ABSTRACT
The problem by which the Royal Commission of 1832 was confronted presented a comparatively broad and simple issue: it was a problem of able-bodied and—to a large extent—rural pauperism. Since that time the situation has been constantly and progressively changing; not only in the sense that the type and causes of pauperism change as new social and industrial conditions emerge, but also in the sense that there has been a continuous development of charitable and other agencies which hardly existed in 1834.
