The Temporal Salvation of the Saints

I must confess that I do not feel adequate to the task of speaking to you this morning, but I hope the good Spirit from the Lord may rest upon us, not only during the time I may occupy but throughout the entire meeting, and, indeed, throughout the sessions of this conference. I feel in my heart to say to this vast congregation, God bless you and pour out His Holy Spirit upon you. May He reward you, by its rich outpouring, for your presence here, which indicates your faith and your desire to be present at the general conference of the Church to take part in the services and exercises thereof, and show that unity, that interest, that love and devotion to the work of the Lord, which should characterize the lives and acts of every member of the Church. It is almost marvelous, considering the condition of the weather, to see such a vast congregation as is assembled here, today at the opening session of our conference; and, again, from my heart, I thank you for your attendance, and for the interest you feel in the work of the Lord in which we are all engaged. I feel, in my soul, that those who have come, sparing the time and the means necessary to attend the conference here, will not go away at the conclusion of our meetings either barren or unfruitful, for I believe the Lord will bless you and pour out His Spirit upon you in abundance. ¶

I take it for granted that the vast majority of those assembled here today are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in good standing, and I would that this might be said of every soul that is present; for it is my belief that there is no greater honor, nor can there be any greater blessing obtained by man in this world, or in the world to come, than to be members in the Church of Christ in good fellowship with Him. ¶

There are one or two matters that have rested upon my mind of late. While there are many things that might be spoken of here today, or at least hinted at, or simply mentioned, they will be more fully spoken of, unquestionably, by those who shall occupy the stand during our conference. But one thing has seemed to impress itself very strongly upon my mind, and I desire to say a few words in relation to it. It may be considered a secular matter, but to me it is both spiritual and temporal. I do not think it would be possible for me to appreciate, very highly, that sort of salvation that is only spiritual. I desire to see, and to witness, and to embrace the religion that is both temporal and spiritual, and to participate in and enjoy the salvation that is both temporal and spiritual. The matter that I refer to is homebuilding and the providing of places to dwell for the children of the Latter-day Saints. ¶

We have witnessed a disposition, among some of our people, to want to draw off and go away, almost limitless distances away from the body of the Church — a disposition to scatter abroad, rather than to gather together, and a tendency of our children to go away from their homes, to seek homes for themselves somewhere else, in some other state, or territory, or country, away off from their parental homes. Now, it appears to me that there are almost limitless opportunities and advantages yet to be utilized, not only here in the state of Utah but in the near-by or adjoining states, where our young people may find lands and build homes for themselves without wandering away off into South America, or into Southern Mexico, or into any other foreign country. It is being demonstrated that there are within our reach, under our very eyes, large tracts of country that only needed either co-operation of labor or capital to bring it under cultivation and to render it susceptible to building homes, and towns, and villages. It is, in my judgment, wise, prudent and proper for our young people to try to secure for themselves lands as near to their homes as possible, near the homes of their parents, and as closely associated as possible with the communities of the Church, that they may have the advantages of Sunday Schools, improvement associations, primary associations; in other words, that they may have the advantages of Church organizations for the benefit of their children, as well as for their own benefit. While they are thus reaping the benefits and blessings of these privileges at home, they are building up this country instead of leaving it to the stranger, to come here and build it up, — and, perhaps, a class of strangers that we could not affiliate with, or who could not affiliate with us. There are classes of people we know of in the world who are not, or at least have not proven themselves to be up-to-date, desirable neighbors and pleasant associates; but they, this class, are seeking dwelling places, seeking opportunities, both in our country and elsewhere, and it is just as well that our own people — our own boys and girls should build up among us as for the stranger to come from abroad, from distant countries to occupy the land instead of them. I want to say to this congregation that we have not approved, and we do not approve of this disposition that has manifested itself, to some extent, on the part of some of our brethren, to go away off into some distant country where neither life, nor liberty, nor property is safe. We would rather see our people operate together, and help to build up and develop this country so long as there is room for us to dwell. When the necessity comes, for us to colonize, we may do it in some organized way by which, in the doing of it, all concerned may obtain the best and greatest advantages and reap the greatest benefit to themselves. ¶

Now, I want it understood that I do not hold to the idea that one little state, perhaps, is going to be sufficiently large to accommodate all the Latter-day Saints, or that the Church of Jesus Christ will of necessity be confined within small limits. I do not view it in this way; but I wish it understood that when it becomes necessary for the Latter-day Saints to colonize in distant lands, or away from the body of the Church, that it is best to do it under the sanction, approval and counsel of the presiding authorities of the Church and of leading men who have experience and the welfare of the people at heart, who can direct their energies and their course, and help them to colonize, where it is necessary for them to colonize and build homes. Briefly stating it, in my opinion it is proper, it is wisdom, indeed, I think it is, a necessity for the Latter-day Saints to take every advantage they possibly can to secure homes for themselves in Utah, in Idaho, in Wyoming and Colorado, in the adjoining states here, and in our own country — in our blessed America — under our grand and glorious government, where life, property and the liberties of men may be protected and not jeopardized by mob-violence, by revolutions, or by any sort of disruption that so often occurs in some of our neighboring countries, of course I commend and approve of our colonies, formed by authority and guidance of the Church in Northern Mexico and in Canada, and recommend them to home-seekers who desire to go there. ¶

In connection with this matter, I think it is wisdom for us, as agriculturists, to study agriculture and to become able to produce out of an acre of ground as much as the "heathen Chinee" or as much as any other people can produce from the same ground. I do not see why we cannot learn to cultivate the soil as intelligently and as profitably as any other class of people in the world; and yet it is a well known fact that up to the present we have not devoted that attention, care, thoughtfulness, or that intelligence to agriculture in our country that we should have done and that we are now learning to do, by the aid of schools where men who desire to follow agriculture may learn the nature of the soil and all the other conditions necessary to produce the largest results for their labor. ¶

Now another thing. The thought has prevailed in olden time that it was proper, and an effort used to be made, to get our people, everywhere, to co-operate together, to combine their energies and their little means in the establishment of home industries that will give employment to themselves and to their children, and will be productive not only of those things that are needful for us in our homes and country, but that will be a source of revenue to us by transportation. Today we have allowed this home industry spirit almost to perish from amongst us, and that spirit of loyalty which impels a man or woman to sustain home industry by their patronage is almost a thing of the past. We do not witness that same loyalty among the people to patronize home industries and institutions that are established by ourselves or our communities, intended for the building up of the country and for the production of those things that are needful to society. We do not exhibit that spirit of loyalty towards these things that we should do. In my opinion, there are too many of us that would rather go to a "Cheap John" establishment and buy shoddy — because we could get it a few pence less per yard— than to go to a home producing establishment and buy cloth that is all wool and a yard wide, and that will wear and pay the price for it. It is a short-sighted idea and policy for us to patronize foreign capital, foreign labor, when we can produce the same articles, in a better condition and class, at home bv our own labor, giving ourselves employment, and thereby build up our country, and preserve our money at home. ¶

These things will, no doubt, be referred to, more or less, by the brethren who shall speak during the conference, and they may dwell upon these matters at greater length. ¶

I desire to say that Mormonism, as it is called, is still, as always, nothing more and nothing less than the power of God unto salvation, unto every soul that will receive it honestly and will obey it. I say to you, my brethren, sisters, and friends, that all Latter-day Saints, wherever you find them, provided they are true to their name, to their calling and to their understanding of the Gospel, are people who stand for truth and for honor, for virtue and for purity of life, for honesty in business and in religion, people who stand for God and for His righteousness, for God's truth and His work in the earth, which aims for the salvation of the children of men, for their salvation from the evils of the world, from the pernicious habits of wicked men and from all those things that degrade, dishonor or destroy; or tend to lessen the vitality, and life, the honor, and godliness among the people of the earth. I love the Gospel today more than I ever did before in all my life. I believe more firmly — if such a thing can be possible — in the divine mission of Christ and in the divine mission of the Prophet Joseph Smith than ever before. I feel in every fiber of my being, that they have been sent of God, that they have laid the foundations for life everlasting to the world. I believe that Christ is, indeed, the Redeemer from sin and death, and the only door that has ever been opened, to my understanding at least, whereby man may live again after he has died. I believe in these principles, I have received them, I have accepted of them in my soul, and I feel that they are true. I know that they are good, for they incite men to deeds of honor, of virtue, of honesty, and of uprightness; they make men feel that it is their duty as well as their privilege— and it is a glorious privilege, too — to obey God and keep His commandments, that they might be worthy to meet Him and enjoy an inheritance in His kingdom, to partake of His glory and of His salvation. Let the people be united, and not divided one against another. In union we have strength, but in division and discord we become like water spilled upon the ground, that cannot be gathered up. Let the people be united in their worship of God, united in their faith, united in their love of all that is good, noble and godlike, united one with another in helping to establish the standard of peace and righteousness in the earth, that all men may come to it and partake of its blessings and glory. Let your light so shine that the world may see it and be constrained to glorify God therefor., I feel, again, in my heart to bless you, and I pray that we may have power given to us, one and all, to stand in the truth — firm and faithful, unbending and unyielding to any of the things to the contrary that come from the outside. Let us attend to our prayers. Do not forget that the Lord Almighty has said, "I will be inquired of by you," and, "he that seeketh me early shall find me." The Lord has made it obligatory upon us to seek after Him, to have prayerful hearts, and spirits, that we may supplicate the Lord, if for nothing more, than to acknowledge to Him that we feel we are His children, and believe in His word and in the promises that He has made to us. While He may have blest us with all the temporal blessings that are necessary for our happiness and well-being, and we need not ask Him for food, for clothing, nor for houses, or where to lay our heads, — we can at the same time acknowledge to the Lord our gratitude that He has so overruled all things, so provided for us and opened our way, that we have been able to obtain all these things and surround ourselves with the temporal blessings of life. Surely the Lord has been very merciful and very providential to us, up to this time, with reference to all these things. ¶

Another requirement that I wish to mention is that the parents in Zion will be held responsible for the acts of their children, not only until they become eight years old but, perhaps, throughout all the lives of their children, provided they have neglected their duty to their children while they were under their care and guidance, and the parents were responsible for them. One thing I deplore, and that is the fact that I can scarcely go onto the street or side-walk but I see one to a dozen or more boys in their 'teens — with pipes of tobacco in their mouths, puffing away in the open. When I see them, I think, Oh! what a pity, oh! what a shame! How foolish, how imbecile, how useless, and how injurious is this practice to the youth of the people. I deplore the sight of it wherever I see it; I want to tell those present, who are in the habit of using these things, that when you meet me in the street with a pipe, cigarette, or a cigar in your mouths, please do not recognize me — go right by, and I will do the same. I never did like to bow to a nasty, old, stinking pipe, nor to take my hat off to it. (Laughter.) I deplore the habit that many of the youth of this city, many of the youth of this state, aye and of everywhere — not only in this state but everywhere else — falling into this pernicious, useless, and injurious habit, — costly, too, and no return; it is simply an outlay for injury. I think it would be quite as manly if they would take directly to the use of opium, and use it until they killed themselves quickly. It would be sooner over with to do that than to take the slower means of reaching death by sucking a pipe, cigarette, or something of that kind. Again, respecting intoxication, I want to say to you that we deplore the existence of this evil in any community, anywhere; and we deplore the fact that it may, possibly, be said — I do not say it is so, but I deplore the fact that it may be said that some of the members of the Church are patrons of saloons. I would to God it could not be said in truth, and I hope the time will come when no man in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will ever condescend or so humiliate himself as to enter into a saloon, or to even cross the threshold of those places of death. I hope the time will come when this can be said. I cannot see how it is possible for Latter-day Saints to claim to be members of the Church, in good standing, or expect to receive the blessings and advantages of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, while they themselves are violating some of these most precious principles of purity of life that the Lord has made manifest to us in this dispensation. Leave these poisonous and injurious things alone; live within your means; get out of debt, and keep out of debt; do not run faster than you can go safely; be careful and cautious in what you do; advise with those who have wisdom and experience, before you leap lest you leap into the dark; and so guard yourselves, from possible evil and disadvantage, that the Lord can pour out the blessings of heaven upon you, yes "open the windows of heaven" and pour out upon you blessings, that you shall scarcely have room to contain them. ¶

Remember the commandment of the Lord concerning the law of revenue for the Church. We are doing the best we know how, by the advice and counsel of the wisest men we have and by the inspiration, as we trust, from the Lord, in the use and employment of the means that belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Up to date, I do not believe there is one of the brethren connected with the management of the financial affairs of the Church, who will be or can be in the least ashamed of the course that he has taken, or of,the work that he has done or consented to the doing with reference to the expenditure of the Church means. Not a dollar has been expended, so far as I have any knowledge, contrary to the laws of the Church, or contrary to that which is deemed, by the wisest men we have, to be for the best good of our cause. It is true we are building meetinghouses all over the land — that is, we are helping; we can't do it all; we are not in a position to do even half of it, but we are helping hundreds of our wards to build their meeting-houses, according to the means that we have. We expect to be able to continue to do this; but there are a great many people in the Church whose names are recorded in a book — some of you would be surprised, I am sure, to see that book, called the record of the nontithe-payers. I believe that if all these members, whose names are recorded in the book as non-tithepayers, would pay anything like an honest one-tenth of their interest annually into the bishop's storehouse, we would have means to build all the meeting houses in Zion, that it is necessary to build. We could not build them all this year, or next year, but we could build some this year, as far as the means would go; a few next year, as far as the means would go, — and so we would keep on until we would build meeting-houses and school-houses for all the Latter-day Saints in every part of the land. But we can't do it yet — there are too many non-tithepayers. Now, whether these people do not believe in the law of tithing, or whether they are disgruntled for some other cause, or whether they are so poor they could not pay their tithing, or what may be the reason, they do not do it. I do not know the reason, but I believe that if they only knew what would be for their best good they would observe and keep that law, though they were only able to give their little mite toward it, and thus have their names at least recorded on the tithe-payers' list and record. It would be a good thing for them to do it, because of the blessing attached to the observance of the law. I repeat again that if all the Latter-day Saints would pay an honest tithing, we would have plenty of means to build all the meeting-houses that we need, — that is, gradually, as we would have the means to do it with. ¶

Again, the Lord God Almighty bless you. My heart is full of blessing for the Latter-day Saints. I love the man, with all my heart, who I know to be an honest, upright, true, faithful Latter-day Saint. A man of this description is one of the best citizens of any country; he is a good citizen of any city, of any county, of any state, or of any nation wherever he may be; and he is one of the very best. A real Latter-day Saint, is a good husband, he is a good father, he is a good neighbor, he is a good citizen, and a good man all round; and it takes a good Latter-day Saint to be a first class everything else. Again, — the Lord bless you, is my prayer, in the name of Jesus. Amen. ¶