18 DECEMBER 1909, Page 14

COTTON AND FREE-TRADE.

[To Taz EDITOR Or THE "SPscrierox."] SIB,—If you were in Lancashire, and knevi from direct contact with her staple industry the extraordinary extent and ramifications of the cotton trade, and the great importance of it to the United Kingdom, you would in no way help a Tariff Reformer to be returned to Westminster. No one did as much as you to shatter Mr. Chamberlain's heresy at the last General Election, and the County Palatine looks to you to "hold the fort" in January next. May we not look in vain, for you have always acted Imperially.—I am, Sir,