Because their hearts are set so much upon

"Because their hearts are set so much upon the things of this world, and aspire to the honors of men, that they do not learn this one lesson — ¶

"That the rights of the Priesthood are inseparably connected with the powers of heaven, and that the powers of heaven cannot be controlled nor handled only upon the principles of righteousness. ¶

"That they may be conferred upon us, it is true; but when we undertake to cover our sins, or to gratify our pride, our vain ambition, or to exercise control, or dominion or compulsion, upon the souls of the children of men, in any degree of unrighteousness, behold, the heavens withdraw themselves; the Spirit of the Lord is grieved; and when it is withdrawn, Amen to the Priesthood, or the authority of that man. ¶

"Behold! ere he is aware, he is left unto himself, to kick against the pricks; to persecute the saints, and to fight against God. ¶

"We have learned, by sad experience, that it is the nature and disposition of almost all men, as soon as they get a little authority, as they suppose, they will immediately begin to exercise unrighteous dominion. ¶

"Hence many are called, but few are chosen. ¶

"No power or influence can or ought to be maintained by virtue of the Priesthood, only by persuasion, by long suffering, by gentleness, and meekness, and by love unfeigned; ¶

"By kindness, and pure knowledge, which shall greatly enlarge the soul without hypocrisy, and without guile, ¶

"Reproving betimes with sharpness, when moved upon by the Holy Ghost, and then showing forth afterwards an increase of love toward him whom thou hast reproved, lest he esteem thee to be his enemy. ¶

"That he may know that thy faithfulness is stronger than the cords of death; ¶

"Let thy bowels also be full of charity towards all men, and to the household of faith, and let virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly, then shall thy confidence wax strong in the presence of God, and the doctrine of the Priesthood shall distil upon thy soul as the dews from heaven. ¶

"The Holy Ghost shall be thy constant companion, and thy sceptre an unchanging sceptre of righteousness and truth, and thy dominion shall be an everlasting dominion, and without compulsory means it shall flow unto thee forever and ever." ¶

Placing the Prophet in a jail did not stop communication between God, our heavenly Father, and his chosen instrument here upon the earth. One of the greatest of all the great lessons that has come to us who hold the Priesthood, was given while he was in jail, — "No power or influence can or ought to be maintained by virtue of the Priesthood, only by persuasion, by long suffering, by gentleness, and' meekness, and by love unfeigned; by kindness and pure knowledge, which shall greatly enlarge the soul without hypocrisy," and so on. The Lord being my helper, standing at the head of this great Church, I shall endeavor to exercise the Priesthood that I hold in conformity with this revelation from the living God to the Prophet of the Lord, who was used as his instrument in founding the Church of Christ again upon the earth. ¶

Gratitude to God

I thank the Lord for all his manifold blessings to us as a people. The Saints are prosperous, they are in good health now. We are meeting with blessings on all hands. I rejoice in this and feel grateful to ¶

the Lord. I pray that, while we are together, we may be abundantly blessed by those that shall speak to us. ¶

Position on the Question of the League of Nations

I did think of making some remarks similar to those I made here two weeks ago today, but I believe that I will do as the congressmen do. Instead of referring to my position upon the League of Nations and other matters, as I did two weeks ago, I will simply have printed in the conference proceedings the sermon that I then delivered, and you can read it at your leisure. It was printed in the Deseret News, I believe, a week ago last Tuesday. I will not take the time to repeat what I said. I read there a manifesto sent to the Senate of the United States begging them to pass the Peace Treaty, and I will simply have my sermon incorporated in our conference proceedings so that any of the Saints who want to read it can do so, and I will ask Brother Edward H. Anderson, the editor of the Era also to print my sermon in the Era, so that those of you who take that magazine will have the privilege of reading it. If there is any home in all the Church that does not have the Era, it simply shows that the people there are lacking in faith, that they think more of two dollars than they do of getting communications from the authorities of the Church, and important sermons, things which are of more value than the things of this world. You know there are a great many people who hold up copper cents in front of their eyes and hide dollars, and there are a great many who keep two dollars in their pockets and hide hundreds of dollars of inspiration and knowledge of great value to them through all time, and which will be of value to them in the great eternity to come. ¶

Uphold the Law

As Latter-day Saints we have what is known as The Articles of Faith, and one of them reads : "We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers and magistrates, in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law," and no Latter-day Saint can in very deed be a Latter-day Saint if he does not honor and sustain and uphold the law. Nearly all over the world, at the present time there is a spirit of lawlessness, a spirit of ridicule, and one lacking respect for the men who hold positions. ¶

One of the most terrible crimes that I have read of in years was enacted in Omaha, a few days ago, where a mob of citizens, because the policemen were trying to fulfil their duty as sworn servants of the law — had the officers in a building that was burning and said : "Let them burn," Let them burn — why? Because they would not deliver a prisoner to the mob, but kept that prisoner so that he could have a fair trial under the law. ¶

When I was in Los Angeles a short time ago, they were selling whisky all over the city, and I was told that the officials of the city said, "You can sell it if you want to, we do not object, but you will have to take your chances with Uncle Sam." What kind of public servants are they? Elected to enforce laws, they defy the laws of their own country, and allow people to sell whisky and to break the law! No wonder mob violence comes, when some of the leaders themselves break the law. No wonder they had this great war in Europe when the leaders of nations broke treaties and treated them as scraps of paper ! No man can do that which is dishonest, or break laws of his country and be a true Latter-day Saint. No nation and no leaders of nations can do wrong, and break their obligations, but what they are just as much under condemnation before God and man as the other individual who does wrong. Truth will prevail. "Uphold the right, though fierce the fight," should be the motto of every Latter-day Saint, as it was the motto of our beloved leader who recently passed away. ¶

On Labor Unions

I want to say that I am perfectly willing that men shall join labor unions, that they shall band together for the purpose of protecting their rights, provided they do not interfere with the rights of other people. Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness belong to all people in the United States, according to the laws of our country, and should, upon all the face of the earth ; and I say that, to my mind, a provision in a labor union is all wrong that favors boycotting and the laying down of tools or the quitting of employment because a nonunion man obtains employment while exercising his God-given right to stay out of a union. Men who have that kind of a rule have a rule that is in direct opposition to the laws of God. There was a battle fought in heaven — for what? To give to man his individual liberty. An attempt to take the agency of man away is made when he does not see fit to join a union, when men in that union, without any complaint, or grievance, strike, because a non-union man is employed. ¶

Now I'd better not say any more, perhaps, on this question, or I may offend somebody. I may hurt somebody's feelings ; but it is the God-given right of men to earn their livelihood. The Savior said it was the first great law or commandment to love the Lord with all our hearts, and that the second was like unto it, to love thy neighbor as thyself. That is the doctrine for every true Latter-day Saint. How much love is there in starving your neighbor because he will not surrender his manhood and his individuality, and allow a labor union to direct his labor? Mighty little love, mighty little of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ in any such a rule ! I hope to see the day when no Latter-day Saint will join a union unless the union eliminate that clause from its rules. I am not going to ask them to leave their union, I am not going to lay it down that they must, that it is the mind and the will of the Lord for them to leave a union. I want, as I said here two weeks ago, to give every man his free agency, to give every man the right to act as he thinks proper, but I cannot see how ¶

a Latter-day Saint who is a member of such a union can get down on his knees and pray for God to inspire and bless him, to bless the Saints and to protect them, and then be a party to allowing one of his own brethren to go, year after year, without employment, because that brother will not surrender his manhood and join a union with him. There is none of the Spirit of the Lord in that, to my mind. That is exactly the way I see it. I will quote again what I quoted here two weeks ago : ¶

Should you feel inclined to censure Faults you may in others view, ¶

Ask your own heart, ere you venture, If that has not failings too. ¶

Let not friendly vows be broken; ¶

Rather strive a friend to gain; Many a word in anger spoken, ¶

Finds its passage home again. ¶

Do not then in idle pleasure Trifle with a brother's fame, ¶

Guard it as a valued treasure, Sacred as your own good name. ¶

Do not form opinions blindly; ¶

Hastiness to trouble tends. Those of whom we thought unkindly ¶

Oft become our warmest friends. ¶

Also this poem: ¶

Let each man learn to know himself: ¶

To gain that knowledge, let him labor, Improve those failings in himself, ¶

Which he condemned so in his neighbor. How lenient our own faults we view, ¶

And conscience' voice adeptly smother; But oh! how harshly we review ¶

The self-same errors in another. ¶

And if you meet an erring one, ¶

Whose deeds are blameable or thoughtless, Consider, ere you cast the stone, ¶

If you yourself be pure and faultless. Oh! list to that small voice within, ¶

Whose whisperings oft make men confounded, And trumpet not another's sin, ¶

You'd blush deep if your own were sounded. ¶

And in self-judgment, if you find Your deeds to others are superior; ¶

To you has Providence been kind, As you should be to those inferior; ¶

Example sheds a genial ray ¶

Of light, which men are apt to borrow; ¶

So first, improve yourself today, ¶

And then improve your friends tomorrow. ¶