Some people may doubt that General Burnside's order, demanding that the Chicago Times cease publication, is expedient, but no one can deny that it is justified, at least no one who really wants the Rebels suppressed, the Union saved, and its liberty preserved. Had there been a General Burnside eighteen months, or a year ago, and had he commanded at that time that the publication of the Chicago Times be discontinued, there would not have been the least excitement about the matter; on the contrary, the measure would have had the approval of all citizens. In those days the people were not yet divided on the war issue; the northern friends of the Rebels had not yet the courage to place obstacles in the way of the Government, and patriotism was more ardent than it is now. Then the Administration 2believed that it had nothing to fear from the treasonable press and permitted the Rebels to sow the seed of discord among loyal citizens. Today this seed has sprouted and brought forth fruit in the form of opposition to the Government, outrages against its officials and Unionists, and murder and incendiarism. The soldiers in our camps absorbed the poison which the Chicago Times set before them, and desertion and mutiny followed. General Burnside recently sent one of his officers to Illinois and Indiana to trace secret pacts made for the purpose of setting deserters at liberty, etc., and that officer named the Chicago Times as the principal agency for arousing the spirit of insubordination, resistence, and desertion. There-upon General Burnside issued the order to suppress the Times.

Once the command was given, the Administration was honor bound to support it; that procedure was especially necessary, because the Copperheads threatened to use violence and to retaliate. A government that wishes to guide the ship of state safely through the storm of war or rebellion 3must show power and firmness if it wishes to merit the confidence of its citizens. A weak government, a government that acts according to the precept, "discretion is the better part of valor," cannot lay claim to the confidence of the people and will never be able to maintain itself against an armed enemy.

The loss of the last election is a mere trifle when compared with the defeat which the loyal citizens of Chicago and the Northwest have suffered through the action of President Lincoln and his local advisers. He has exposed us to the mob rule of the Copperheads. Henceforth, not the Federal Government, but the Copperheads will have power and authority in Chicago, and if they choose to resist the enforcement of the Conscription Act, they know that they need only threaten to use violence in order to set a dozen or more prominent cowards in motion to advise the President to be tolerant.

The example which has been set for treasonable publications is exceedingly 4dangerous; for they know that they only have to act resolutely when they wish to intimidate the Administration of President Lincoln, and that the one who has the most backbone will be victorious.

Not only the Illinois Staats-Zeitung, but also the Chicago Tribune and the Evening Journal place a great part of the responsibility for this fiasco at the door of the President's arrogant counselors, and we hope that our German fellow citizens will remember this.

The opinion of loyal Democrats on this matter is evidenced by the following quotation from the editorial columns of the Chicago Post:

"Mr. Lincoln has humbled himself, and, astonished at the bold front of his intended victims, he has relented, has revoked his order, and has told the publishers of the paper whom he had commanded to suspend publication because of the paper's disloyal attitude, that they may print their infamous sheet.

No doubt, the publishers will say that they will print it whether President Lincoln permits it or not, and defend their stand by denying that he has the right to curtail the constitutionally guaranteed freedom of the press, even in time of war."

By annulling the order of General Burnside the Government has weakened its position and thus far has not rebuked the Copperheads for threatening to use violence. Every true patriot regrets that. The shame inflicted upon the country by the act of the Administration can be partly removed by decisive victories on the battlefield.