ABSTRACT
The appalling living conditions of the poor was the immediate result of the general unemployment that prevailed in all parts of the country. The hand-loom weavers were the first victims of the depression of trade. As early as April 23, 1837, the Manchester Times recorded that “the distress has now reached the working classes. Dr. James Philip Kay’s Report of 1837 on the distress of the Spitalfields weavers stated that out of the 14,000 looms, one-third were not used, while the remaining number were only partially employed. The agricultural districts could by no means boast of better conditions. The Whigs came into power pledged to reforms which they could hardly accomplish. The campaign for the Reform Bill of 1832 carried with it a promise for the repeal of the Corn Laws which had been condemned as fostering the monopoly of landowners. The opponents of the New Poor Law pointed out repeatedly that the new measure would propagate crime.
