No North, no South, to you they say, To you ex-Rebs-- No more you see the boys in gray, No old Confeds. Sweet peace is here, you gladly tell; You’re satisfied that all is well; But when you think of those who fell, And hear once more the musket’s hell, You’d like to give one Rebel yell-- You old Confeds.
And don’t forget the boys in gray, The brave Confeds, Who can’t be here with you today-- The dead Confeds. Amidst the screaming shot and shell, Amidst the thunderbolts of hell, They bravely fought and, fighting, fell-- The soldiers dead.
A silent toast to them now drink, To each Confed; To comrades dead let glasses clink, To your brave dead. You drink to soldiers that you knew, To your dear comrades brave and true, Who sleep beneath the Southern dew Their restful sleep.
You love your country and its flag, You old Confeds; In its defense you’d never lag, You old Confeds; But long as heart beats in each breast You’ll think of those who sweetly rest ’Neath flowers by south wind soft caressed In Southern lands.
And when old Gabriel blows his horn, You old Confeds Will fall in line on that great morn-- You old Confeds. The Master then will say to you: “Just take your seats in that front pew; There’s nothing here too good for you-- You old Confeds.”
The close of the old year and the beginning of the new finds the civilized world in a state of parliamentary deliberation, with the establishment of additional parliaments in various dependencies as one of the leading subjects of deliberation. The lawmakers of practically every nation in the two hemispheres are now in session, so the discussion of budgets and the agitation of reforms furnish ever-changing subjects of public interest.
The American mind has been moving forward from its varied and conflicting analyses of the recent elections to the concrete measures which will be introduced in Congress, and still it is unable to fix its attention definitely on serious subjects while the holiday spirit is in the air. Members of Congress themselves feel that they are merely in Washington for a few days to outline a program for a later date.
Congress convened on the first Monday in December, and on the following day the President’s message was transmitted to that body. It is generally agreed that Mr. Roosevelt’s communications to the federal law-makers are increasingly partaking of the nature of open letters to the American people rather than being definite suggestions to the House and Senate of the measures which should be enacted at the current session into law. The present document is no exception to that rule. It is largely made up of homilies which recall the waggish comment of Tom Reed about “Roosevelt’s delightful enthusiasm over his discovery of the Ten Commandments.” Such is practically the view of The Washington _Herald_, for instance, which says that “Congress will regard the counsels of the President as the obiter dicta of a distinguished publicist, awakening the public conscience, but without special bearing on the work of the present session.”