1834 Poor Law
...his changed as parliament denigrated the system bit by bit in response to the growth of the large industrial towns and their very different problems. [Cited in Rossbert] When the new poor law amendment act was pasted it stated that: 1) No able-bodied person was a receive money or other help from the Poor Law authorities except in a workhouse. 2) Conditions in workhouses were to be made very harsh to discourage people from wanting to receive help; 3) Workhouses were to be built in every parish or, if parishes were too small, in unions of parishes; Alison Bagstaff 950000058100 4) Ratepayers in each parish or union had to elect a Board of Guardians to supervise the workhouse, to collect the poor rate and to send reports to the central poor law commissions. 5) The three man central poor law commission would be appointed by the government and would be responsible for supervising the amendment act throughout the country. [Spartacus Education] There were however some problems, how would they differentiate between the poor, as it was clear that some were poor due to there inability to work (they weren’t able-bodied) and yet some were just lazy, once they had solved how to determine the two the prime movers of the 1834 legislation had no inhibitions. The 1834 Royal Commission on the Poor Laws was clear that that they would recommend that all outdoor relief would stop, as they said this encouraged laziness, and the need for work was taken away. If they made it so that the only means for relief was through the workhouse and made the workhouse’s hard and gruelling places, then only the truly desperate would seek aid. This then means that with fewer people seeking relief the poor rates would be kept low. [Cited in Rees] They said that the poor could be distinguished by a simple test: anyone prepared to accept relief in the repellent workhouse must be lacking in moral determination to survive outside it. However it was soon realized that this law wasn’t as convenient and as easy to establish as first thought, the workhouses in some cases cost more to run than realized and it was at large inconvenient, some poorhouses said that it would be far easier to return to outdoor relief. [Cited on Catholic Encyclopaedia of the Poor Laws] Debating if the Poor Law was of success or not is hard to say, as both good and bad came out off it; The poor law said it was going to make the workhouses hard and less-desired places and this definitely succeeded, this is even seen today when you talk to the older generation, conations regarding the workhouses always have a negative and somewhat demoralizing slant on them. It also said that it wanted to reduce costs, and ma...