Health, Food, Sanitation, drink
The 1860's also saw a rise in problems concerning alcohol as well, the ridiculous cheap, widespread availability of gin and the increased use of unlicensed “gin palaces” was rampant. Although there were religious undertones from the pressure caused by the various nonconformists groups who were against alcohol, Gladstone truly believed that “drink was a curse of the working man” and so wanted to introduce the Licensing reform Act of 1872 to simply help society as whole. Even though Gladstone closed the “gin palaces” and stopped the adulteration of beer through licensing reform, in the age of Disraeli the controversy around the “drink question” was lessened as the power given to magistrates to close pubs were relaxed. The licensing reform which did help Gladstone improve the conditions of the working masses, mutually meant he alienated himself from the high-flying brewers, but more importantly upset the “drinking masses”. In this case it is really hard to quantify the extent of improving working class conditions, on one hand the licensing reform meant a more hardworking sober working class, but is taking away the a day-to-day threat that many sensible hardworking miners, factory workers and butchers relished really a “improvement” in the social conditions of the working class.
The main criticism of Disraeli’s reforms in terms of helping the state of the working class, is that although he introduced things like the artisan's dwelling act of 1875 which was a form of housing reform not even considered by their Liberal counterparts and other pieces of pragmatic legislation like the Agricultural holding's Act or Friendly societies Act of 1875, they were all permissive. Although Disraeli’s contribution in helping society could be argued as introducing more pieces of legislation in terms of the Liberals, it can't be argued as impactful due to their non-compulsory nature. In the artisan's act the houses built after the slums were meant to be financed by low interest loans through the government, but the since they weren't compulsory only 10/57 councils actually enforced it. The same can be said for the agricultural holdings act, although Gladstone’s ministry did 'nt provide any major form of agricultural reform, the agricultural act which was intended to extend the to the farmers in England something similar to Land Act given to the Irish in 1870 failed, as it was ultimately permissive and still firmly preserved the landowner's rights, rather than the rights of the working masses.
Although the Liberals did build quite a strong foundation of reforms to improve the welfare of the people, they did miss a few things that the Conservatives later introduced. Public health acts which brought all the previous legislation dealing with health the under one act, the River pollution Act which oversaw the pollution rate in rivers and the Sale of Food and Drugs Act, 1875 which tried to stop the adulteration of food were all solely introduced in Disraeli’s reign not in the period of Gladstonian's ministry. Although these acts were small additions that did try to improve the conditions of the working class, they did seem half-hearted each had their own setbacks, the public health reform act was a step forward but lacked what was truly needed: new medicines, vaccinations, more doctors etc., but only managed to achieve small successes like providing adequate street lighting and pavements. The adulteration of food continued as the government failed to persuade local authorities to appoint food analysts, and the river pollution act simply failed to achieve what it initially intended to do.
Trade unions
Trade unions got better in organised in 1868, with the trade union congress being established. Given the trade unions progress and their respectability through the well organised pressure groups the 1871 trade union Act legalised them. Although this can be seen as quite pragmatic piece of legislation which did in fact improve social conditions, as there was always an underlying stigma against trade unions it can be said that “Gladstone gave with one hand and took with another”, because in the same year the Criminal Law amendment act was formed which made picketing illegal, so essentially undermined the workers, as it made it difficult for strikes to succeed. While this inconsistency shows the liberal government didn’t build a full programme on behalf of the working class, Disraeli's second ministry however did allow peaceful picketing through the Conspiracy and Protection of Property Act which can be seen as quite a progressive and forward move in terms of improving the conditions of the working class, as there were allowed to still protest albeit peacefully.
The 1874 Factory Act cut the working day from ten and a half hours to ten hours, and increased the minimum age from 8 to 10, whereas 1878 Factory and workshops act addressed the problems caused by the 1867 Act, by bringing workshop’s with fewer than 50 employees under inspection by the government, as opposed to the local authorities.
Although Disraeli’s reform of the educational system i.e. Lord Sandon’s Education Act of 1876 can be seen as improving the lives of the working classes, by putting pressure on parents to spend their children to school and so providing masses of children with an education, there was an underlying political agenda behind it. Forcing children to attend local school was a way of propping up Anglican schools and stopping the spread of non-conformist school boards, set up by the Forster Act of 1870. However in comparison Gladstone’s policies where more centralised on removing any inequality or discrimination practised on religious grounds. This idea is clearly emphasised by his University tests Act of 1871 and Forster Elementary Education act which ultimately improved the efficiency of the nation’s institutions, and so arguably did more for education than the Conservative Government of 1874 to 1880, who were only really interested in seeing the interests of the Church of England. However on the flipside it can also be argued that the Forster’s Act although substantial, fell short of the aspirations of National Educational league.
Ultimately weighing all the factors I must say that The Conservative Government of 1874 to 1880 did more than the Liberal Government of 1868 to 1874 to improve the conditions of the working class.
