"A drunkard in the gutter is just where he ought to be, according to the fitness and tendency of things. Nature has set upon him the process of decline and dissolution by which she removes things which have survived their usefulness"

This quote by William Graham Sumner recommends that there is a natural order to the world, and that everyone has a place in it. He implies that those who have actually ended up being alcoholics and have ended up in the gutter are there for a factor. He believes that Nature has a method of getting rid of things that have actually outlived their effectiveness, and that the alcoholic in the seamless gutter is an example of this. He suggests that this is the natural order of things, and that it is where the alcoholic ought to be. Sumner's quote suggests that there is a certain level of acceptance that should be provided to those who have actually wound up in the seamless gutter, as it becomes part of the natural process of decrease and dissolution.