We know that these far-distant ,,raves are not forgotten when the May roses make the world glad, and we appreciate the kind hearts that do honor to our dead so far from us. The Confederates are claiming no reward for their services of long ago. They did their best and are proud of their record, but they do not make application for pensions. It is true that the war tax imposes a heavy weight upon the South, and that she bears that burden uncomplainingly. The money which flows from Northern States into the pension fund returns to those States and becomes a part of their circulating medium.
Many millions go annually from the treasury of the South and never return.
She is not impoverished, because she cannot be, but for every dollar that goes out for Northern pensions by so much is she the poorer. Notwithstanding her heavy burdens, her progress in the past quarter of a century is the marvel of economic history. She does not pause in her onward march to reflect mournfully on what that progress might have been but for those burdens. She looks bravely forward to the grand future which is hers. The South cheerfully responds to the demands made upon her by the nation.