Report on the St. Joseph Stake

The choir and congregation sang the hymn, "An Angel from on High." ¶

Prayer was offered by Elder Asahel H. Woodruff. ¶

The choir sang the hymn, "Come, thou glorious day of promise." ¶

(President of St. Joseph Stake.) I esteem it a great privilege, my brethren and sisters, to be called upon to occupy this important position. It is not possible for me to attend all of these conferences. It has been something like eighteen months since I was here, and enjoyed such a privilege. It may be well in the few minutes allotted me to speak, to tell you of conditions as they exist in the southern part of Zion. ¶

In Arizona we have in the neighborhood of 10,000 Latter-day Saints, in four stakes of Zion. There are 5,000 of these in the St. Joseph stake, over which I have the honor to preside, and these are scattered over a distance of nearly 600 miles, which we have to travel to associate with them. Our stake work is different from that in most of the stakes of Zion, in that we do missionary work among those who are not of our faith, in the mining camps surrounding us, where there is a large number of Gentile people, ranging from 700 to 1,500 inhabitants. In these cities and towns we have gone out amongst the people and preached the Gospel, and assembled together the scattered Saints who have gone into those sections to seek employment. We have organized so that we have in operation all the various auxiliary organizations of the Church, and are drawing together those who, in many instances, were careless in their old home settlements. Boys and girls who did not take part in their home wards are put to work, and we are accomplishing a splendid mission in this direction. ¶

I want to say to you that while it is a fact that we are far separated from the body of the Church, and do not enjoy many of those great privileges that are within your reach, we are in sympathy with you, and are permitted, by the blessings of the Lord, to enjoy the spirit of the Gospel. And it comes to me as one of the strongest testimonies that this is, indeed, the work of God in which we are engaged, in that the Lord does not forget us, and that we are in touch with and are permitted to enjoy the inspiration of the Lord which characterizes His work throughout all the world. ¶

I believe there are about ten of our young men here, during this conference season, preparing to go on missions. Two of them left yesterday. There are about fifty of our people who have come up to conference. When we realize that we come 1,400 miles the shortest route to attend this conference, there is an exhibition of faith, to say nothing of the expenditure of means. It costs us not less than $100 a head ; so there is an expenditure of $5,000 from our stake alone, exclusive of the missionaries, and the number that may have come from other stakes in our Territory, and also from Old Mexico, where the people are under similar conditions. ¶

I am pleased to report associated with me some splendid, stalwart men, my counselors and the high councilors, men who are united and whose hearts are in the work of God. The presidents of the different organizations and of the Priesthood are faithful in the discharge of their duties, so far as circumstances and conditions will allow them to attend to those duties. The Lord has held in reserve certain sections of the country, it seems to me, for the good of His people, and I recognize the hand of the Lord in that He has so reserved that choice section of the country lying east of Los Angeles in Arizona, a section very much like southern California and producing very much the same kind of products. While we are yet in our youth as to home industries, our people are practically self-sustaining and independent. ¶

I desire to say a few words in regard to home industries, as suggested by our worthy President this morning, for nearly all my life I have advocated home industry. My father, Heber C. Kimball, was an advocate of home industries, and entered upon one of the first labors in that direction in Utah, operating mills for the making of linseed oil, the first that was ever made in the Territory. He also had a carding mill, which later developed into a woolen mill. Do you know, my brethren and sisters, until I was sixteen years of age I never wore anything but homespun, made in that factory and the workmanship of my dear mother, who made my clothing until I was a young man. And I have never departed from those teachings ; I have always worn home-made goods when it was possible for me to do so; and I have patronized, and advocated, loud and long, the sustaining of home industries in our western settlements. ¶

My brethren and sisters, I think I have discovered one of the secrets of why we do not succeed with our home industries ; I believe that it is jealousy, at least in part. Whenever one of our brethren, or a few of them, start out with a good desire in their hearts to build up a home industry, and keep at home the means of the people, and they commence to succeed, and it looks as though they were going to make a little, then some envious individuals are ready to pull them down; and they fail as a consequence of their jealousies. I do not, however, find this feeling prevailing in the section that I travel in. I am familiar with conditions in California ; during the past eleven years I have had to travel back and forth, through the great state of California, and I say to you, my brethren and sisters, that California is for California. The City of Los Angeles is for Los Angeles, and the people there are always working for their own city, with the result that they have built up a great commonwealth there. They are sustaining their neighbors, and their own industries, and you da not find them buying goods made in other cities as long as they can get some of their own manufacture. So we find it elsewhere ; San Francisco is for San Francisco; and it was my pleasure also to notice the spirit of patriotism that was manifested in Portland while I was there recently. In the great state of Oregon I found the same feeling of local patriotism. Everybody that says anything in that state, speaks for Oregon. I found that same spirit everywhere as I was riding up and down that state — everybody was partial to speak a good word for their own home industries, the furnishing of employment for their own people, and building up their own commonwealth. So I found it in the State of Washington, as it was my business to attend the irrigation congress at Spokane recently, and also witness the display in the fair, at Seattle of the products of that great state. I never heard them talk about any other state. No, it was Washington, first, last and all the time — building up Washington, improving the products, developing its resources and means of home production, that they might become wealthy. So I found it in Idaho also. They had a splendid exhibition of their products in the Idaho building at the Fair. I found the same spirit, to a large extent, throughout all these western states, where it has been my privilege to travel. ¶

Arizona is only a babe yet, comparatively speaking; but Arizona stands second in the production of mineral. The greatest copper fields in the world are in Arizona. Arizona, too, is for Arizona. I am pleased to say also, that there is a fraternal feeling in Arizona. Those in that Territory who are not Latter-day Saints recognize the Mormons as benefactors to their country. They respect us, from the governor down, and treat us with every consideration that the Mormon people could expect or are worthy of. I am glad to say, too, that the spirit of jealousy I have mentioned does not exist in Arizona. We are always building up Arizona, and our neighbors who are not of us recognize in the Mormon people that we have been the means of doing something that they could net do, and that is, that we have, through our co-operative system of establishing settlements in Arizona, redeemed the deserts until today they are fertile fields. We have built up towns and cities, and are establishing conditions in Arizona, through that co-operative system, and under the counsels of the priesthood, that are conducive of great good to our Territory, and the people of Arizona recognize this. ¶

Sometimes ministers of other denominations from the east, who are biased and prejudiced, knowing no better (God pity them) come into Arizona to look after some little congregation ; and, before they realize the folly of it, they fire a fusilade of abuse upon the Mormon people. The result is, they are discharged from their pastorates almost immediately, and sent back to the non-progressive part of the world they came from. Not long ago a Methodist minister came into one of our towns, a county seat, where with a few exceptions, the population is non-Mormon. There was one young man, a son of one of our people, from Thatcher, a Mormon boy, who was employed there. He was waiting on a young lady there who was not of our faith, and they attended service at this place. This devout Methodist brother, not knowing any better, I presume, began telling some of the old stories about the Prophet Joseph Smith, belittling the Mormon faith, and undertaking to abuse and deride out people. Now this boy from Thatcher hardly knew whether he was himself a Latter-day Saint or not. When he was in Thatcher among "Mormons" he was called a Gentile; when he was among the Gentiles they called him a Mormon. He sat there on that occasion until he could stand it no longer, and, in the rough way characteristic of many of our western boys, he called this minister a liar. The result was that this rather strong expression was sustained by the people at the meeting. At the close of the service the minister came up to the boy and challenged him to a debate. The boy did not know anything scarcely about his religion, so he came down and asked me for some information to enable him to cope with the reverend gentleman ; and I believe it has made a complete "Mormon" of the boy. ¶

I am pleased to say, as I have referred to it before, that the governor, the federal and Territorial officials, prominent men and women throughout the Territory of Arizona, are all respectful, kind and considerate, so far as I know, to the "Mormon" people, and we are increasing in numbers, are friendly with our neighbors, and are united for the better Arizona. We are building up its resources, and I hope in the immediate future we will get statehood, that Arizona may shine forth as one of the brilliant stars in these United States. ¶

I am often reminded, in the indifference of our people to sustaining home industries, of a certain picture caricature. You have often seen it, I have no doubt. It is the likeness of a big cow, with her front quarters in the west and her hind quarters in the east, and she being milked at our expense. That is what is being done with reference to our material resources, of which the east is getting the benefit, and we are sustaining its manufactures. So I say to you, my brethren and sisters, I want to stand with the president of this Church in this matter of home industries. As I have said, I have always stood for them, in Utah, in Arizona, and elsewhere. Everybody that knows me knows that I proclaimed home industries up and down this entire territory, trying to sell home products, and urging the people to patronize them. Now I belong to Arizona; my heart is in Arizona; I am for better Arizona ; I want to work for that territory, to bring it into statehood, and make it shine brightly, and help to build it up, develop its resources, and locate homes for thousands of our people under the Reclamation act, that it may be a benefit to them. Such are the counsels that I give as I travel and labor for the good of Arizona and of this people. ¶

May the Lord bless us and help us to be loyal to the principles we have espoused and the Priesthood which He has given for our upbuilding, and instruction. May the Lord bless and preserve us, and bless and preserve our boys and girls, and enable us to keep them at home, keep them in of evenings and give them something to do. My confidence is that the boys and girls, if they are kept employed, and if we teach them and set them proper examples, will not go astray. Employment is one of the great potencies, if you please, for overcoming evil in young people ; keep them at work. ¶

Pardon me for one thought which occurs to me right at this time. My father, rather than allow his boys to go unemployed, made them go and wheel rocks in a barrow, and pile them up; when they were done with that, if he had nothing more for them to do, he would get them to wheel the rocks back again. An old gentleman came to him, soon after he came over from the old country, and wanted employment. Father gave him a job wheeling rocks to a certain place and after he had got them all piled up nicely he came and reported. Father said, "Now, dear brother, wheel them back again." He said he wouldn't do that. Said he, "I was taught to try and accomplish something with my work." Father replied, "Didn't you want employment? I hadn't any, and I didn't want to give you means for nothing. You will earn your wages by what I want you to do." I say to you, according to my observation and experience throughout the stakes of Zion and my own home work, that employment is the great secret of success. Let us give our boys and girls work. It seems to me that every hat and every dress should be made by our girls. Let our boys grow up to become mechanics and good workmen. If we are going to patronize the east for everything, we cannot accomplish this. ¶

May the Lord help us to accomplish our duty in all things, is my prayer in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. ¶