Mails clo3c at Chief Office as follows : — For Dunedin and intermediate iports per the s.s. Beautiful Star, on or about Friday, April 12, at 9.15 a.m. ! For the Australian colonies and southern provinces of New Zealand, per thejs.s' Omeo, on Friday, April 12, at 1.30 p.m. For the United Kingdom, Continent of Europe, Africa, America, the West Indies, via - an Francisco ; also, the Northern. provinces of New Zealand, per ft j p.s. Nevada, on or about Wednesday, 17. Hour of closing in. a future notice The sentence of one monthls impris onment, with twelve lashes, passed at; the last sittiugs of the Supreme Court upon a lad, aged 19 years, for a criminal assault upon a girl, has, so far aa we have been able to ascertain, met with the approval of the public generally. Ifc is nofc severe, and will probably prove a wholesome reminder to the young man during the remainder of hia life not to give the rein to youthful pas sions. A class of offenders, however, ex ists to whom aa introduction to, and a close acquaintance with the " harm less cat," would be the only punish ment suitable for the offences they •ore frequently in the habit of com inittiug. Old men, whose appear ance seems to betoken a near ap proach to tbe grave, are to be found loitering in the public gardens and tbe outskirts of the towns ; the terror of little children, and often the insulters of the young, girls entrusted with the care of the little ones. On the ap proach of a man, or even of a grown up female, these old wretches eneak away leaving those whom they have insulted, and it may be assaulted, too frightened to complain until they are safe from pursuit. Such men as these, when caught, ought to be dealt with summarily — to give them a trial at the Supreme Court is wasting too much time, and incurring too great an ex pense. Let men of the description we nave alluded to have a fair trial in the Magistrate's Court, but when the Bench is satisfied of their guilt, let them at once receive their punishment, and let tbat be sharp and severe, no consideration of age being allowed to plead on behalf of the offender. 