About the Book

First published in 1905, this volume on the Cotton Industry emerged in the context of Joseph Chamberlain’s proposed Tariff Reform and provided an academic perspective on the industry. The author, S.J. Chapman, was an established historian of Lancashire cotton and produced this volume as an elementary introduction to the economics of the industry and some of its issues. He discusses the raw material, industrial and commercial history, British trade and foreign tariffs, exploring the historical influence of tariffs on the cotton trade and including two articles reprinted from the Manchester Guardian. The newspaper was strongly affiliated with the Liberal Party who would win a landslide victory the following year based in part on their opposition to Tariff Reform.