THE GENERAL GOVERNMENT AND MR. M'LEAN.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume 13, Issue 1035, 30 March 1869, Page 3

THE GENERAL GOVERNMENT AND MR. M'LEAN.

(l'yom,t^o.'.Eyenin§Post,'^r^2o.)f ; „,,, The fact thafc the, Government i> had? made up its mind to supersede Mr. M'Lean was not so much a surprise ' as^ the ! manner* in which it has beendohe- : -Thei-e^e 1 t'ini-s when men are properly required' ffl *•s§#s. not on the order of ' their : £»d i! $p," This, how'eve^ U ' , prfcaihly not' the 'time either to $ispeh_e/with ! M^ vices, or to .wantonly;'. insult' -hipi r .j£.,the manner in which,ttie intin^foujofikhavi*ing done so is made known. .'. ' "„•} i,\.„-„j No one could h&Vd "rem'-vtfb ,depaxe_' of last session- without ] feelmg^fiai'' the* government had^vefy -g_^tt%-%^gfedted Si itS duty on the !Easfc< Gofcst. andHhaj? Uhd quietude which had prevailed, -wasila-gely owing to the, eexertions .orf r Mr. O^'Leahl On its refusing to realispthe position i( pf immediate dinger, in^ which' tho'the,ii )i re_ cent circumstances had agaiii placed '.thp East Coast, Mr.-M^ahleftth^Gßv^n-ment ranks, and moved a vote of : w«int of confidence. His case was' so clear thathO lost his motion only Jby. one; andi then those who had the welfare of ..he, colony: more at heart than the Welfare,, of -party,, feared that the breach between,' the, jSfo-. vernment ahd 'Mr; 5 M'Le^'liad^fce'en widened, never mdre "td bo fesMfedr'Buf they altogether mistook then. inani'"----^ M'Lean's power for goo^'-was; great, ahd' no man knew it better than he did j and to ' exercise that power ;for tjieprpsery^tiouofi the peace of the Eifist Coast • was xnoreJO; him than party or personal feeling, therefore, Mr. Cox attempted a mediation, the task was found so ; easy that' in si tew days all the sores of the sessibnhrid^heajefcT without leaving a scar behind; the ; (£o- : vernment were as anxious to confideliri and make use of Mr., .M'Lean '.Sr4Mx-.'> M'Lean was willing to.be confided. in:fl,hd[ made use of, and the- colony savr-^rith, pleasure Mr. Richmond 1 aiid 'MivM^Leaii' voyaging and working 1 hai___bni6u ! __y to- ' gether, settling the disputes, arid confirming the loyalty of the East Coast tribes.- *-r Unfortunately the colony was not satis-" fied with seeing. Everywhere the press began to give the Government, credit for having done a wise thing,, and- to., say... (as ; well as see) that in Mr. M'Lean's han^ds; native affairs on the East ' boast were ( as; safe as it was possible to make. them. s The press spoke so plainly" that' there; could be no mistake as to whom the huz- 1 zahs of the colony were intended for;- and • the Government saw, with some' degree: of " chagrin, thafc they were for fche image, of ; the virgin, and not for the. .anu^al, that; ; bore her in procession. We speak'to. the, . card in saying so, and the chagrin' soon ' publicly manifested itself. Need : w et' 'ife-,' call how Mr. M'Lean found himself fettered and thwarted hy the orders communicated to the officer commanding ; the Militia and district, or to any, pther ( vof •: those circumstances which were patent, tp,,; the sun at noonday, and regretf^ly iao- ,, ticed by all but a Government orgaa or two. Yet, snubbed as Mr. M'Lean 'was, 5 ! smarting as he often did under the slights"' and annoyances to which he was subjected, he trod them all under foot, and did not"? allow any of them to swerve him from his ; duty, content to sacrifice his own feelings, i-. to the good of the East Coast ans,th6.. colony. ' . ' i But the climax came at last. Ifc is well ' known that about seven months ag6-''tne IT " Government moved Major Frazer's Armed j Constabulary from the East Coast; to>? Wanganui against the strong personal • , = protest of Mr. M'Lean and. a number ofrr Hawke's Bay settlers thenattes&hg : the , Assembly. Thei Government, thought it knew best, and persisted in following its V own course. That what happened resulted ' therefrom we are nofc in a position to say, • but it is undeniable that the company had : to return-to the East Coast, and many;,, more with it, in order to quell the trouble. ; ; which the Government would not believe , possible was ever likely to happen. Lately , the Government attempted to repeat itself v by withdrawing Ropata's company of ' Ngatiporous from the East to the West . Coast. Mr. M'Lean again protested, ahd protested in vain. He knew the . danger which threatened, while the Government did not. In the interests of the settlers on the East Coast and of the colony, he used his influence to prevent Ropata going on to Wanganui, and succeeded. While he was doing so, Te Kooti was aotually recommencing the struggle, .and the blundering of the Government and the forethought of Mr. M'Lean became so apparent, that if anything could have led the Government to appreciate the help Mr. M'Lean was rendering, that act of his ought to have done so. But the Government seems determined to rush the oolony headlong to destruction, and instead of feeling the fuller confidence in Mr. M'Lean,' which it ought to have done ; instead of feeling thankful that it had an agent on the East Coast who had the inherent ability to cope with emergency, it dismisses Mr. M'Lean because he does not act with blind obedience to distant orders. Tho Government should have remembered that its estimate of danger on the East Coast had twice turned out wrong, and Mr. M'Lean's. twice right, and heartily thanked and apologised rather than dismissed him. Dismissed him, and in such a cruel way, too ! adding insult to injury. A notification like that which appears in the Gazette is altogether unusual, except where officers have been guilty of defalcation or some other similar sin. Remembering the score of years during which Mr. M'Lean had served the colony ; and calling to mind the staunch support he and his colleagues have given in Parliament to the Ministry, as. well as all that he has lately. done for the peaoe of the colony and the circumstances under which he has done it ; remembering .this, , the verdict of the public will be that the. ; Government has acted with am ingratitude and wantonness bf power, which happily ;", is as singular in the ; past as it is tO'be '•■' hoped it ever may be; in the future, i -*■