RESIGNATION OF HIS HONOR THE SUPERINTENDENT AS A MEMBER OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY.

A ipeetin£ of the electors of .the Province, convened by His Honor; the I Superintendent (Charles Brown, Esq.,) that. he. m»gfat i giye an explanatidn:.o'f,the cfruae , of the. 6f ; hjs seat- in the. General Assembly, and:to*aflofd them an opportunity of putting any \queptions regarding his votes of hist session, took place in the Masonic Hall on Saturday erening&tst, there being about fifty present. • _ Mr. T. Ksllt, M. P". C, having been called to the chair, — ' • His Honor rose and said, the principal object he had in view in going to the General Assembly last session was to watch the progress of the allimportant question of compensation. There was also another of considerable interest, namely, the confirmation of the Exchanges of Town sections, and which was now placed in the hands Mr. Sewoll. He (the speaker) considered that his absence -while Superintendent from this Province to attend the General Assembly was injuring the interest of the place. It was impossible for a man to be in two places at once ; besides which, if he was not Superintendent his private means would not allow him to afford it. I There was only one question would havo induced j him to retain his seat, that was the formation of '. a harbor here. Messrs. Balfour and Doyne had made a tender to execute the necessary surreys and farniflh estimates of the probable expense of construction, but as these would not bo ready till August, if then, he had proposed that they dionld make a rough estimate of the cost before •the Province Bhould be put to any material outlay " -'^q which it 'light find itself unable to \ ' -"'vf tbe Assembly. Mr.

Balfour had been up as well as Mr. Doyne, and they had agreed to furnish the preliminary report required, on which further aotipn might be based. In the event of the Genera^ Government making advance* to this Province" for such a work, it would of course look at aa to be ultimately reimbursed. The necessary funds might bo raised for the salo of Provincial lands, but he thought that it was worthy of serious consideration whether a large quantity of larM forced into the markot at once would not materially deteriorate its value. At present the open land would not sell for more than £l or £2 per acre, but when tho Province again became settled a highur upsot prico might therefore be fixed, say £3 an acre, and thus provide a fund to make a harbor, a railway to Patea, and on to Mokau to bring coal and limestone from thenco to New Plymouth. It had been found advisable in Canterbury to pass an Act thuL tho money raised by the sale of lands for a specific purpose 3hould be bo locked up that no doubt might rest on the good faith of tha appropriation of such funds to the legitimate purpose to which it was indicated. To induce immigration ho would advocate ihat land to the value of £20 be allowed under certain regulations to ovor/ Adult coming out from home ; thus, tho o who were .sent for by their friends would be rolioved from obligation to them. It very often happened that friends assisted out their relations who proved anything but grateful. He believed that this system of remission of passage money would prove beneficial to the ProvinceA In the provinqe of Canterbury the upset prioe of land was £2 per acre, yet, notwithstanding, there was a constant and good land revenue. Mr., Doyno had pronounced the lands in this Province vxa finest unsold in the Colony. Whon the militia and volunteers got what land was required here for them, a less quantity would of course remain for disposal, and that was an additional reason for raising the upset price. If the harbour improvements were carried out it was not improbable that this place might yet becomo eligible for the Seat of Government, if it wero considered desirable, which he did not. At all evonts let us work together with a will to.get a harbour. When Mr. Bolfour was here he (Mr. Brown) had direotod his attention to the alterations at the mouth of the Huatoki by the, erection of a second wall to coufine the channel, and thus 1 reclaim the land ou both sides of %he river for lease or sale. Mr. Balfour thought tliat it would be better to wait and see if a harbor could be made at the Sugar Loaves ; if this proved not to be within the "means of the Province, it might then be advisable to make a basin for small crafts at the mouth of the Huatoki. He had deferred to Mr. Balfour's wish, but he was opposed to anything being done at ' the Huatoki for small orafes, as that would be only postponing the protection for large vessels, which was what was wanted. As an evidence of the necessity for a harbour, he might state that every ton of goods now imported cost £3 more than if imported direct : first there was the freight to Nelson, then the cost of re-shipment there ; this with the loss of time, extra Insurance, &c, brought the oosfc up very materially on our imports. The same drawback existed as to exports. Thus the great advantages a Harbonr woald b© of to ,this place wero apparent. A Harbour once made here would raise this Province to % more prosperous, flourishing, and prominent position than anything else that could be done. Before he sat down he might notice the roport that three regiments had been ordered home ; he believed that wo would just be three regiments nearer peace when this took place. With regard to our eooial, financial, and commercial condition, he believed Tarauaki to be in as sound a position as any other province. Mr. Looney would ask Hiß Honor how it was he voted in the Assembly for the removal of the seat of Government to Wellington.

His Honor Baid, that he considered the removal premature, but it had been decided the previous session, and he did not consider the last sussiou a proper occasion to attempt to revoke it by a sort of side wind; moreover, 'he did not vote against the removal because " Ministers had made a Government question of it, and had threatened if beaten on the question to* resign. In all previous sessions the question of the seat of government had been an open question, even with the Ministers themselves ; under tho circumstances ho thought it for the good of the Colony and of the Province not to embarrass matters by a misplaced adherence to his own opinion. It was also on the carda that the result •of Auckland remaining the seat of Government would have been the separation of the Colony, and although commercially and in good feeling we have been more with Auckland than Wellington, he had not seen anything to induce him to look with any satisfaction 1 , to the contingency of being taoked on, or at the mercy of either of \ those Provinces. He might say at the same time that he must give tho Provincial Government of Auckland tho credit of being^willing to meet fairly the question of duty on the imports we got through that Province. The Provincial Secretary, Mr. Daldy, told him he would concur in any fair proposition for giving this Province its duties on its imports. The difficulties, however," were so increased by the Customs at Auckland, that the steamers refused to bring cargo under bond from Manukau.

Mr. Bishop would like to hear from His Honor some further information "as to the proposed harbour. Where waa it to be carried out.

His Honor said that he believed a good harbour could be made by connecting Moturoa with the mainland along the reefs that runs in shallow water from that island to Mikotai, and throwing a pior ont from Moturoa in a north-easterly direotion, bo far he had gathered from Messrs. Doyne and Balfour, they would, however, state for themselves their more matured opinion. He believed the area enclosed would be about 25 aores of four fathoms water besides shallow water.

No further questions being put to His Honor, Mr. W. Weston said he was not quite satisfied at His Honor resigning his Beat in* the Assembly, he had, however, done well whilst there. He would move that this meeting approves of the manner in which Charles Brown, Esq., has fulfilled his duties while representing this constituency in the General Assebly. The motion was carried, and after a vote of thanks to the Chairman, the meeting separated.