these instigators of insurrection and treason, the foul and damnable reservoir which supplied the lesser sewers with political filth, falsehood, and treason, has been the Chicago Times-a newspapers which would not have needed to change its course an atom if its place of publication had been Richmond or Charleston instead of Chicago-a sheet which has been bought by tens of thousands by Southern emissaries, with Southern gold, for gratuitous Southern distribution, to keep alive the delusion and spirits of the Southern people, and protract the war-a paper that rebel leaders have ever regarded as their best Northern ally inn Illinois, and whose editorials have been read with delight by Davis and his fellow-traitors since the war began. The pestilent influence of that paper in this State has been simply incalculable. I have not the slightest doubt that it is responsible for the shedding of more drops of the patriot blood of Illinois soldiers than there are types in all of its four pages of political slime and scandal. The conspiracy that came so near wrapping Chicago in flames and drenching her streets with blood was fomented and encouraged by the teachings of the Chicago Times. Without that paper there would have been no conspiracy. In my opinion, without desiring in the least to abridge the regulated liberty of the press, it is as much the duty of the Government to suppress such newspapers in time of public danger and war as it is to storm the fortresses, sink the navies, and destroy the armies of the common enemy; and should war again break out I would urge the prompt adoption of that policy. In illustration of the truth of this estimate of the Times, attention is respectfully invited to the special report of Captain William James, provost-marshal of the First District, a copy of which has been forwarded to the Provost-Marshal-General.

9. Medical officers.-I would recommend that in any future organization of the Bureau of the Provost-Marshal-General a competent medical officer be assigned to duty at the headquarters of acting assistant provost-marshals-general of States, to direct and supervise the transactions of surgeons of boards of enrollment, attend to the prompt rendition of correct medical reports, and take the general responsibility of the right conduct of the medical branch of the bureau in their respective States. The importance of such an addition to the corps of permanent officers at these headquarters became evident to me as soon as the draft had developed the imperfect manner in which the medical records of district surgeons had been kept, and my conviction of the utility and necessity of such a chief of the medical branch has been confirmed by the good effects which have followed the arrival and services at this post of Surg. Martin Rizer, who has greatly contributed to the efficiency of this branch since he has been on duty here.

As previously intimated, it is much to be regretted that the policy of attaching a medical officer to the staff of acting assistant provost-marshal-general of States was not adopted at an earlier day, especially in view of the severe loss that will accrue to the Government, and to the cause of medical science, from the very meager and imperfect final medical reports which, I regret to say, have, in most instances, been forwarded from district surgeons, and which it was already too late to remedy, except in part, when Surgeon Rizer reported for duty at these headquarters. Such an opportunity of enlarging the boundaries of medical science and enriching the profession with an almost boundless profusion and variety of curious facts and interesting statistics, as the experience of the last four years has afforded, will hardly occur again in many generations.