Under the beading of "The Straw Hat King" the Daily
Mail of Monday gives an interesting obituary notice of Alder- man A. J. Hucklesby, of Luton, whose death took place on Saturday last. Born in poor circumstances, Mr. Hucklesby became five times Mayor of Luton and the head of the largest business in the straw-hat industry in the kingdom. As a boy he used to walk seven miles daily to school at Luton. Mr. Hucklesby, who made a large fortune, took a leading part in the development of Luton's staple industry, a development which has doubled the town's population in thirty years. Some thirty years ago, and during the Fair-trade agitation, Luton was commonly cited as an example of a town and industry which were on the point of being ruined by foreign competition. Nothing but Protection in some form or other, it was predicted, could save them. But Luton did not get the Protection for which there seemed so strong a primd-facie case. Yet, instead of her special industry being destroyed by Free-trade, it has advanced by leaps and bounds. Instead of our keephig out what appeared to be Luton's matufaeturbd
product, the straw-plait, we allowed that. straw-plait to enter, and it proved the raw material of a great industry. So true is it that one man's manufactured article is another man's raw material.
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