Connecticut western news., 1908-09-03
THE DOLLAR MARK

In the current number of one of the well-known magazines is letter bom a young woman who has had the expe- rience with 'ssoclety" that many others have had and which experience is the basis of the ill-concealed disgust which so many intelligent, well-bred and re- fined people feel.
 The young woman in question had, largely by her own efforts, made her way through college after which she re- turned to her native town and accepted a position as teacher in the public schools, declining offers of more lucrative posi- tions in order that she might be with and aid her parents who were passing through the twilight of life. Her father was a cobbler, poor, honest, respectable and fearing man. Society" de- olined to admit her to it's exclusive pre- cincts because she was a cobbler' s daughter. Her refinement, her in- tellectuaIlty, the self denial she practiced in choosing to remain with her parents instead of going out into the world and accepting more lucrative employment, counted for naught in the eyes of "so- ciety" The fact that she was daughter of an artisan was sufficient reason why she should be treated with dignified condescension, why she should not be tolerated by society" why, when she attended public gathering, she should be made to realize, by their attitude, that she was not welcomed in the tex clusive' crowd which held itself aloof from the common people.
 This young woman took the optimistic and philosophical view of the situation. She knew that because she did not possess fat bank account was the sole reason why she was summed, she knew that "Money" is the password and the dollar mark the countersign which society requires of its members.
 She knew however, that morally and intellectually she was the equal and, in some instances, the superior of the people by whom she was summed and snubbed Secure in that knowledge, she pursued the even tenor of her way, paid not the slightest heed to the snob- bery, and derived fully as much pleasure from life as the benighted mortals in society"
 What picture Money the primary attribute, integrity, intellectually. per sonaI attractiveness, cleanliness of heart, good breeding and refinement, secondary.
 But occasionally there are exceptions, oases in the desert as 1t were. Instances of these exceptions are furnished in northwestern Litchfeld County, for ex- ample in Canaan, Falls Village, Lime Rock, Cornwall and other villages. Ii : is refreshing to attend public gather ings in these places and see the well ito do people mingling, in the most demo cratic and congenial manner, with the men and women who work and are no ashamed of it. The passport to society in these places is not the almighty dollar but the attributes which go tt make deoency. responsibility and con geniality; here social standing i measured by personal worth and integ rity.
 This is as it should be. The question has been asked time after time why thu dollar should be used to draw thi dividing line and why the possession O the dollar should make a man better than his neighbor if the latter i honest, upright and good citizen.
 The question has never been satis factorily answered. Nor can it be.