How Effectivley Did the Liberal Government Deal with the Problem of Poverty Between 1906 and 1914

In the most direct (and somewhat vague) policy The Special Areas Act of 1934, money was to be applied to the worst affected areas, but this was dependent on their income and the result was many of the poorest people did not apply. Furthermore, the budget for the act was only £2 million. These policies seem to suggest that the National Government was somewhat lost on the right course of action to take, and even then their commitment to not worsen the deficit limited them to gimmicks or simple lack of effectiveness.

Federal spending should be aimed at getting families with young children out of these tin shack and back into real homes. In 1931 president Hoover increased federal spending on public work, in action he lessens the unemployment to $700 million dollars. Hoover was hostile to the passage of believing that work relief programs might be demoralizing as a dole. In 1933 the RFC loans were the beginning of a banking crisis, starting the beginning of poverty for families.

The conservatives introduced the unemployment relief act, giving the provinces $20 million for work-creation programs. This, however, did not aid economy much. Also, Bennett tried to raise tariffs in order to protect Canadian industries and get into the world market. He raised the tariffs by an average of more than 50 percent, which did protect some businesses, but it actually caused more harm than good. These tariffs made other nations set up trade barriers against Canada. He introduced the Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Act in 1935, which helped farmers build irrigation systems and reservoirs, but by this time, because of drought, poverty, and locusts, most families had already left their farms to go to other places. Finally, he created a national network of work camps for unemployed single men who needed work and shelter. These work camps allowed men to work for them (roads, clearing land, digging ditches, etc) for a pay of 20 cents a day. They were also given a place to stay and food to eat, but the food was terrible and the bunks were often bug infested. In spite of these conditions, 170 000 men spent time in these camps, which reflects the desperation that some of these people had.i

The conservatives recognised the extent of public approval for the legacy of the Attlee government. Most Conservatives grasped the political realities of the time. There can be no outright rejection of the welfare state, nor a total reversal of nationalisation. Attitudes towards industry, the trade unions and social policy were going to have to be very different from the 1930s because the experiences of the war years had made people far more ready to accept the need for state intervention and planning. The post-war years had seen living standards rise, proving to be very popular

After the Great Depression, many Americans were left disheveled. They needed some form of financial assistance to help them get their lives back to normal. Many government officials such as Hurbert Hoover and Franklin D. Roosevelt helped to enact bills and programs that would assist Americans in rehabilitating their lives. The amount of unemployed workers, the economic relief for retired workers, and the creation of legislature directed towards financial stability all illustrate that the most important effects that the New Deal legislation had on the American government was a liberal one..

In the department of Health and Welfare, the new government had developed a national contributory pension plan that was based on the Liberal campaign promises. (English, 284-285)

During his two terms of presidency, Wilson fared well in terms of persuading the Congress, which had mostly consisted of conservative Democrats, to pass acts that adhered to the Progressive legislative agenda. However, this can be partially attributed to the fact that many of these acts were aligned with the ideals of Democrats. Some of the issues that characterized the period between the late 1890s and the early 1920s were economic inequities, poor working conditions, and insufficient social welfare. Progressive reformers sought to foster efficiency, protect social welfare, promote moral development, and secure economic reform. As one can see, the Progressive reformers were focused on properly addressing the major issues of the time period. Therefore, it can be assumed that President

During both the Progressive era and the New Deal era, policies as well as programs were being created in an effort to assist the American public, specifically those living in poverty. Throughout the early 1900’s Roosevelt had strayed away from the typical laissez-faire policy and decided that the people would need to be guided by the government. “Wilsonian Progressivism” had also aimed at assisting the public with his “New Freedom Program” which consisted of antitrust legislation, banking reform as well as tariff reductions. After the stock market crashed in 1929, America had fallen into a Great Depression resulting in the unemployment of millions. Newly elected Franklin D. Roosevelt decided to present his

I am not deep, but I am very wide-Throughout the period 1865 to 1992, the government was both a help and hindrance to the trade union movement. Roosevelt’s New Deal represented a brief turning point in the Federal government’s attitude towards labour rights, prior to which its laissez-faire approach to the economy had significantly favoured employers by granting them more power to abuse the rights of labourers. The New Deal of 1933 was set out with the intention of fostering better relations between the employers and the workforce, as well as helping establish new

The class welfare was manifested in the county when the labor unions rose. Some of the labor unions that were developed include the American Federation of Labor in 1886, the international workers of 1905. There was also the development of the political parties that advocated for the minimum wages, reduced hours of working and the conditions of working that were very safe. They also initiated the factories that used machines instead of human labor and the hard labor done by women and children was suspended. During the same period, the federal government in America gave subsidies to the railroads through the provision of the free land. The courts became hostile to the laws on the social welfare such as the Hamer versus

Due to “…falling agricultural prices and growing economic dependency” (Foner 636) in the mid-nineteenth century, farmers in the South began to face inevitable economic uncertainty. Farmers, both white and black alike, were thrown into poverty due to sharecropping and the fall of the price of cotton, and many faced the fear of losing everything they had due the inability to pay bank loans. Believing that their situation was caused by “…high freight rates…excessive interest rates for loans…and the fiscal policies of the government” (Foner 636), disgruntled farmers hoped to better their lives and conditions through the founding of the Farmers’ Alliance in the 1870s. However, by the 1890s, the Alliance transformed into what became known as the Populist Party. Keeping their roots in mind, the Populists sought to end what they considered political corruption and economic inequality that arose during the Reconstruction. In order to do so, they proposed “…the direct election of U.S. senators, government control of currency, a graduated income tax, a system of low-class public financing…the right of workers to form labor unions…[and a] public ownership of the railroads” (Foner 638). In addition to their propositions, the Populists were considered radical due to their embracement of science and technology, their belief that the

Thus this contributed to America's success and auspicious attitude towards supporting the liberal policies of laissez- affaire in the 1920's

These concerns were reinforced by the fact that many elderly Canadians were applying for public relief.” However, it was not until several provinces began complaining about the amounting cost of relief that lead to the federal old age pension scheme. “Guest (as sited in Chappell, 2006) the federal government made a commitment to assist the elderly and the old age pensions act was established in 1927.” All Canadians were entitled once they reach the age of seventy or older in contrast to today, one can retire at the age of 60-65. The Canadian government eventually shared the cost of relief with the provincial government. The old age pension act has been criticized because of the inadequate in benefit pay outs. According to Guest (as sited in Chappell, 2006) in 1951, the old age pension was replaced by two pension plans, Old Age Security and Old Age Assistance.” The Old Age Security provides universal benefits and was funded by the federal government while the Old Age Assistance was funded by the federal and provincial government and managed by the province. As Guest (1997) pointed out, The Canadian Pension plan and Quebec Pension Plan was introduced in 1965 which individuals could collect once they retired, however they had to have made contribution between the ages of eighteen to seventy years of their working life.

In the 1920s, the U.S. economy was “roaring,” or so people thought. In reality, the economy balanced on a shaky foundation, and in 1929, the country plunged into the worst economic decline in American history (Danzer 690). Thirteen to fifteen million people were left unemployed by 1933, and half the banks in the nation had failed (The Great). America began to see soup kitchens, bread lines, and masses of homeless people popping up in towns and cities (The Great). Herbert Hoover, the Republican U.S. president from 1928-1932, did not believe in direct relief, and provided little to no support for the needy (The Great). Clearly ready for a change, Americans elected Democrat Franklin Delano Roosevelt into office in 1932 (The Great). The New Deal, Roosevelt’s plan to “fix” the economy, was created to

The economic crisis that showed all the contradictions of capitalism led to an increase of a deep political crisis in the USA in late 1920?s. October 29, 1929 is known in the American history as the Black Tuesday. It was the date, when the American stock market collapsed. In such economically difficult situation, in November 1932, a regular presidential election took place. The Democrat Franklin Roosevelt, who spoke with the program the New Deal, came to presidency. It was a series of social liberal programs applied in the United States in 1933-1938 in response to the Great Depression. The New Deal was focused on three main principles: relief, recovery, and reform.[footnoteRef:1] They promised to bring the country to prosperity and economically stable future. However, the Conservatives criticized the New Deal during the whole period of the reforms. It was expressed by Herbert Hoover in Anti-New Deal Campaign Speech in 1936 and Minnie Hardin in 1937 in a Letter to Eleanor Roosevelt. [1: (notes)]