THE POOR LAW OF 1834 ^ 331 



orders issued by the new authority proceeded on the main principle 

 of restoring the old Poor Law, without the relaxations which the 

 legislation and practice of George III. had introduced. The 

 workhouse test for the able-bodied was revived. If a man chose 

 to depend for subsistence on the parish rates, instead of on his 

 own resources, he was obliged to enter the workhouse and submit 

 to its regulations. Out-door relief for the able-bodied was dis- 

 couraged, and allowances in aid of wages were prohibited. At the 

 same time the laws of settlement were modified, in order that 

 labour might become more mobile and more easily transferable in 

 obedience to the laws of demand and supply. The effect of these 

 and other changes was soon manifest. Expenditure upon poor 

 relief fell from £7,036,968 in 1832 to £4,044,741 in 1837. Wages 

 rose, though for many years they remained miserably low. Land- 

 owners again poured their capital into the land ; farmers regained 

 confidence ; agricultural progress was resumed. The evidence laid 

 before the Select Committee of 1836 proves that signs of returning 

 prosperity were beginning to appear, and that the distress was now 

 practically confined to clay land. 



