The original manuscript initially read “the poorer class of people”. Virtually immediately Oliver Cowdery corrected “of people” to “of the people” by inserting the definite article the supralinearly and with the same level of ink flow (although the insert mark is written with somewhat heavier ink flow and the the is awkwardly inserted between the lines). Since either “of people” or “of the people” works, it seems reasonable to assume that this correction is not due to editing but was based on Oliver correcting to what Joseph Smith had dictated. Unfortunately, when Oliver copied this sentence into the printer’s manuscript, the definite article fell out once more, this time permanently. But more significantly, in his copying from 𝓞 into 𝓟, Oliver also changed the comparative poorer to the base adjective poor. The original “the poorer class of the people” implies a less “Marxian” reading, suggesting that the poverty of these people is relative rather than absolute. The noun class appears only one other place in the text: “and they began to be divided into classes” (4 Nephi 1:26).
Elsewhere the text generally refers to “the poor” (24 times), including one specific reference to “the poor of the Zoramites”:
The uniqueness of poorer in Alma 32:2 suggests the possibility that it is an error, perhaps a mishearing on Oliver Cowdery’s part. Note that poor ends in r, which could have made it difficult to hear the difference between poor and poorer. A similar example is the unique occurrence of nearer in 1 Nephi 2:5 (“in the borders which was nearer the Red Sea”). As discussed under that passage, nearer (the reading in 𝓞) could be a mishearing of near. But since “nearer the Red Sea” will work, the critical text will maintain the comparative form there. Similarly, since “the poorer class of the people” (the reading in 𝓞) definitely works here in Alma 32:2, the critical text will accept this one instance of poorer. For general discussion, see under comparison of adjectives in volume 3.
Summary: Restore the corrected reading of the original manuscript in Alma 32:2, “the poorer class of the people” (thus changing poor back to poorer and inserting the definite article before people).