Employment for the Young and Support for Home Industry

I am pleased to have the opportunity of again meeting with the Latter-day Saints in general conference, and I hope that the same liberty of utterance, which has been granted to those who have already spoken, may be given to me ; that I may be able to say something here today which shall be for our mutual benefit. ¶

I have been deeply interested in all that has been said. One of the greatest desires of my life has been to live worthy of the father and the mother I have had; and one other of the greatest desires of my life is to rear my children in the nurture and admonition of the Gospel. One of the favorite themes I have ever had in preaching to the Latter-day Saints is derived from that revelation of the Lord which tells us that it is our duty to preach to our children and teach them the Gospel of Jesus Christ, inspire them with faith in the Lord and Savior of the world, and teach them to pray and walk uprightly before the Lord. I believe this commandment has been much neglected, and I rejoiced exceedingly in the remarks of our President today, urging the Latter-day Saints to do their duty in this respect. I have endeavored to do it, but I have made a resolution to be more faithful in doing so in the future. I believe there is opportunity for improvement upon the part of all of us in this direction. ¶

I rejoiced to hear the remarks regarding home manufacture. I have been considered a "crank," as enthusiastic advocates are called, on this subject all my life. From a boy of sixteen I have worn homemade clothes, and continued to do so until the Provo factory closed. I have believed in home industry, not only because I have listened to the inspired words of President Brigham Young, and of all his successors, on this theme, but because, from a practical every-day standpoint, I know that it is beneficial to any community to raise and manufacture those things which they use. I believe it is a disgrace to us, as a people, that we are importing chickens, turkeys and butter by the carload. This community ought to produce all of these things, and it is a reflection on us that we bring them from abroad. I believe that no greater benefit, or moral uplift, can come to a people than the establishment of industries whereby the young can have employment. It has been my good fortune, in connection with the brethren who originally started the first sugar factory in this community, to not only watch the progress of this industry but to find in many sections where beets are raised, a wonderful growth in industry and an improvement in morals among the young people. I can remember, very distinctly, that we had to go down — figuratively speaking — on our knees and crawl to the farmer to get him to raise beets enough to start the first factory. I can remember that the farmers could not get their boys to go out and weed and thin the beets. They would say, "I don't have to." Now the boys have learned to grasp the opportunity for them to earn a little money and they are doing it, instead of being idle, and the communities, wherever there are industries of this kind, are benefited morally, to say nothing of the financial uplift. If we would study and reflect upon the actual benefits to a community by manufacturing at home the tilings that are used, and keeping our money here, we would realize that we would benefit ourselves every way in the long run. ¶

I have preached many times and quoted Bishop Farrell on this subject. He remarked, here in the Assembly Hall, that one of the reasons he bought home-made goods was to keep the money in the country so he would have a chance to get hold of it again. Now, there is a great deal in that statement. Our home manufactures give us increased opportunities. Somebody has said that opportunity has a very large lock of hair on his forehead, and, as he comes along, you will have to grab him by the hair, because, if you don't do it, he will get by, and as the back of his head is bald, your hand will slip off. Brother Farrell said he had been coming to conferences here, twice a year, for the past twenty years, and that during all this time, when he paid for his railroad ticket, he had endeavored to do so with a gold piece which he marked, as he knew the railroads were owned by eastern capitalists, and he wondered if he would ever see any of this money again, and he never did. "But," he says, "I have marked many and many a five-dollar bill or gold piece that I have paid out for homemade goods, and I have got them back again, time and time again, because the money stayed in the community. Now, to give you a practical illustration," he said, "as I was leaving, on this identical trip, there was a crowd at the Smithfield depot. I saw a man who had made some shoes for my children, and I gave him five dollars in payment of those home-made shoes. He saw a man to whom he owed five dollars, and he gave him the money. This man saw somebody he was owing, and he handed him the money. This man saw another man to whom he was owing five dollars, and he gave it to him. So the five dollars went from one to another until it came to the fourth man, and he gave it back to me, saying, "I owe you six dollars, and here are five dollars on account.' That five dollar bill cancelled twenty-five dollars of debts just as quick as it takes to tell it, and I put my 'home-made shoes,' figuratively speaking, back in my own pocket." ¶

Now, if we had wisdom enough to look ahead of our noses — of course, mine is so long I can't look ahead of it. (Laughter.) But, if the people would only stop and take time to think of the ultimate benefits of sustaining home institutions, they would do it. It has been said that the tenderest part of the human anatomy is a man's pocket; and therefore the reason a man buys shoddy goods is that he thinks he is benefiting himself and saving money; but he is doing nothing of the kind. There is an old saying, and a true one — I used to have it on my letterheads, years ago — that "the best is always the cheapest." There is truth in it: I can buy a suit of clothes considerably cheaper since they quit manufacturing cloth at Provo; but I can wear it out in just about one-quarter of the time that I did a Provo suit. I can remember wearing one suit of clothes, of Provo goods, for three years, and all I had to do was to clean them occasionally and have them pressed. Finally I gave them away and they lasted two years more. I have never struck a shoddy suit of clothes that I could wear more than a year. ¶

I believe, with all my heart, that there is a moral uplift in furnishing employment to our young people, and we make a mistake when we are not willing to follow the advice and counsel of those whom God has placed to guide ihis people. I give the credit for the inspiration of Almighty God to that humble, faithful, meek man, Wilford Woodruff, for the establishment of the sugar industry in Utah, which has been worth millions of dollars to our communities. The men of means, of large wealth, did not believe that it could be established here. I know what I am talking about, because President Wilford Woodruff appointed me, in connection with others, to get means — to solicit people to invest in that factory. At first, men with large means would not put a dollar in it, but some of the same men have tens of thousands of dollars in this industry today. One of the strongest, if not the strongest, financial man in the community, in response to the request of the committee, put some money in the first factory, and as we were leaving, he asked me laughingly, if I knew where he could sell the stock for fifty cents on the dollar. The men who had the contract for building the first factory left the community, after running it a year or two, believing it would be a failure ; but it did not fail, and I want to tell you that when the inspiration of the Lord prompts our leaders to do anything, and the people back them up, there will be no failure. ¶

I have just returned from a trip to the east, and I rejoiced as I mingled among the people to find the good feeling there regarding the Latter-day Saints. I was impressed with the contrast between the feeling now and what it was some twenty years ago, when it fell to my lot to travel a good deal, and to mingle with business men. The change in sentiment toward the Latter-day Saints is very marked indeed, and I thank the Lord for it. I thank the Lord that the prejudice and the hatred that there used to be in the hearts of the people, from New York to San Francisco, has disappeared, and I will thank the Lord when it disappears at home. This is about the only place today, thank the Lord, that there is any hatred toward the Latter-day Saints. It has been said that the reputation of a man is what the world thinks of him, but character is what he is. Because of the vicious stories which have been told of us, the reputation of the Latter-day Saints has been bad ; but, thank the Lord, there is no Latter-day Saint who is living up to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, but what his character is absolutely above reproach. The people of the world are beginning to find this out. They are beginning to find that we are temperate, that we are industrious and virtuous, that we are honest, that we are patriotic, that we are godfearing; and when people find these things to be true of us, they are bound to respect us. I believe that we are making a very great mistake, many of us, especially those who are farmers, in disposing of our lands. Much of the land on the Provo bench, and in other sections of the country, adapted to fruit raising, is being sold to people who are coming in here from Colorado. The same identical class of land which they are buying here for $200 and $300 an acre, they have sold in Colorado for two, three and four thousand dollars an acre. They have sold their orchards in the East, and are coming here and buying just as good land for about ten per cent of what they got for their lands in the East. Let us keep our own lands, which are really gold mines. The great trouble with us is that we do not know their value. We do not know how much they will produce. We have not learned that, by intense cultivation, by raising fruits, and by being careful to see that we get rid of the worms, and do our full duty by the soil, we can make it worth three and four times its present value. ¶

Now, I rejoice, as I said, in the good feeling which I have found in the East. I rejoiced to meet with the missionaries in Chicago, and in attending meetings with them in New York. I rejoice in the Spirit of the Lord which I find among those who are laboring for the spread of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I rejoice in feeling that the Gospel satisfies every desire of the human heart, and in knowing that it is in very deed the truth. ¶

As I was coming home, I read a little book which I have read a number of times, and one passage impressed me more this time than at any former reading; it is as follows : ¶

"Which of the religions of the world is the real, the final, the absolute truth?" ¶

After asking that question, the author says : ¶

"We must make our individual choice, and live by it as best we can. Every new sect, every new cult, has in it a grain of truth at least; it is this that attracts attention and wins adherents. This mustard-seed of truth is often over-estimated, darkening the eyes of man to the untrue parts or phases of the varying religious faiths. But in exact proportion to the basic truth they contain do religions last, become permanent and growing, and satisfy and inspire the hearts of men. Mushrooms of error have a quick growth, but they exhaust their vitality and die ; but truth still lives." ¶

I wish to say that I endorse, with all my heart, this statement, "But in exact proportion to the basic truth they contain do religions last, become permanent and growing, and satisfy and inspire the hearts of men." There is no Latter-day Saint living who is keeping the commandments of God, but what the truth of Almighty God, revealed through the Prophet Joseph Smith, satisfies and inspires him. It satisfies all the yearnings of his heart ; there is nothing to desire in time or eternity, that the Gospel of Jesus Christ does not give. This work has grown in the face of all opposition, in the face of all that has been said against it. In my judgment we are better, and we are doing more for the building up of the kingdom of God today, and living our religion better than ever before. I rejoice in this fact, and I rejoice in the peace and the happiness that each and every one, who is keeping the commandments of God, feels on every occasion. ¶

"The man who makes the acquisition of wealth the goal and ultimatum of his life, seeing it as an end rather than a means to an end, is not true. Why does the world usually make wealth the criterion of success, and riches the synonym of attainment? Real success in life means the individual's conquest of himself; it means 'how he has bettered himself,' not 'how has he bettered his fortune?' The great question of life is not, 'What have I ? but 'What am I ?' " ¶

Every Latter-day Saint who is loyal to the principles of the Gospel, is not seeking wealth ; he is not asking himself the question, "What have I," and "What can I gain?" The true Latter-day Saint is asking, "What can I do to better myself, to encourage those with whom I am associated, and to uplift the children of God?" That is the inspiration that comes to every Latter-day Saint who realizes the force of this Gospel that we have espoused. It is in very deed the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is in very deed the plan of life and salvation. God lives; Jesus is the Christ, and He is the chief corner stone of this great work — He is directing it, and He will continue to direct it. He chose His prophet, and He gave him instructions and authority to establish this work; and the power and the influence of Joseph Smith are now being felt as the angel promised. His name is known for good or for evil all over the world ; but it is not known for evil except by those who malign him. Those who know him, those who know of his teachings, know that his life was pure and that his teachings were, in very deed, God's law. I rejoiced in bowing down, in the cottage erected in memory of him and in seeing the beautiful monument, and I shed tears of joy while supplicating God, in that cottage, and thanking Him that this monument had been built to the Prophet Joseph Smith. I thank God that I know he was a Prophet of God ; and I pray that every Latter-day Saint who has this knowledge may live up to it; I ask that we may have the power to do so. in the name of Jesus. Amen. ¶