during the period. He stated: As well as this, he contributed £500 (about the equivalent of £30,000 today) to the Ashton borough cotton famine relief. During the tumultuous 1870s and 1880s, Mason kept his workforce fully employed and continued to invest in his mills. By 1884, wages in his mills were 25% higher than they had been in 1870 even though his employees were working fewer hours. The Manchester Guardian noted: Political career Local Hugh Mason was influenced by his father's Liberal politics and strongly opposed to injustice and prejudice. Thomas Mason was a supporter of political representation for Ashton-under-Lyne and supported the repeal of the Corn Laws. In the early 19th century, the area was poorly represented in Parliament. The major urban centres of Manchester, Salford, Bolton, Blackburn, Rochdale, Ashton-under-Lyne, Oldham and Stockport – with a combined population of almost one million – were represented by either the two county MPs for Lancashire (or the two for Cheshire in the case of Stockport). By comparison, more than half of all MPs were elected by a total of just 154 voters. These inequalities in political representation led to calls for reform and eventually the Peterloo Massacre in 1819. Hugh said of his father that "To his life of honest industry, to his example of commercial probity, to his high Christian character, to his training, of me in my early years, to his wise consuls, I owe under God my position in society." Although he claimed he was reluctant to enter politics, Hugh Mason became the first Liberal elected councillor for Ashton-under-Lyne in November 1856. He represented the Portland Place ward from 1856 until his retirement from politics in 1874. Mason quickly made an impression and was elected mayor for three consecutive years between 1857 and 1860, which had never happened before. He supported progressive measures such as opening a public park, providing public libraries, and addressing unsanitary conditions in parts of Ashton-under-Lyne. Mason's policies led him to come into constant clashes with the Conservative members of the council. He was not always popular within his own party either and he even financed his own newspaper, the Ashton-under-Lyne News, to convey his views and provide competition for the pro-Liberal Ashton Reporter. Conflict with the Liberals drove Mason into early retirement from local politics in 1874 at the age of 57. As well as being a councillor, Mason was also elected a