For the present, and so long as there are living witnesses of the great war of sections, there will be people who will not be consoled for the loss of a cause which they believed to be holy.
As time passes, people, even of the South, will begin to wonder how it was possible that their ancestors ever fought for or justified institutions which acknowledged the right of property in man.
After the fall of the capital and the dispersal of the government of Mexico, it looked very much as if military occupation of the country for a long time might be necessary.

General Scott at once began the preparation of orders, regulations and laws in view of this contingency.
He contemplated making the country pay all the expenses of the occupation, without the army becoming a perceptible burden upon the people.

His plan was to levy a direct tax upon the separate states, and collect, at the ports left open to trade, a duty on all imports.

From the beginning of the war private property had not been taken, either for the use of the army or of individuals, without full compensation.

This policy was to be pursued.