Economic subjects have been my favourite studies, and I have seen much of the working of Protection in America. In 1870 I delivered an address on Free Trade before the New York Chamber of Commerce, and at their request I repeated this address before the Chambers of Commerce in Cleveland, Chicago, etc., but with little success. The question of a Tariff had already become "political." I was present in America during some of their industrial crises, upon which I addressed several letters to the London _Times_ and _Standard_. It is difficult to describe the intensity and the prolonged suffering caused by the over-production encouraged by Protection, with no outlet save the home market. The only relief was the "scrapping" of the surplus manufacturing power, which brought great suffering to the working people. I have since written many papers on the subject; the controversy does not therefore come upon me as something new. This is not the place, however, to discuss these matters, but one cannot understand Liverpool becoming enamoured with Tariff Reform. Liverpool lives on her shipping and carrying trade, and whatever else may happen, this is at least certain, that Tariff Reform must reduce the quantity of imports and exports, and there must be less freight for our shipping to carry. Tariff Reform may give temporary prosperity to the manufacturer, but if ever adopted will be a serious blow to the trade and prosperity of Liverpool, and indeed of Lancashire, as the cotton manufacturing industry depends entirely upon our ability to turn cotton into yarn and cloth at the lowest possible cost. CHAPTER XI. JUDICIAL WORK. I was placed on the Liverpool Borough Bench of Magistrates in 1873; on the Lancashire County Bench in 1882; on the Cheshire County Bench in 1900; and was made a Deputy-Lieutenant for Lancashire in 1902. In 1900 Mr. Aspinall Tobin, on behalf of the Lancashire County Bench, invited me to be nominated as the deputy-chairman of Quarter Sessions. Lord Derby had retired from the chair, and Mr. Hugh Perkins had taken his place, therefore a deputy-chairman was wanted. In accepting this invitation, I decided if elected to this important position to devote myself to the study of the criminal law, and to qualify myself as a magistrate, as far as a layman could do so. My spare time for several years was spent in reading the law of evidence and criminal law, and I also learnt a great deal from my chairman, who was a very painstaking magistrate, and who very kindly gave me much good advice. Mr. Perkins retired in 1894 and I was appointed chairman, and became the only lay chairman in Lancashire, the other three chairmen being all Queen's counsel. I was also elected chairman of the County Bench and of the Licensing Justices. We had eight sessions in our court in each year, and this with the licensing work kept us very busy on several occasions. The sessions in those days lasted seven and eight days, and once even ten days.