The date at which the Association was founded has not been ascertained, but it was presumably part of the opposition to the movement for tariff reform that developed within the Conservative party and elsewhere from 1902. With the exception of one undated letter (Add.9787/1/1) that was apparently written while the Association was being formed, the correspondence in this collection begins in March 1906, when a circular (not present) was sent to members announcing that the Association would continue to function (the Liberal victory at the general election of January had probably raised doubts as to its future relevance). The Associations treasurer at this date, and for at least the next four years, was A.C. Seward [1], the recipient of the bulk of the letters in the collection. A number of letters are addressed to J.M. Keynes, who seems to have become honorary secretary after his return to Cambridge in 1908, and to G.H. Watts, an assistant in Emmanuel College Library who acted as clerk to the Association.