Los Angeles herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1900-1911, 1908-02-03
PASTOR TALKS OF
The WORTHY POOR
TOPIC OF VITAL INTEREST is
DISCUSSED
A Plain and Unvarnished Sermon De-
llvered by Rev. Frederic Bell.
Tells Need of Great
Reforms

"a Plain and Unvarnished Talk
About the Unemployed and Worthy
Poor" was the topic of DR.. Frederic
Bell, pastor of the First Humanity's
| Symphony hall.
4 has taken up many topics of vital in
terest and has become favorably
/ known for his oratorical efforts.
Last night he said ir part:
How can we effectively and sue
cessfully help the unemployed and de-
tion unsolved as yet and by some held
to be an unsolvable one.
Before 1 give you my views on this
all important question l. will be well
to inquire why there are so many poor
people. If a person is hungry or In
want L feed him first, then ask what
the trouble is. What would you think
of the man who refused to help another
who had fallen and broken his leg UNI
| less he told him how it happened?
| But there are reasons why we have
so many poor. The law of cause and
effect is an exact law, hence 1 propose
| to inquire into the cause as to why we
| have so many poor in our midst. Many
are poor through extravaganza and
waste. 1 don't know how much money
the prodiga1 son had for his portion.
One thing l do know, the parable in
! forms us that he wasted it in riotous
living. After that he was poor enough,
| in fact in want Then you must bear
in mind that extravagant people in
volve others.
Many Wives Careworn
Look at the anxious, careworn wife!
The husband has forgotten the sacred
vow, With all my worldly goods l
| thee endow' Then see the poverty
stricken helpless, dependent childrenl l
claim extravaganza to be a sin against
high heaven, and that is why some are
| poor.
"Indolence is another cause why
many are poor, or rather laziness. Il
like that word best; 1t is better under
stood). You and 1 have met people
who have sublime confidence in their
ability to get through life easily and
| lazily. These persons as a rule are
always poor and always ought to be.
| Paul says, If any man will not work,
neither should he eat 1 tell you,
friends laziness is a fearful disease
with which to be afflicted
but, my friends, know we have
among us those who are poor through
no fault of their own. How grieveous
/, is to see the tolls of the poor-I do
not mean those who are absolutely In
want, but the working classes. How
literally do they fulfill the supposed
curse, in the sweat of thy face shalt
thou eat bread No industrious per-
son cares how hard he works, If the
pay is in proportion, but, alas! In this
great republic where we boast so much
of freedom and liberty, how many
thousands of men and women are
working for barely enough to just keep
body and soul together. But how
shamefully true is this of female labor,
where the majority of women rise early
and work late for a mere pittance. We
should be very charitable for the
temptations of the poor.
Poverty Breeds Crime
'eYou often hear it said that poverty
| is no crime That is true but allow
me to tell you what is also true: Pow
erty is one of the chief causes of crime.
Look at that boy! See the pale face
and the sunken eyes. He is pinched
with hunger. He sees the tempting
morsel. The temptation is too much,
and he steals It, He is detected in the
act, arrested, tried and branded as
little wretch. He is sent to the re-
forrnatory and nine-tenths of those
in the institution go on from bad to
worse. The only difference between
that boy and yours is the environment.
Look at that interesting girl, half fed,
half starved. She goes out, she wants
food, dress excites her, but she can get
neither. Yet she sees that by the pros
titution of her person she can get what
she wants. I warn you to be careful
how you speak Of your unfortunate
sister. You need to exercise great
charity
Look at that toiling man! There
are no attractions for him at home.
Even amid his misery he feels he needs
pleasure and excitement, and so he
takes his few pennies to a we'll lighted,
warm saloon and ultimately becomes
a poor, besotted drunkard.
There are many dark places, and
have found them in your fair city of
Los Angeles with it's. church steeples
pointing heavenward, whose citizens
have sent hundreds of thousands of
dollars to foreign lands to the so-called
heather. while thousands of our own
people are starving and children are
crying for bread, and heathens are to
be found all over this broad land.
Reforms Needed
"Great negligence and indifference
are found in high political and religious
circles Where the power to reform lies.
The men in legislative bodies cannot
forget party lines long enough to study
social economy and the great questions
tending to the betterment of the race.
Preachers in the rich churches, where
the power lies. with those in their pews
to rectify, avoid all such subjects.
"I know there are those who say
working men have no business to think
| for themselves. but they are thinking
Just the same, and are no logner blind
to the unjust conditions that exist to-
day, and are intelligently ready to
handle the great social, industrial and
economic problems of the day.
"A great giant is awakening from
slumber, which is the people. to be lib
Grated from the narrow confines of
ignorance and superstition, in time to
struggle for better, wiser and happier
civilization than the world has ever
known"