OF THE ENGLISH POOR LAW VOLUME III FROM 1834 TO THE PRESENT TIME BEING A SUPPLEMENTARY VOLUME TO "A HISTORY OF THE PREFACE WHEN it was suggested to the author that he should write a continuation of Sir George Nicholls' work, he had already made some progress with a history of the Poor Law from the year 1834. He naturally turned to see how much of the material which he had collected was already incorporated in the earlier volumes which he was asked to continue or supplement. It seemed to him (and to this view he obtained the assent of the editor and publisher of the new edition of Sir George Nicholls' work) that in the last portion of his narrative, Sir George, for obvious reasons, wrote with considerable reserve, and that a fuller account of the passage and subsequent introduction of the Poor Law Amendment Act might, at the present day, be acceptable. With the consent, therefore, of those interested in the earlier volumes, the author has adhered to his original plan, and has aimed at producing a complete history of the subject from the year 1834. Since the year 1834, if we except, perhaps, the Union Chargeability Act of 1865, no Poor Law legislation of the first importance has been added to the statute book. The later history has been concerned rather with a controversy than with definite acts of legislation. For this reason a treatment of the subject somewhat more speculative than that followed by Sir George Nicholls has seemed necessary, and a re-statement of incidents and arguments has been found con V |