In1834therewere924comprisedin67incorporationsNicholls，vol。
ii，p。91。
ThereisasignificantentryintheAbstractsofReturnsto
the1775PoorReliefCommitteeinreferencetothebuildingofthatdeath-trap，
theBulcampHouseofIndustry。’IntheExpencesforBuildingisincluded
£；500forbuildingaPartwhichwaspulleddownbyaMob。’
AnHeckinghaminNorfolkaputridfever，in1774，killed126outof
220inmatesEden，vol。ii，p。473，quotingHowlett；cf。alsoRuggles，History
ofthePoor，vol。ii，p。266。
ThelastofthesesystemshadbeenincludedinaBillintroducedby
SirWilliamYoungin1788。’Inordertorelieveagriculturallabourers，who
areoften，duringthewinter，outofemployment，thevestryineveryparish
isempowered，bynoticeaffixedtothechurchdoor，tosettlearateofwages
tobepaidtolabourersnotofemploy，fromthe30thNovtothe28thofFeb。；
andtodistributeandsendthemroundinrotationtotheparishioners，proportionally
astheypaytotheRates；tobepaidbythepersonemployingthemtwo-thirds
ofthewagessosettled，andone-thirdbytheparish-officersoutofthe
Rates。’——Eden，vol。i，p。397……TheBillisprintedinHouseofCommonsPapers，1796。The’Heads
oftheBill’ascirculatedappearintheAnnalsofAgriculture，vol。
xxvi，pp。260ff。and359ff。EdengivesintheformofAppendices1the
HeadsoftheBill，2theAmendmentsintroducedinCommittee。
HouseofCommonsJournal。
ParliamentaryRegister，February11，1800。
ForWhitbread’sproposalstoamendtheLawofSettlementin1807see
nextchapter。Anattemptwasmadein181959GeorgeII，c。50todefine
andsimplifytheconditionsunderwhichthehiringofatenementof£；10
annualvalueconferredtherighttoasettlement。Thetermofresidencewas
extendedtoayear，thenatureofthetenementwasdefined，anditwaslaid
downthattherentmustbe£；10andpaidforawholeyear。Butsounsuccessful
wasthispieceoflegislationthatitasfoundnecessarytopassasecond
Actsixyearslater1826，andathirdActin1831I
WilliamIV，c。18。
87。Senator，March1800。
88。SeeDebatesinSenator，March31andApril3，1800，andParliamentary
Register。Cf。forremovalsfortemporarydistress，SirThomasBernard’sCharge
toOverseersintheHundredofStoke。Bucks。ReportsonPoor，vol。
i，p。260。’Withregardtotheremovaloflabourersbelongingtootherparishes，
considerthoroughlywhatyoumaylose，andwhattheindividualmaysuffer，
bytheremoval，beforeyouapplytousonthesubject。Whereyouhavehad，
foralongtime，thebenefitoftheirlabour，andwherealltheywantis
alittletemporaryrelief，reflectwhether，aftersomanyyearsspentin
yourservice，thisisthemomentandthecause，forremovingthemfromthe
sceneoftheirdailylabourtoadistantparish，etc。’1798。
MrEstcourtmentionsthattheland’wouldlettoafarmeratabout
20s。peracrenow。’
Itisinterestingtofindthattheseallotmentswerestillletout
successfullyin1868。Seep。4145oftheReportontheEmploymentofChildren，
YoungPersonsandWomeninAgriculture，1868。
ReportsonPoor，vol。iii，p。329。
ThemostdistinguishedadvocateofthispolicywasWilliamMarshall，
theagriculturalwriterwhopublishedastrongappealforthelabourersin
hisbookOntheManagementofLandedEstates，1806，p。155；cf。also
Curween’sHints，p。239；’Afartherattentiontothecottager’scomfort
isattendedwithlittlecost；Imeangivinghimasmallgarden，andplanting
thataswellasthewallsofhishousewithfruittrees。’
Cf。PoorLawReport，1817，AppendixG。p。4。
Capes，RuralLifeinHampshire，p。
PoorLawReports，1834，p。61；cf。ibid。，p。
NotestoKent’sNorfolk，p。178。
SeePoorLawReport，1834，p。181，andAllotmentsCommittee，
SpeenhamlandisnowpartofNewbury。ThePelicanInnhasdisappeared，
butthePelicanPostingHousesurvives。
CharlesDundas，afterwardsLordAmesbury，1751-1832；Liberal，M。P。
forBerkshire1794-1832，nominatedbySheridanfortheSpeakersipin1802
butwithdrew。
Onthesamedaya’respectablemeeting’atBasingstoke，withthe
Mayorinthechair，wasadvocatingthefixingoflabourers’wagesinaccordance
withthepriceofwheatwithoutanyreferencetoparishrelief——Reading
Mercury，May
SeeIpswichJournal，February7，1795，andReadingMercury，
AfterSpeenhamlandTheSpeenhamlandsystemisoftenspokenofasapieceofpardonablebut
disastroussentimentalismonthepartoftheupperclasses。Thisviewoverlooks
thepredicamentinwhichtheseclassesfoundthemselvesattheendofthe
eighteenthcentury。Wewilltrytoreconstructthesituationandtoreproduce
theirstateofmind。Agriculture，whichhadhithertoprovidedmostpeople
withalivelihood，butfewpeoplewithvastfortunes，hadbecomebytheend
ofthecenturyagreatcapitalistandspecialisedindustry。DuringtheFrench
Waritsprofitswerefabulous，andtheywereduepartlytoenclosures，partly
totheintroductionofscientificmethods，partlytothehugepricescaused
bytheWar。Itwasproducingthusavastsurplusoverandabovetheproduct
necessaryformaintenanceandforwearandtear。Consequently，asstudents
ofMr。Hobson’sIndustrialSystemwillperceive，therearoseanimportant
socialproblemofdistribution，andthePoorLawwascloselyinvolvedwith
Thisindustrymaintained，orhelpedtomaintain，fourprincipalinterests：
thelandlords，thetithe-owners，thefarmers，andthelabourers。Ofthese
intereststhefirsttwowererepresentedinthegoverningclass，andinconsidering
themindofthatclasswemaymergethemintoone。Thesympathiesofthe
farmerswereratherwiththelandlordsthanwiththelabourers，buttheir
interestswerenotidentical。Thelabourerswereunrepresentedeitherin
theGovernmentorinthevotingpowerofthenation。Iftheforceshadbeen
moreequallymatched，orifParliamenthadrepresentedallclasses，thesurplus
incomeofagriculturewouldhavegonetoincreaserents，tithes，profits，
andwages。Itmight，besidesturningthelandlordsintogreatmagnateslike
thecottonlordsofLancashire，andthrowinguparaceoffarmerswithscarlet
coatsandjackboots，haveraisedpermanentlythestandardandcharacter
ofthelabouringclass，havegiventhemadecentwageanddecent142cottages。
Thevillagepopulationwhosecondition，asWhitbreadsaid，wascomparedby
supportersoftheslavetradewiththatofthenegroesintheWestIndies，
toitsdisadvantage，mighthavebeenrehousedonitsshareofthistremendous
revenue。Infact，therevenuewentsolelytoincreaserent，tithes，andto
someextentprofits。Thelabourersalonehadmadenoadvancewhenthehalcyon
daysoftheindustrycloudedoverandpricesfell。Therentreceiverreceived
morerentthanwasneededtoinducehimtolethisland，thefarmermade
largerprofitsthanwerenecessarytoinducehimtoapplyhiscapitaland
abilitytofarming，butthelabourerreceivedlessthanwasnecessaryto
maintainhim，thebalancebeingmadeupoutoftherates。Thusnotonlydid
thelabourerreceivenoshareofthissurplus；hedidnotevengethissubsistence
directlyfromtheproductofhislabour。Nowletussupposethatinstead
ofhavinghiswagesmadeupoutoftherateshehadbeenpaidamaintenance
wagebythefarmer。Theextracostwouldhavecomeoutofrenttothesame
extentasdidthesubsidyfromtherates。Thelandlordthereforemadeno
sacrificeinintroducingtheSpeenhamlandsystem，forthoughthefarmers
thoughtthattheycouldobtainareductionofrentmoreeasilyiftheycould
pleadhighratesthaniftheypleadedthehighpriceoflabour，1*itis
obviousthatthesameconditionswhichproducedareductionofrentsinthe
onecasemustultimatelyhaveproducedareductionintheother。Asitwas，
noneofthissurpluswenttolabour，andtheproportioninwhichitwasdivided
betweenlandlordandfarmerwasnotaffectedbythefactthatthelabourer
waskeptalivepartlyfromtheratesandnotwhollyfromwages。2*
Nowthegoverningclasswhichwasconfrontedwiththesituationthatwe
havedescribedinapreviouschapterconsistedoftwoclasseswhohadboth
contrivedtoslipofftheirobligationstotheState。Theywerebothessentially
privilegedclasses。Thelandlordswerenotintheeyeofhistoryabsolute
owners；theyhadheldtheirlandonseveralconditions，oneofwhichwas
theliabilitytoprovidemilitaryservicesfortheCrown，andthisobligation
theyhadcommutedintoataxonthenation。Neitherwerethetithe-owners
absoluteownersintheeyeofhistory。InearlydaysallChurchproperty
wasregardedasthepatrimonyofthepoor，andtheclergywerebiddento
useitnonquasisuissedquasicommendatis，Dryden，indrawingthecharacter
oftheGoodParson，haddescribedtheirobligations：