Los Angeles herald., 1910-01-17
DREGS OF SOCIETY
.SCOREDBY PASTOR
VULGAR RICH AND POOR ARE
CLASSED ALIKE
and Dregs Alike Are Respon=
sible for Bitter Evils
of the People

The dregs of society, labeled by the
speaker "the vulgar rich and the Vul-
gar poor were roundly scored by the
Rev. r. Stanton Hodgin, pastor OF the
First Unitarian church, 925 South
Flower street, yesterday in a sermon
on "The one Thing Needful." The
pastor said in part;
In our social structure today the
two extremes meet in an astonishing
manner. Those who appear to be sep
arated by the entire range of society,
when examined supcrficially are found
when examined critically to be scarce
ly distinguishablc from each other. In
the process of maple sugar making. by
boiling down the sweet juice of the
maple tree, the pernicious impurities
are eliminated in two ways. There is
a frothy scum that rises to the surface
and is skinned off, and there is a sedi-
ment that sinks to the bottom
and is strained out, but both are cast
into the refuse buckets together.
In our human society today the sell
fish and irresponsible rich form the
scum that rises to the top because of
its very emptiness and nOthingness, as
suming that society exists for the sole
purpose of giving it a surface to float
upon. The irresponsible and reckless
poor form the social dregs that settle
to the bottom by their own inertia.
These two elements, apparently so far
removed from each other, finally will
find themselves mingled indiscrimi-
nately in the social refuse piles whittier
they have been cast as useless and
pernicious impedmenta by a regener-
ate society.
1T is a part of the irony of fate that
these two elements should be forced
into political alliance today. We find
the corporation millionaire who lives in
his gilded palace in the most exclu-
sive part of the city fattening on the
special privileges he has wrested from
the state by all kinds of means, polit-
ically hobnObbing with the saloon
keeper, dive keeper gambler and all
the riff-raff of society. 1t is a process
asites together, and they are being
forced into each others company as
they are being slowly but inevitably
sloughed off by the regeneratiYe forces
of society.
In England today we find the land
lords who have always prided them
selves on being the very salt of the
earth working cheek by jowl with the
sports, gamblers and vicious elements
of the country, because they have un
consciously become parasites and must
either mend their ways or take their
places with the other parasites of the
realm.
THE vulgar rich and the vulgar poor
who fancy they are separated by such
a chasm are so much alike and have
so much in common in the last anal
ysis that it is impossible to distinguish
the one from the other. They are a
continual source of inspiration and
support TO each other. The vulgar poor
live to admire, to envy and to initiate
the vulgar rich. The vulgar rich live
to be admired, envied and initiated.
They thus encourage and sustain each
other in their folly and superficiality.
If the poor were not constantly de-
mOralized by the gilded pageantry and
the vulgar display of wealth that they
see on all sides of them they would
soon find higher ideals and be actuated
by nobler aims. If the vulgar rich did
not have the constant inspiration of this
gaping, enViOus. admiring crowd fol-
lowing them wherever they go they
would grow sick of tinsel and gliding
and would turn their energies and re
sources to more serious ends.
I'VE need the regenerative power of
which will enable them to see that
wealth and business success pursued
as an end of itself leads only to folly
and false life. When we discover
that the only real satisfaction is the
joy of service of doing the present-day
task as If it were a divine service-an
act of WOrship-We shall have found
the one thing needful."