48 AN INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH RURAL HISTORY 



wages equal to 3s. for himself and Is. 6d. for the support 

 of his wife and every other member of his family shall 

 have the difference made up out of the rates, so long as 

 the gallon loaf of 8 Ib. 11 oz. shall cost one shilling." These 

 allowances varied with the cost of bread. 



The Speenhamland policy was not entirely original. 

 Similar attempts had been previously made in other parts 

 of the country. But the standard adopted at the Pelican 

 Inn in May 1795 was speedily accepted in most counties ; 

 and, even as late as 1834, only two counties Northumber- 

 land and Durham were free from it. 



Effects of the System. 



It is not surprising that the adoption of such a system 

 resulted in a considerable rise in the rates, which are said 

 to have doubled between 1800 and 1815. It checked a 

 rise in wages, and thus benefited the farmers. But most 

 serious of all was its effect upon the character of the labourer. 

 Unless a man were willing to become a pauper he could not 

 obtain work, for he could not demand full wages. As the 

 allowance varied with the size of. the family, there was 

 no inducement to thrift or restraint : hence, by means 

 of " improvident marriages," the pauper class rapidly 

 increased. Poaching and stealing also became prevalent in 

 spite of the harsh laws. 



Concerning the position of the landless labourer just 

 before Waterloo, Mr. Prothero writes : " Contemporary 

 writers who comment on the increasing degradation of 

 the labouring classes too often treat as its causes changes 

 which were really its consequences. They note the increase 

 of drunkenness* but ; forget that the occupation of the 

 labourers' idle moments was gone ; they attack the mis- 

 chievous practice of giving children tea, but forget that 

 milk was no longer procurable ; they condemn the rising 

 generation as incapable for farm labour, but forget that 

 the parents no longer occupied land on which their children 

 could learn to work ; they deplore the helplessness of the 

 modem wives of cottagers who had become dependent 

 on the village baker, but forget that they were now obliged 

 to buy flour, and had lost their free fuel ; they denounce 

 their improvident marriages, but forget that the motive 

 of thrift was removed." 



In one parish, three-quarters of the inhabitants were 

 receiving relief. " The meshes of the Poor Law," write 



