The Sun.
London, England, 1854-01-02 00:00:00

VESSELS SPOKEN WITH.

. _
The Patriarch, homeward bound, Oct. 14, off Algoa Bay
The Sandford, from Demerara to Madras, on the 19th
in lat. 33 S. long 13 E.
The Champion, homeward bound, Nov. 10, lat. 20,W.
The Emily, from London to Port Phillip, on the 13th,
in lat. 5 N. long. 24 W.
The Arachne, from Liverpool to Calcutta, on the 16lb,
lat. 7 N. long. 24 W.
The Beulah, bound south, on the 17th, in lat. 9 N. long,
27 W.

EXTRAORDINARY PUNISHMENT OF A CAPTAIN.— We
have published some and received several other letters on
the subject of the treatment the passengers on board the
ship Asia received during their passage from England
to this colony. That the complaintsun this subject are
but too well founded there can be but little doubt; and
we should have given full vent to our correspondents'
indignation thereupon, but that all that can be done,
and a good deal more than ought to be done, in the way
of punishing the captain, has already been done. Cap-
tain Howes, being convicted of divers breaches
of the Passenger Act, at the Williamstown police-
court, was fined for them in the aggregate amount
of 1,8001. Shipmasters who, for the sake of a
little extra and illicit profit on their passengers' fare,
curtail them of those stipulated comforts for which they
pay, and to which they are entitled—such shipmasters,
as the common phrase goes, deserve to be made an ex-
ample of, and we should simply return the Welsh ver-
dict, "Sarve them right," if the thumb-screws of the
law wrung from them a good slice of their ill-gotten
gains. But with respect to breaches of the Passenger
Act, it sometimes happens that while the captain is but
in part responsible, the whole burden of punishment
falls upon his unlucky shoulders ; and so it has chanced
in the present case. In default of payment of the enor-
mous fine imposed him, Capt. Howes has been condemned
to a series of terms of imprisonment. amounting alto-
gether to nearly 30 years—a period Langer than the whole
past lives of the majority of our fellow-colonists. This
tremendous sentence has begun to take effect ; in
the hurry and bustle of our colonial existence,
the waves of time are rapidly closing over the wkolA
transaction, and Captain Howes may pass "the
remainder of his days within the walls of the gaol
without being ever heard of again unless some one cOmes
to his assistance. We do not extenuate the captain ;
and though it is to be wished that, by the forfeiture of the
the vessel or some other stringent measure, the owner-,
could be made to suffer for the offence to which he has
been an accomplice, we can quite see the propriety of teach-
ing captains the lessons that they must not with impunity
be the tools of heartless, mercenary, la w-breaking owners.
For a series of serious offences Captain Howes has been
sentenced to a fine of 1,8001. For not choosing, or not
being able to pay this money—in all probability the
latter—he has been sentenced to be imprisoned for thirty
years.—Melbourne Morning Herald, Sept. 10.
THE SCHOOLMASTER ABROAD.—Among the candidates
for legislative honours in the provincial council was one
whose address thus figures in the New Zealand paper.
The ambitious gentleman had the satisfaction of stand-
ing at the bottom of the poll, with sixteen votes regis-
tered in his favour :—" To the Electors of the Citey
of Wellington.—Gentlemen,—l have been perswaded
at the eleventh over to put myself forward as a
Candidate at the insueing election as money gen-
tlemen have promised me thar votes & intrust to
obtain a seat in the Provincial Councel about to he
assembled in this place, & if I should have the honer of
being chosen one of your representatives I will do all in
my power to serve the best intruests of my consten an ts
& my adopted countrey, & I sisal be at all tunes redey
to receve advise from my constituents, & vote on
that side the majority may dictate, & if I can not
carey out thear wishes or meashers, I will resine my seat
and trust in thar hands when fifety of them please to
call upon me to do so.—l remane your humble and obe-
deent servant, FRANCIS 13hADEY. Tamworth Cottage.
Wellington, August 2, 1853." The foregoing address
is printed verbatim, et literatim.
BRADFORD, Dec. 29.—Wool—This being the last
week in the year, business has been quiet ; but to-day
there is more inquiry for both English and foreign, aryl
prices are firm. Bright-haired wools are still ecarc,_-. in
this market. Noils and brokes keep low ha stock, and
command full rates.