Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1910-03-04
LOVES WHOLE NATION
COL. GORDON SAYS THAT HE
HAS NO USE FOR SEC
TlONALISM.
MAKES REMARKABLE SPEECH ON
HIS RETIREMENT AS SENATOR
FROM MISSISSIPPI.

Washington, d. C.-Col. Gordon
gave the senate unusually high class
entertainment when he made his first
and last speech in that body. In an
nouncing his retirement, Senator Cor
don said in part
Il am informed that the senatorial
deadlock in Mississippi has been
broken and that we shall soon have
Mr.. Leroy Percy to take my place
AS am about to retire from the sen.
ate, wish to express my feelings and
sentiments in regard to my little ex.
perience here. l am guilty of one lit.
tie act of poetry. l published title
Dook which have got hid away in the
! desk here and which / am going to
| give to the president when l get
through here, and probably he will
| have worse opinion of me then than
he had before.
Il have had varied life. was
born multimillionaire, very un-
happily, too, for l never saw one of
them that was happy yet, and never
was happy myself until l got rid of
my millions. The largest portion of
1t went to feed large number of
| slaves that | unfortunately inherited
and the rest l spent on my friends
like gentleman and got rid of the en-
cumbrance.
We'll, l want you to understand
that | am plain, blunt old confed-
crate soldier. l wore the gray and /
fought and bled, but did not die.
But skaddled frequently. You under
stand the word. These old soldiers
will understand it. | am tired of sec
tionalism. God knows l got enough
of it fighting. ] do not want any of it.
] do not want to hear any speech in
the senate or anywhere else that stirs
up strife between the old soldiers or
citizens who were not in the army. ]
do want to bring about peace. l am
an old confederate; you are an old
federal we disagreed and you we're
victors, but we still think our generals
were good men and our people were
good people and we do not dispute
that yours was just as good as ours.
MY religion is the eleventh COM
mandment that Christ said: "A new
commandment ! give unto you, that We
love one another That is what
want to bring about here. That is my
object in standing here to-day to talk
to you as / do. | want to implant il in
you just as it is in my heart, a grow
ing love for the country l live in and
the people live with live with you
all. You are not divided from me by
Mason's line, isothermal lines or any
other plagued line. want to wipe
out all lines. That is my desire.
Now, gentlemen of the senate, l
have made these remarks. hope you
will take them in and / hope you will
give consideration to them. hope
you will believe ! am telling nothing
but the truth and | want to say in
kindness and my regard for the sena-
tor from Idaho (Mr. Heyburn) that /
want him to come down south and
come to my cottage and prairie and /
will show him little of the southern
life. / want to talk with the senator
from Idaho after he has seen the
south through my spectacles-I will
lend them to him on that occasion-to
come back here and stand before
Grant, and stand before Lee and will
pull off my hat and hurrah for Grant
and l think he will holler, Lee was a
pretty good fellow and he will say
'hurrah for Lee