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Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume 12, Issue 988, 17 October 1868, Page 2

We are glad to be able to announce the return of Mr. M'Lean, armed with full powers to act for the General Government in all questions concerning the peace and security of Hawke's Bay and the East Coast district. At the present juncture, and in face of the imminent difficulties threatening the Wairoa,. the knowledge that the direction of affairs is in the hands of Mr. M'Lean will be hailed with uni» versal satisfaction. It is impossible to over-estimate the dangers to which the Wairoa settlement is exposed. Any moment may bring us word that the. band of fanatics, headed by Te Kooti, and increased by recent accessions to 280 fighting men, have attacked the town of Clyde, from which they are only a short day's march distant. . It is idle for us to remember that the Government of the country have been warned over and over again by Messrs. M'Lean and Ormond that what is now happening was imminent and certain to take place, and that they disregarded and threw doubt upon the warnings of our representatives. We have now the difficulty before us, but, fortunately for us, the management of affairs is placed in the hands of those who will do the best the circumstances of the case will permit. We have little to thank Mr. Stafford's Government for. It is by their act that Mr. M'Lean now finds himself without the presence of that small trained body of men which, as the nucleus for a protective force, would now bave been invaluable. Yet we have to congratulate the people of this district that the Government have given the direction of affairs to competent hands, and that, although they have done everything to risk the peace of the district, now that danger is come they have left us to ourselves and placed in control those in whom the public have confidence. The means at Mr. M'Lean's command are small, and the danger is pressing ; but we have every confidence that all that can be done will be done. It is painful to consider that the exercise of the commonest prudence and judgment might have averted what ia now occurring, and the consequences of which it is impossible to foresee, and upon which we will not speculate. It must be matter for painful consideration to Messrs. M'Lean and Ormond to find that all they have felt sure would take place — all they warned the Government of the country and Parliament beforehand would occur, is now happening ; and to feel that, bad their advice been but taken, the present crisis might have been averted, and this province saved from the risk of again becoming the seat of war.