118	THE  BRITISH  APPROACH   TO   POLITICS
some writers made between this scheme and the clumsy poor
.relief methods of Ancient Rome were inappropriate. But the
great increase in unemployment during and after 1930, wrecked
thfc plan; the fund borrowed from the Treasury, and there was
no prospect of its paying back. Fear of an unbalanced Budget,
and of national bankruptcy, caused the defeat of the Labour
Government in 1931, and its successor brought in some very
drastic and unpopular changes. When economic conditions began
to improve somewhat, there were further changes, until the Act
of 1934 remodelled the whole plan.
Part I of the 1934 Act provided that workers who had paid
at least thirty contributions in the last two years before falling
out of work could draw benefit for twenty-six weeks; according
to contributions in the previous five years, benefit might be
extended for as long as fifty-two weeks. This payment was one
to which the worker, having paid his contributions, was entitled
without any question as to his needs. Thus the fund was made
solvent, and an Unemployment Insurance Statutory Committee
was appointed to watch the finances of the fund, and make,
from time to time, such recommendations as might be desirable
for keeping it solvent, or distributing any surplus, or extending
the scope of Unemployment Insurance. The chief step taken
in the last matter has been the inclusion, in 1936, of agricultural
workers.
But experience had shown that since unemployment cannot
be foretold, it cannot be dealt with solely by an insurance plan.
Part I only provided for about half the unemployed. Those whose
claim for benefit had been exhausted, and those who had been
in employment not covered by the Acts, were handed over to
an.Unemployment Assistance Board, created by Part II of the
1934 Act. Since these persons are not considered to be entitled
to any payment like that made under Part I, they are subject to
a Means Test. This test had been first applied to unemployment
assistance in 1931, when the care of this dass of unemployed
had been given to the Public Assistance Committees, i.e., the