Lord Derby, at the head of a deputation of Lancashire
cotton- spinners, invited the Prime Minister last week to suspend the duty on fabric gloves until the Lancashire case against it had been properly investigated. Mr. Howarth, for the employers, and Mr. Booth, for the operatives, protested vigorously against a tariff which would, they said, have the effect of injuring their export trade by creating a prejudice against Great Britain and causing foreigners to make their own yarn or to buy it anywhere but in Lancashire. Mr. Howarth stated that if all the British fabric-glove makers were fully employed they would not use a fifth as much Lancashire yarn as Saxony was taking from us. The deputation, in short, presented most formidable arguments for upholding the Free Trade policy.