The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1841-03-16 00:00:00

s a letter from Macao

the pre-

uld not be
lirection of the ex-

—a monsoon lost
0 soldiers buried

Not even a

promise offered to our cautious enemies, many of whom know
well how to baffle• Captain Elliot. •Sir Gordon Eremer.suc-
ceeds to the command, of the expedition, but whether he is
plenipotentiary here or not we are left in ignorance." It is
proper to add that it was'well known Admiral Elliot had for
months previous been suffering under the visitation of that
most distressing disease, palpitation of the heart. And this
was so far from being a new and unexpected affliction that,
on the contrary, the admiral had long been a victim to it. It
is stated by those presumed to be acquainted with him that
long before appointed to the command of the Cape station he
was so subject to strong pAroxysins of this disease, that it
-s often painful to be with him from the very violent action
heart, which shook the whole room, and was very &-
lib' ' - --id- Under
it true t

tinctly and ieelinzl

it may be s.

.0 anything like the extent, it was
gross impropriety to commit to the
d a command of such extreme lm-
lion, or even that

as that of the Chinese exp,
arge of the Casre.

TRALIA

s have been received from Hobart Town
t'acts re-

)th of October last

pplp no n

pears indeed that the same persuasion of a great deal of
overtrading prevailed among the banks of other parts of
Australia, and that in consequence all .acre more or less pru-
dently engaged, like those of Van Diemen's Land, in taking
steps to remedy or make head against the evil.

WEST INDIES

The arrival of the West India mail by the Hope packet
has furnished papers from the various islands to the follow-
ing dates, all inclusive—Jamaica to the Ist of February ;
Demerara to the 22d of Januar/ ; Trinidad to the 22d of
January ; Barbadoes to the 23d of January ; and Antigua to
the 19th of January. ht the Jamaica papers some accounts
it of the state of the island of Dominica, which was suf-
. _
xeather. On some of the
made, but of very inferior
were so weak that they
The crop was not expected to exceed

uch from the very dr

would not granulate

.hat of last year

he inconvenience of t

continu

draught throughout the months of November
ler itwas.feared there was no chance of establish-
s for, the crop of 1842, as most part of the island
, •

anted in t

Provisions were, for the time
isonable, from the desire of the planter to clear his
sof roots. The Court 'of Policy at Deme-
)f deliberation, but the discussions were

preparati

Ira was in cou
mnected only with matt

Cape of Good Hope papers to the 9th of January, and
Graham's Town papers to the Ist of January were also re-
ceived to-day. These communicate the news of an attack by
the emigrant boers of Natal upon the Chief Capai, in which
they carried off an immense drove of cattle. The Governor
had had a conference with the chiefs of the Slambie and
Gonaquabe Caffres on the treaties, which was not finally
concluded at the date of these accounts.

MERCHANT SERVICE.
APPOINTMENT OF MASTERS AND MATES
(Fronz the Times.)

The persons connected with the shipping of the outports
seem generally to be making a movement towards the selec-
tion of competent persons as masters and mates in the mer-
chant service. At present the appointment rests with the
• .

. _
shipowner alone, and, considerini the great risk to which
persons and property are exposed by the employment of im-
proper persons in an office of such responsibility, and that
the low rate of insurance does not allow the interests of the
shipowner to be completely identified with those of the mer-
chants and others who have an interest in the safe convey-
ance of their goods, the proposal is to establish boards to
test the qualification of masters and mates, so that their ap-
pointment may not be left solely to the inclination 6f an
individual. A deputation has come from Glasgow charged
with the mission of holding conferences with the different
bodies connected with the shipping of the united kingdom,
with a view to the establishment of a legislative enactment
for such a test as they eonsider desirable. This deputation
has held a conference with the shipowners of Liverpool, at
which it was resolied that it would be desirable to establish
boards for the examination of masters and mates in the
merchant service, such boards to be established in London,
Liverpool, Bristol, Newcastle, Dublin, and Glasgow (or
Leith), and to examine as to qualification in navigation,
seamanship, stowage of cargo, and knowledge of princi-
pal ports, with a power of re-examination in the event
of a ship being lost. The funds, it Was resolved, should
be raised by fees for examining captains, and also by
a charge of 3d. per ton on registering new ships, or id. per
ton annually on all British shipping. It is the great desire of
the persons who are bringing forward this scheme, that by
the legislative enactment appointing the proposed boards
no patronage should be given to the government, nor, in-
deed, any right of interfering with the boards ; but that their
appointment should rest with local bodies, such as the town-
councils of the place, or, where such associations exist, the
associations of underwriters or shipowners.
;. .unnosed to be levied on a principle at

The duty of 3d

cording to which the shipowners should bear part of the
expenses, as well as the examined, is calculated ou a basis
.according to which the merchant ships in 1810 are set down
at 1,700, and their tonnage at 230,000 supposing an increase
similar to that of several preceding years. According to this
calculation the duty of 3d. on the tonnage would yield
£3125, besides the examination fees, which would be two
guineas fora captain, and one guinea for a coasting master
or a mate, and 10s. 6d. for the mate of a coaster. The
account of British shipping according to Mr. Johnson, who
is one of the Glasgow deputation' gives as the number of
vessels 16,000, which would require as many captains, and
about 24,000 mates, altogether 40,000 officials. Allow-
ing 10 per cent. of these to fall off annually, and of
course to he renewed, the number of examinations would be
4000. Taking in the increase, as given above, and allowing
the vessels to be 1700 in number, and moreover, supposing
that 700 would be supplied by old masters and mates, 1000
vessels would be left, requiring 2500 masters and mates.
Now 2000 captains of foreign voyages, at two guineas, would
give £4200. Masters of coasters and mates of foreign
voyages, number 3000, and at the same rate, would give
£3150; 1500 mates of coasters at 10s. 6d. would give £787;
nd the whole, with the addition of the rate on tonnage,
',ld amount to £11,262; while the expenses of the total
,r of local boards are estimated to amount to no more
'Ph,- central board of examinpr.

_ would be
fixed in London and be appointed by the ited.niners committee
of the general shi united
powners and Lloyd's. This proposal being
as yet in so early a stage, it is impossible to tell what will be
its chance of success, especially as that will in a great measure
depend on a proof that-serious evils arise from defects in the
present system. The calculations, at all events, would seem
to show that the plan haS been thoroughly considered as to
Is practical working by the parties who urge its adoption.

ATTEMPTED MURDER.-It is already generally known
that the colliers of Lancashire have struck for an advance of
wages, and that the coal proprietors have resisted their de-
mands. In consequence of the general want which is now
beginning to be felt, a spirit of insubordination has begun to
manifest itself amongst the workmen, and the works of the
masters are obliged to be guarded, especially during the
night, against the colliers, who assemble in parties of about
20, and patrol the country. Several outrages have already
been committed. The most recent occurred on Tuesday
evening last, in the neighbourhood of Wi,,an. About 20
colliers attacked the house of a fellow-workman who con-
tinued to work at the old rate of wages. They fired a gun,
loaded with slugs, through the window, happily without
effect, and then broke all ithe windows with stones. The
father of the collier then took his gun and opened his door,
and fired amongst the besiegers. One of them was observed
to fall, and was borne away by his companions. On the
spot where he fell a quantity of blood was seen, so that no
doubt remains of his having been severely wounded, and this
circumstance may lead to his apprehension. The collier
attacked is in the employ of R. B. H. Blundell, Esq., of
Pemberton.