of my millions. /
largest portion of them went to feee
large number of slaves that l unfort
nately inherited and the rest l spe
on my friends, Ikea gentleman shoa
and got rid of the incumbran
lLanghter.]
| have been listening to speeches h
very carefully, and the more hes
of the speeches the sorrier ! felt for
milIionaires. Thank God, l am not
any more. Laughter
I heard the Senator from Arkan