J. P. AND CO.

Waikato Times, Volume XXXVII, Issue 3014, 7 November 1891, Page 2

J. P. AND CO.

TO TUB KDITOII. Silt,—As the hnad of thrc Hamilton branch >>f the firm is at present in Auckland it his fallen to me, a.-: one nf the 00., to reply to the letter signed "Working Man," which appeared in Tuesday's issue, ana in which, after acknowledging th« kindness exhibited by us in our endeavours to relieve the 'small settler—inalgre the "other fellow," whoever he may be—he wants to know who have asked us to take up the cudgels on their behalf, and fight tln<ir battle for them, thereby admitting that the cudgels do want taking up, anfl that there is a battle to be fought. Myauswer to his enquiry is, that we cannot fight "Working Man's" battle, or the battle of the class to which lie ostensibly belongs, without, at the same time, fighting our own ; and further, that if all those who have in time gone by stood in the forefront of the battle when any great reform has been fought for, had waited until they had been solicited to come forward by the class to whom such reform would be most beneficial, ninetenths of the social and political advancements which we inherit wi.uld never have been accomplished ; for the people who, in the end, derive most benefit from progression, are invariably the slowest to move, and the most dogged in their opposition. L have- much pleasure in endorsing tho writer's opinion of the working man, and quito believe that he possesses a true and sturdy independence of thought which is an ever increasing quantity, the full development of which is one of the most important lines of business that J. P. and Co. are engaged in. That they ate also perfectly willing to contribute something" towards taxation is doubtless true, as is also the fact that many—nay all of them—consider the present 'something" that they are forced to contribute, as "something " for which they obtain |an inadequate return, and would therefore gladly welcome a readjustment of the scale of such contributions. As it would take up too much of your space were I to deal with the whole of " Working-man's" letter, I will conclude by asking him to—as Voltaire says—"define his terms." Will he comply by kindly telling us what he means by:—"Other fellow," "enable others to go free again," "winner," "bystanders," "losers," "divide the spoil," and then we shall know exactly what hfi wishes to convey. This being done I will, by your kind permission, deal with his arguments and instances in some future issue. A.3 a denounced "social destructionist." I throw down the gage to "Work-ing-man," will he take it up? 1 would also remind him that the sphere and influence of J. P. and Co.. are gradually tout surely extending, and express my regret that he, as a working man, has not co'mo within the scopo of 'the linn s operations and become, even as 1, One of the Co.