Analysis of the Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834 - Case Study Example

 1 Analysis of Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834 The poor law remains in the social history of British History for the past 300 years or so. The role of the British Government had been in its monopoly in the history. Unlike other countries, where welfare for the citizens was supported by a combined effort of the voluntary and mutual provision rather by the Government, which acted only later. Earlier the Elizabethan poor law was put forwarded keeping the aim to completely eradicate the percentage of poor, and provide employment for those who are found to be helpless, the law proposed in favor of these reasons was called as the poor relief act, but the Amendment act of the poor law of 1834 bespoke the earlier laws. The fact that whether the poor were relieved from the poverty and whether all of them employed remained a controversial thing Nassau W.Senior and Edwin Chadwick together wrote this Poor Law Commissioners Report of 1834 under the rule of 43rd Elizabeth. The Majesty of England appoints them. Their argument through this report is concentrated on the innovative ways to implement the poor relief law, and they were writing this for the kind attention of Her Majesty the 43rd Elizabeth. The concept of forming workhouses had been discussed in this report with a high level of expectations. The expectation was that the consequent establishment of the workhouses would reduce the percentage of poverty, where by increase the rate of employment. The report had been constructed with the aim of improving the living condition of the paupers. The commissioners were very particular regarding the point that by implementing the work opportunity for the able bodied, hardship , will never be 2 considered as a serious factor. In their own words “relief in a well-regulated workhouse would not be a hardship: and even if it be, in some rare cases, a hardship, it appears from the evidence that it is a hardship to which the good of society requires the applicant to submit”[II 2.9] The document reflects many things of the Elizabethan time. What had been the prupose of poor law and how it had taken shape while in application has lead to lot of controversies rather consideration with a positive outlook. The advent of the Poor law Amendment Act of 1834 gave rise to employment, but while going through the history pages and criticisms it becomes quiet clear that paupers were exploited for their mean strength rather paving way for a better life style. This might be because the industrial development required a labor to meet out their production. In the words of Sir John George Shaw – Lefevre.[ 1840 ]“With the effect of Industrial revolution the poor law also witnessed lot of changes. These changes gave way for the growth of workhouses, where there .the subject of apprenticeship has not yet been approached by the commissioners of the law.”[1] Eradication of poverty was supposed to be the main aim for implementing the poor law but as consequences resulted in such a way that poor paupers were forced to accept the employment only to think in terms of getting a good supply of food. The workhouses were supposed to give a new life to those paupers, but what had happened was different. The paupers who work in a workhouse were restricted to move out of the surrounding and forced to accept the rules proposed inside. For some it was a great relief since hunger had been one of the biggest issues witnessed by many paupers. 3 During its course, there were supporters and opposers. Malthus’s essay “An Essay on The Principle of Population” [1798] reflected the intentions of the poor as well as the ruling authority on the poor law implementation. According to Malthus, a pauper might be a sourceful factor for production industry but the same production might not give the poor a better life style. In other words, a poor would think of how to win over the daily need for food. He comments that the manufacturers maintained a preventive check on the desires of the paupers, as a result the pauper’s family reproduction might get delayed. But later Malthus realized the point of less freedom to desires as a advantageous feature to maintain a simple life style with limited number of population in a pauper’s family. He argues that “a small family [the laborer] may be better lodged and clothed , and better able to command the decencies of life”.[2] Joseph Townshed in his “A Dissertation on The Poor Laws” [1786] , argued that a pauper could prove himself in action only with the force of necessity for food. He stresses that “In general it is only hunger that spurs them into action”[3]. But both of them seemed to have had a similar idea that freedom for the pauper to decide on his life and work was lacking in the administration of the Poor Law. The report of the Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834 also reflects the same aspect. Though it talks in terms of the employment, the decision is in the hands of the commissioners who would appoint the able-bodied pauper. Many came out as opposers of this law, stating that, the law had increased the rate of poverty and works in a biased level. However, the poor law seemed to be conflicting between areas. Like Mary Poovey [1995],who has also observed that “the law could not 4 reduce the pauperism by simply forcing the poor to seek employment”[4]. Charles Dickens, gave a special focus to the Poor Law of 1834 in his novels such as Hard Times and Oliver Twist. The portrayal of the workhouses and the board are typical representations of the 18th century England. Dickens directly attacks the authorities of the workhouses and had represented an exact picture of the real workhouses. Angus Wilson [1848]in her introduction written for Oliver Twist has observed that “Poor Law Amendment act of 1834 was harsher than the Report of 1834 had wished”…Dickens strongly believed that the poor law of 1834 paved way for suffering rather than comfort”[5] On the other side some critics have came out with their view that able bodied men were the peak of cause for the failure of the poor law. As Laura C.Berry [1999] observes “The able- bodied male pauper was not only the representative figure for the failures of the old poor law , he was also largely unavailable as an object of pity –and there fore as a platform of protest-among opponents of the new one”[6] There seems to a lot of protests for the poor law rather than supporters. Because the implementation of the idea of more employment had been brought out only with an underlying intention to increase the production. However, the other side of the paupers was left unnoticed. Starvation was the key reason, which many of the opposers have identified with the cause. From their viewpoint hunger was a driving force that has lead the paupers to surrender under the hands of the wealthy administrators, instead of making a demand for a better individualistic life. On the whole history says that the report of the poor law of 1834 was a partial coverage of the reality. [1] Sir John George Shaw – Lefevre. 1840.”Report of the Poor Law Commissioners to The Most Noble The Marquis of Normandy.:Her Majesty’s Principle Secretary of State For The Home Department” Printed by W.Clowes and Sons, Stamford Street .London. 1840 [2] Thomas Malthus “An Essay On the Principle of Population” [1803]. Variorum Edition .Patricia James ed. Cambridge :Cambridge University Press. 1989. p-85 [3] Joseph Townshed ,”A Dissertation on The Poor Laws” 1786. Berkerly: University of California Press. 1971. p-23 [4] Mary Poovey 1995] “Making a Social Body:British Cultural Formation , 1830-1864”.The Univrsity of Chicago Press. Chicago and London. [5]Angus Wilson. “Introduction”. In Charles Dickens “Oliver Twist”.Fair Clough ed. 1848. Penguin Publishers London. [6] Laura C.Berry 1999 “The Child The State and the Victorian Novel”. University Press of Virginia London. Read More