ABSTRACT
From 1909 to 1914, or from the publication of the Poor Law Report to the beginning of the First World War, the Poor Law authorities geared themselves to something like a real overhaul of the system. The report had been a shock to them, for not only had they been shown to be something other than the possessors of a panacea for the treatment of poverty, but they had been shown to be inefficient too. They had entered into the investigation a proud and established authority only to be devastated by an attack which suggested not only that they should be reformed, but that they should be abolished altogether. Whether this was possible or not, it had a serious affect on their amour propre and led them to try to regain the face that they had lost. They did this to such effect that they received commendation even from the Webbs themselves.1
