Opening Address: Vilification of the Saints and Their Leaders a Strange Phenomenon

I desire to express our feeling of welcome and good cheer to all the Latter-day Saints who have assembled here this morning for the opening session of our Conference. We are glad to see you, and we thank you for your presence here, for we feel that your presence is an evidence of the interest that you feel in our Conference, and in the great work of human redemption, in which you and we all are and should be earnestly engaged. It is a matter of congratulation, I think, to the Latter-day Saints that they are led by a spirit that inclines their thoughts, their minds and hearts towards the performance and accomplishment of the duties and responsibilities that rest upon them, and I take it as an evidence of your good faith, and of your fervent belief and feeling in the cause in which we are engaged, that you are present here today. ¶

I hope and pray that the Spirit of the Lord, the Spirit of wisdom and of eternal truth may pervade all the sessions of this Conference, including the meetings or gatherings of the various organizations which will hold their conventions during the time of the Conference. I hope that those who shall address the people may be led by the Spirit of God in their remarks, that they may speak words of comfort, of instruction, of wisdom and testimony to the Latter-day Saints regarding the ¶

great work of God that has been established in the latter days in the earth. ¶

Whatever may be the feeling of those opposed to the work of the Lord, whatever may be the feeling of the unbelieving and scornful, and those that are contemptuous toward the work of the Lord, let the spirit of wisdom, of good judgment, of intelligence govern and direct all the acts and labors, and all the thoughts and desires of the Latterday Saints. It matters but very little to me what men may think of me, or what they may say about me, so long as I can maintain a consciousness of having righteousness in view, of having an earnest desire to do good and not evil, and so longas I am conscious that I am, to the best of my knowledge and understanding, following the dictates of my conscience, and the promptings of the Spirit of the Lord to me in the line of my duty. -Yet we often wonder why people are led by such a spirit of bitterness, of animosity and opposition to any people or to any individual whose record in life has been, barring the common weaknesses of common mortality, absolutely above reproach. It is surprising how men can become so vile as to publish and declare slanderous things, falsehoods and misrepresentations with regard to men and people who have never in their lives done any man or woman, or any community of people in the world, any harm ; who have never injured a soul, and whose whole life and mission, hopes, labors, and earnest desires have been to benefit the world, and to bless and ameliorate the condition of mankind. It is surprising that such is the case. Such has been the case from the beginning of this work until now, and such will continue to be the case so long as we abide in the truth, and are guided by the spirit of revelation, and have an earnest desire to do good to the children of men, and there are men who are full of wickedness and sin. ¶

It was said away back in the early days in the State of Missouri, by the leaders of the persecution against the Saints there, that all they desired was that the Mormons, or the Latter-day Saints, should discard their idea of revelation from God in this dispensation ; that they should renounce their faith in Prophets and their claim to the Apostleship, and to the restoration of the Holy Priesthood; that they should scatter abroad, cease to organize, and to maintain their organization,and become "like the rest of us." That was all that they demanded in that early day, and it is a very true and correct index to the feeling of our enemies that has existed ever since, to the present time. Men are moved by some influence, some spirit — judge ye what the nature of that spirit or influence is — to try with all their power to demoralize, debase, and sow the seeds of unbelief, the seeds of corruption, error, lack of faith, and desire to do good ; to sow the seeds of disruption in the hearts of the people called Latter-day Saints, in order that their desire might be accomplished, that they should become "like the rest of them," like the rest , of the world, and what is the difference? The difference is simply this: We believe just as the best Christians, or so-called believers in Christ in the world believe, that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God ; that He is the Savior of the world ; that He is the Redeemer of men from sin and ¶

from death unto life; and there is no people, whatever their profession may be, that believe in Christ more firmly, more perfectly, more confidingly, than do the Latter-day Saints — but where is the difference ? The difference, so far as that belief is concerned, is this : that the world say all that is necessary is to believe and you will be saved, but the Latter-day Saints declare that it is simply a mockery for men to say they believe in Christ, and refuse to do the works that He did ; it is simply folly ; it is un-Christian ; it is inconsistent for men to say that all that is necessary for men is to believe in Christ and they shall be saved, when Christ Himself declared that He required all men to do the works that He did, and to keep the commandments that He gave unto them. This is the difference. We believe that it is necessary to do the work that He did. We believe it is necessary to implicitly obey His commands and to follow in His footsteps, to emulate His example to the best of our ability, that we may become more and more like unto Him. Now, so far as that is concerned, wherein is man injured? Who is hurt ? Who in any sense in the world sustains any wrong at the hands of a people who believe in doing the works that were commanded of the Lord, and in following in His footsteps? Who is wronged by it? But the trouble is just as the Savior said: "If the light had not come, then would ye have been without condemnation." But this is the condemnation of the world, the light has come into the world, and the world loves darkness more than it does the light. That is the condemnation, and there is where the shoe pinches. ¶

And what is the difference? We believe in the Prophet Joseph Smith ; we believe that the Lord God Almighty raised up that boy and made him a Prophet; a Seer and a Revelator, and that through him, or that instrumentality, the Lord Almighty has restored to men the fulness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which is indeed the power of God unto salvation. The world don't believe it. They are welcome to their belief, whether it be belief or unbelief. We are not here as censors upon the judgment or belief of the children of men. We are not here to bring any railing accusations against men for their belief. Let them believe and worship how, where and what they may. That is their prerogative. But we object to their bringing railing accusations against our belief and our faith. We think that we should have the same privilege and liberty to believe as we please, that the world has, and that we accede to the world ; and because we believe in Joseph Smith as a Prophet of God, the world is in no wise injured by it, but on the contrary, it is vastly benefited by that belief, at least to the extent that that belief takes hold upon honest men, and brings them to a knowledge of that great truth. ¶

What did Joseph reveal ? He revealed, or has been the instrument in the hands of God of revealing to the world Jesus, the Son of God, in His own person. He has been the instrument in the hands of the Lord of bringing the light to the inhabitants of the world that God lives, that Christ lives, whom to know is life eternal, and whom the world have ignorantly worshiped as a myth, as something that fills the immensity of space, but is indescribable; a something that is almighty and all-powerful and allpresent, but without personal existence. Joseph has revealed to the world that Jesus Christ " who was crucified and rose again from the dead, is a personal Being, in whose likeness and image man is made, or is begotten in the world, and that the Father is a person in exact similitude to the Son. We have the history of the Son, given us by Plis disciples who sojourned with Him while He was in the mortal flesh : that He was born of His mother, Mary; that He was called the carpenter's son ; that He grew to manhood ; that He taught the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and illustrated the example of righteousness, that is the true type for all mankind to imitate and follow ; that He possessed power over death, and though they put Him to death, He rose again, and that while His body lay in the tomb, He proclaimed the same Gospel that He preached to the living, to those that were confined in darkness, and banishment from the presence of the Lord, in outer darkness, because of their wickedness while they were in the flesh; and quickened by the Spirit He went and preached the Gospel to them as He had preached it to the living; and that when He rose and identified Himself beyond the possibility of any doubt to the minds of those who witnessed and saw Him, and knew Him, and afterwards testified of Him to the world, that He was the same that was crucified, bearing the marks of the nails and of the spear in His body; that He was not a spirit ; that He was flesh and bone as tangible as man, and that a spirit had not this flesh and bone as He had. He declared this to the world: This same physical, tangible entity called Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Mary and the Son of God, in His resurrected body, came to Joseph Smith, revealed Himself to Joseph Smith, the same God, the same Christ, the same Redeemed of the world that was crucified on Calvary; and, that God, the Father, is like His Son; that it would be inconsistent and impossible for a spirit to beget a man like Christ, and therefore the Father and the Son are the exact resemblance of each other. Joseph revealed this to the world. Who is hurt by it? Who is injured by this fact and by this revelation to the children of men? In what respect is the world worse off for having received this knowledge? I tell you that the world would be better off, a thousand times better off, if they would but consider this truth and receive it in their hearts, and then be guided by the doctrine that Joseph Smith was the" instrument in the hands of God in revealing anew to the world. ¶

This, then, is the difference, but wherein are you injuring anybody by it? What wrong are you doing ? None whatever. Why should men be embittered against you because of this, because of your belief in Joseph Smith? Why should they become your enemies because you declare your faith in a new revelation from the Father and from the Son to mankind for their guidance? Why should they? Let me tell you why : for the very same reason precisely that the embittered and unbelieving Pharisees and hypocrites of the Savior's time persecuted the Redeemer of earth, for the very reason that they later put to death the disciples of Jesus Christ, whom He ordained as Apostles and as special witnesses of Himself, who bore testimony of Him and of the Gospel to all the ¶

nations of the earth. They put them to death one by one, some of them in the most cruel manner, simply because they preached Jesus Christ, and Him crucified and risen from the dead, and ascended into Heaven, and sitting with all glory and power and majesty and might at the right hand of His Father, God. The world felt injured by it. Why? Because it laid the axe at the root of the tree of error, of superstition and of tradition, of lack of faith, and unbelief. It laid the axe at the root of the tree of wickedness, in the world, and of ignorance of God and His principles, and the plan of life and salvation, and the world hated the disciples because of it, and they hated the Son of God because of it, and they crucified Him. They hated the disciples because of it, and they put them to death. That is why they hate you, for the same reason, that is those that do hate you, those that have exercised their power, their will and their thoughts or minds sufficiently to be imbued with the (spirit of persecution and hatred against the light and the truth. ¶

What else did Joseph reveal, or did the Lord, rather, reveal through him? He revealed the identical Gospel, precept for precept, principle for principle, doctrine for doctrine, ordinance for ordinance, the exact Gospel of Jesus Christ that He taught Himself, and in no way did Joseph Smith vary in the least degree from the doctrines taught by the Son of God, even to the doctrine in which the Lord Himself declared that if the Jews who were finding fault with him were the seed of Abraham, they would do the works of Abraham. So that I stand here without any fear of rational or reasonable or justifiable contradiction, to say that the Prophet Joseph Smith revealed no principle to man, that was not taught, believed in, accepted and approved by the Son of God when He was on the earth, not one thing, and we can prove it — prove it by Scriptures, and from history. But we need not enter into that. What did he reveal? He revealed the Father and Son, and the Holy Ghost, which is a personage of spirit, and not a personage of flesh and bone as God is, and as Jesus is. He revealed the doctrine that you must believe in God, that you must believe in Jesus Christ and in His power of redemption ; that you must believe, and believing, you must repent of your sins. Now, that is a terrible crime in the eyes of some people, to be required to repent of their sins. If some men in the world, that have taken up arms against the Latter-day Saints, were to repent of their sins, God knows there would be nothing left of them. (Laughter.) Consequently it is an awful crime to ask men to repent of their sins, but that is what the Lord taught through Joseph Smith ; repentance of sin, then baptism by immersion with Christ, being buried with Him in the water, in the liquid grave, and coming forth again out of the liquid grave in likeness of His resurrection from death to life, baptism by immersion, and the baptism of the Holy Ghost, by the laying on of hands ; these are necessary for the salvation of the children of men. Joseph taught this. Who else taught it? Jesus taught it. Paul taught it. Peter taught it. James taught it. John taught it. Matthew and Luke and all the Apostles anciently taught this same doctrine, and left their testimony on record, and it has been handed down to all subsequent generations to the present and we have it to look at today. But some people think it is a crime for Latter-day Saints to hold to such doctrines as these now, in these latter days. They say it is presumption and assumption for man to say he possesses authority to baptize for the remission of sins, and to confer the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands. It was not an assumption in the days of Christ, nor was it a presumption on their part. Authority was given them, and they were sent out in the world to preach these doctrines, and baptize those who would believe ; and those who should believe and should be baptized should be saved, as the Apostles have said. And yet Christ Himself has said, "And they that believe not shall be damned." That was His word ; that was His decree and His law, and who will question the rigfht of the Redeemer of men to say the way in which they shall be saved, and the way in which they cannot be saved? Who shall question His right to say that? Joseph repeated it. We believe it. We have acepted it, and in this respect we differ from the generality of mankind, and they are wroth about it, angry about it. Then what ; was that all ? No ; the Lord revealed to the Prophet Joseph Smith that having been washed clean, having been cleansed from sin by baptism for the remission of sin, by one having authority from God to do it. that thereafter they were to live pure, chaste, holy, upright lives, and sin no more, if they could live without sin, or at least to do as nearly that as it is possible for human creatures to do, who are possessed of the weaknesses that beset human nature. That was the doctrine of Joseph Smith, to live righteous lives ; inasmuch as you have been purified, inasmuch as you have been cleansed from sin, inasmuch as God has remitted your sins through obedience to the ordinances of the Gospel, that you shall thereafter keep yourself pure and unspotted from the world. Anything wrong in that? Is the world injured by that? Any man injured by that procedure, or by that counsel and requirement? No. Well, then, what ? ¶

Then the Lord revealed the great principle of organization, by which His Church is to be governed, which the Lord Himself established in the Church, the authority of the Holy Priesthood, that of the High Priesthood, the Apostleship, the Seventies, and the Elders, and then the organizations of the Lesser Priesthood— the Bishops, the Priests, the Teachers and the Deacons — God established these organizations in the Church for the government of the people. What for? To oppress them ? No. To injure them ? No, a thousand times, no. What for? That they and their children might have the benefits of these organizations for instruction, for admonition, for guidance, for revelation, and for inspiration to do that which the Lord requires at their hands, that they may become perfect in their lives, and that they may perfect the organization to which they belong in the Church, as the Lord God has revealed those things to us ; that thereby we may become stronger, more intelligent, possessed of greater faith, of broader understanding of the truth, and of a higher conception of God's principles and purposes, for the existence of the children of men in the earth, and for a broader and more perfect comprehension of the ultimate result of obedience to the laws of God. Is there anything wrong about it? Has anybody been injured? ¶

Some people think that we are wonderfully injured, terribly wronged in consequence of these organizations. I am accused of being tyrannical and unjust. I am accused of robbing and wronging the Latter-day Saints. Well, you know about that. If there is a Latter-day Saint, or a latter-day sinner beneath the sun, anywhere on earth, in hell, or anywhere else that can point the finger to an act of mine, wherein they have sustained injury and wrong, God knows I will go farther than they could ask me to go, to make it right. I have never wronged any man, woman or child to my knowledge ; and I defy wicked men or good men, or women, or anybody else, to point to an act of mine wherein I have violated God's law of chastity. Well, why do you say it ? Because no man on earth knows it better than I do myself, and yet, my companions, my associates, those who have dwelt with me in secret and in public, those who know me can bear testimony to the same thing. I never used a dollar belonging to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, that I did not have a legitimate right to use, and that, too, by the consent and approval of my brethren, who have the right to say how the funds of the Church shall be expended. I pay my tithing and offerings precisely the same as you do, who are as faithful about it as I am. We do not all do our full duty with reference to this. Many of us shirk our responsibilities in regard to that, to some extent. That is, we feel a lack of faith in the principle and in the promise of the Lord, and we do not always come up to the full standard of the law. ¶

Now, the Prophet Joseph Smith has also revealed to the world a principle that has been practically kept hid from the foundation of the world. What is it? The union of husband and wife for time and for all eternity. Who knew anything about it? Who comprehended the principle ? Who understood the responsibility that dwells with the union of husband and wife, till Joseph Smith revealed it in the simplicity and plainness with which he has revealed it to the world? The world hates that principle, that is, some do, not all of them, because a great many now are beginning to be leavened with the leaven that Joseph Smith has put into the lump of meal, and now you will hear both ministers and laity say, "Oh, we hope to have the privilege of seeing and knowing and embracing our wives and our children in the world to come." But the Lord revealed that principle to Joseph Smith, and he taught it to the world, and I thank God for that principle. It has opened my eyes. If anything in the world could have made me a better man, or a better husband, if such a thing is possible for me to be a good husband at all, it is that principle that the Lord has revealed, which shows me the obligations that I am under to the mothers of my children. He has taught to us the principle and the ordinance of the everlasting covenant, the union of parents and children for time and all eternity. What did the world know about it? Nothing. And yet the world is mad about these things, that is, the majority. I modify it, because I believe that there are thousands and tens of thousands of men in the world that are not identified with the Latter-day Saints, who actually believe those principles, and would accept them if their financial and social conditions in the world and their good name or reputation would only permit them to become members of the Church in good standing, and not lose their favor with the world — they would be glad to do it. They believe the doctrine. And not only that, but the Lord revealed through the Prophet Joseph Smith the necessity of the children turning their hearts towards their fathers, and revealed to the world the fact that the hearts of the fathers were already turned towards their children in the dispensation of the fulness of times, and that there was a work most sacred and most important that the children must perform, if they have the opportunity to do it, for the redemption of their dead, that have died without the knowledge of the Gospel. God has revealed these things through the Prophet Joseph Smith to the world, and the world don't like these things. Why? Because they are in advance of anything that they are willing to accept. ¶

These things go beyond the mere belief that a man will be saved and exalted into the highest glory of God simply by saying on the gallows that he believes in the Lord Jesus Christ. That is a fallacy. Every man will be judged according to his works, whether they be good or whether they be evil, and that is a doctrine that was advanced and taught by the Prophet Joseph Smith in plainness that cannot be ignored ; every man will be judged according to his works, whether they be good or whether they be evil. Anything short of that would not and could not be of God, if God is just, if God is righteous, if God is impartial ; then this principle of justice is a righteous principle, and it certainly has emanated from God, and not from Joseph Smith, nor from man. ¶

It would be unfair for me to occupy much more of your time this morning. I thank my God for what is called "Mormonism." I thank the Lord that He has permitted me to come into the world in this dispensation. I am full of gratitude to my heavenly Father that He has honored me with the Holy Priesthood ; that He has called me to be a witness of Him, and a witness of His Son Jesus Christ to the children of men. I thank God my heavenly Father that He has honored me in the midst of my brethren, that He has given to me their confidence and their love, and that I am sustained and upheld by them in my ministry. I feel grateful and thankful for all these things ; for these are better to me by far than any favors, praise or honors the world could bestow, and I have no fear of the evil that is said of me by wicked and corrupt men. ¶

I believe in the Gospel in its fulness. I believe in the Holy Priesthood, in its power, in its rightfulness to administer in the temples and in the waters of baptism, and in the laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost, and for healing of the sick, and for ordinations, and for all other purposes for which the Priesthood is rightfully used. I believe in the gathering of Israel, and I believe that the day will come when the valleys of the mountains will become too straight for the people of God. I believe that the time will come when we shall have to colonize abroad, when we shall have to spread abroad in the earth, for I believe that the Lord designs that eventually the people that will name His name in righteousness, and that will believe in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, together with His works, will spread over the earth, and especially spread over this land of Joseph, which the Lord has preserved in which to establish His kingdom and His Church in the latter days. I believe that as much as can be, but I do not believe that the time has yet come when our people can scatter abroad here and there, singly or by twos or threes or by little companies, away off into Central America, away off into Southern Mexico, away off into the northern limits, and away down to the western sea, or over onto the Atlantic seaboard. I do not believe the time has come that we can diffuse our strength and scatter ourselves abroad in the world, or colonize to such an extent and carry out the purposes of the Lord. I don't think that time has come. When it comes the Lord will make it manifest, and we will be able to do it too when that time comes. I believe that an overruling providence compelled us to establish settlements in Canada when they were established there, and I believe that the same providence overruled and compelled us to establish settlements in northern Mexico at the time that they were established there. I believe that President Young was moved by a correct principle, and by prophecy and inspiration when he determined that we should settle in Arizona and New Mexico in the south. I think that he was moved by the spirit of wisdom when he determined that we should settle at and in the vicinity of St. George, and we should build a temple and establish a colony there. I believe this. Why? Because he directed those movements by the inspiration of the Almighty, and therefore it was right, and when the Spirit of the Lord moves upon His servants who preside over the Church to build colonies in distant lands, it will be time enough for you to go, and we will call you to go, some of you ; but not till then. ¶

Now, my brethren and sisters, in conclusion I want to say this: you may think perhaps that I have devoted too much time in criticising, making illustrations between the doctrines of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and the doctrines of the world. You may think I have been too generous in my use of reference, at least, to those who despitefully use you, and who persecute you, and who say all manner of evil against you falsely. You may think so, but I have done it merely with a view to showing the contrast between the spirit of the evil one, and the Spirit of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Our spirit is a spirit of peace, of good will to all mankind. We are seeking to build up and to establish righteousness in the hearts of the people, and I want to see you, as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, male and female, so industrious, so active in the discharge of your duties as Latter-day Saints, so humble, so submissive to the will of the Lord that you will not have time to spend in magnifying the weaknesses, the follies and the faults of your neighbors and of your fellow members of the Church. The Lord knows there is evil enough said in the world thoughtlessly, and without any particular intent to do wrong, but merely through the weakness of men to talk, talk, talk and say nothing — let us work and not talk. Let us at least try to say no evil of our fellow members in the Church. Let us cease to magnify the follies and the weaknesses of members in the Church. Let us cease to find fault with those that preside over us, the Bishop and his counselors, the Presidency of the Stake, and the members of the High Council. Let us cease to find fault with industries which are instituted in our midst for the purpose of giving to the people prosperity and advancement, a means wherewith to build themselves up, and with which to build up, or help to build up Zion. Let us not find fault with these things. ¶

I have a letter in my pocket today from a member, at least a former member of the Church, who is now ready to leave the Church, and wants his name taken from the records, because the sugar factories run on Sunday, and I am the President of the Utah-Idaho Sugar Company. My friends who are largely interested in this industry have honored me by making me the president of that organization. This man writes to me and demands that I shall stop the making of sugar on Sunday, and if I do not he wants his name taken from the rolls of the Church. Well, now, you can't reason with a man of that kind. You can argue with him, it is true, but you can't reason with him, for a man of that description has no reason, he is not capable of reason. The fact is that our sugar factories have brought more prosperity, more wealth into our country than any other single industry that has ever been established among us, and for nine months, at least nine months in the year, those sugar factories not only keep every Sabbath day holy, and do no work in it, but they keep every other day in the year, or in those months, sacred, too, for they do not do anything; they just lay idle for nine months in the year ; but when they start, the juice from those beets has to run through miles and miles of piping, of tubes that are heated at a certain temperature, that is necessary to evaporate the water from the juice, condense the juice into a condition to make sugar out of it; and if you stop that one day, you ruin the whole run for at least twenty-four hours, and perhaps a great deal more. And what else? Why, every stockholder and every man who raises beets in the country would be ruined, for the beet factories would have to shut up; they could not succeed if they did not, when they opened, run night and day, Sundays included, through to the end. It is the fool that saith in his heart, "No one has wisdom but me." ¶

Now, my brethren and sisters, we are doing the best we know how. Our lives, our labors, our efforts, our intentions, are like an open book to all who may read clearly, and they may run while they read. I want my brethren and sisters to do as I am trying to do, and I don't want to say it boastfully, for I do not feel that way. I want you to pay your tithing as honestly as I do. That is all I will ask of you to do in that regard. And if you will pay your fast donations for the poor, and if you will help to maintain your ward organizations as you should, as members of the Church, in which promise of blessing is involved in every instance, I can tell you that the world will have less and less power, and less and less reason to say — I was going to say evil things — but they will find less reason and less occasion to say flattering things of us, because we will be that much better, and the better we are, the more the devil will rage, and the more bitter he will be. But as President Young said at one time, and as repeated later by President Woodruff, the more righteous and upright, pure and undefiled, the Latter-day Saints become, the less power will Satan have over them, for in proportion to your unity and uprightness, honesty, and fidelity to the cause in which you are engaged, in such proportion will the power of the adversary be weakened, and those who are seeking to entice your sons and daughters into haunts of shame, and dens of wickedness, that they might be defiled, corrupted, wicked and "like the rest of" them will have less power over you, if you will watch your children better, and live better lives yourselves. ¶

God bless you, is my prayer, in the name of Jesus. Amen. ¶

Elder Edwin Tout sang as a tenor solo, the hymn entitled, "Oh Home Beloved," the words of which were written by Prof. Evan Stephens. ¶