Remarks

I believe my throat was never so dry as it is upon this occasion. ¶

I come from the land of Hawaii, from the land of perpetual sunshine and flowers. I bring to you the love and greetings of our 14,000 Saints who live on those fairy islands. I believe that there is no place in all the world, with the exception possibly of the stakes of Zion, where the gospel has been so firmly established as it has been in Hawaii, among those chosen people of Joseph. I commend the work of the people who were missionaries there in the early days of the Church, and who labored so assiduously to establish the work so firmly upon those islands. I believe that there has never been a man in Hawaii who has done more for the establishing of the cause of truth and righteousness in the Hawaiian Islands (except possibly it be the late Presidents Joseph F. Smith and George Q. Cannon) who has devoted his time, his ability, and talents to the growth of the work there any more than Samuel E. Woolley, who died day before ¶

yesterday. I mourn his loss, because I know of the great good he has done among the people on those islands. I know their love for him, and I know the sorrow which will be in their hearts when they learn of his passing away. I believe, however, that it is the will of the Lord that he should go, because his life the last few years has not been as happy as it might have been, and I believe in the spirit world he will have the privilege and the opportunity of laboring with the departed spirits of those people whom he so dearly loved. ¶

During the recent centennial anniversary of the Protestant churches in Honolulu, one of the speakers arose and said that in one hundred years and with the expenditure of vast fortunes, running into millions of dollars, the Protestant church had converted ten to twelve thousand men, while the "Mormon" Church had been there thirty years less time and had expended practically no money but had converted between sixty and seventy thousand people. They came to me and wanted to know why it was that the "Mormon" Church was able to reach the hearts and minds of the people more than they had done, and I told them our system of work among the people. Their representative replied, "I do not see so much difference in that."And I told him that it was not so much, possibly, in that, as in the fact that those people are the chosen seed of Joseph, and susceptible to the teachings of true religion. ¶

I have seen the heathen Chinaman, the Mohammedan Jap, those who had no belief in God, through intermarriage with the Hawaiian people the children of whom have become believers in the living God, who are susceptible to the gospel of Jesus Christ. I have never seen an infidel among the Hawaiian people; I have never seen one who denied a belief in the true and living God. ¶

During a recent convention of sugar men in Washington, D. C, the Governor of the Territory was present. — And I might say that we have labored for the past twenty-five years to be recognized as a part of the United States, as a territory of the United States and not as an insular possession. It has been felt by some people that Hawaii should be merely an island possession of the United States, but it is a territory and has rights as a territory and is today being recognized as a territory. I have come here with the intention of convincing people here in Zion, if I can, that we are no longer a mere island of the sea, set apart from the people of the United States, but a part and portion and an integral part of the United States. — The Governor of Hawaii, made this assertion before some of our Utah sugar men, who were there gathered, "There has never been a church in Hawaii that has done more for the uplift of the Hawaiian people than the Latter-day Saints."And he further concluded by saying, "They are our foremost citizens of the Territory of Hawaii in the work of rehabilitating the Hawaiians." ¶

A law was passed by Congress a few years ago appropriating one million dollars to make possible the return of the Hawaiians to the soil. The Governor of the Territory made application to me to find one of our returned "Mormon"elders, who had labored among the Hawaiian and who was familiar with western farm life, to go there and direct the rehabilitating of the Hawaiian people on the farms. ¶

Mr. Samuel W. Robely, the Scout executive of Hawaii met Oscar A. Kirkham in one of their conventions. He was found smoking [illegible] Brother Kirkham patted him on the back and said, "Robely, I think a great deal of you, but I would think a great deal more of you, and I believe you would make a better Boy Scout leader, if you would not smoke."Mr. Robley told me himself that he has never lit a cigarette or cigar since, but he has been reminded of the words of Oscar Kirkham. In a convention of Boy Scouts in Honolulu he made this assertion, "Before we become successful in some of our;Boy Scout organizations, we will have to convert these people to ''Mormonism,"to make them better Boy Scouts. For the state of Utah leads in the Boy Scout movement." ¶

We have in Hawaii today a man from Wisconsin who claims that he is going to revolutionize the religious world; he is going to take the best out of all the religions and put it together and make a religion that can be comprehended by all— a religion that is modern and not one that was fit and suitable for the Jewish people only. He came to me and wanted to know what there was in our religion that we considered best, that would be fit and proper to make a part of this new religion which he is trying to form. And I told him that I thought that we had that formed just as completely as any man-made religion and more so. He said, "I am not trying to make a religion of my own, but I want to modernize Christianity and make it suitable to the day in which we live."And he told me of the churches in the east who had two of the ten commandments from the Decalogue and substituted two others. The first was, "In six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the seas and the fountains of water, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day."He said, "You don't believe that; that would be all right for the Jews in their day, but in our day, these [modern times, we cannot accept that doctrine and we have got to modernize Christianity."I told him that it was, possibly, because we did not understand the creation of this earth. We were in our church building at that time, which is built of concrete and lumber. I told him to examine those timbers and tell me how old the meetinghouse might be, but he told me it was but a few years old. Then I said, "How old are the timbers in this meetinghouse?"And he told me they might be many years old. And I said, "How long has it been since those timbers grew on the mountain side? How old was the seed from which those timber grew? And before that, where was the tree which produced the seed that grew the timbers which we sawed into lumber and made into that building?"I said, "It can go back to eternity! In fact, all matter is eternal; there is no creation of matter, but merely an organization."He said to me, "It is the first time I have never understood it in that way; I supposed the Lord created and brought ¶

these things to pass by the word of his mouth."And I told him that I thought he did not, any more so than we organized the building out of materials which did not exist. ¶

The other thing, he said, that we have got to substitute another thing for is the statement that the sins of the parents rest upon the children unto the third and fourth generation. He said, "this is unkind unjust; no loving God would ever be so unkind and unjust to his children.'' I said. "All that I would ask you to do is make a trip to Molokai, the island of the lepers, that prison which is bounded by the ocean on three sides and a perpendicular precipice of 2,000 feet on the other side— a natural prison, where all those who have contracted leprosy are placed— and upon this island I will prove to you that the sins of the fathers do rest upon the children unto the third and fourth generation."I have seen those who have been afflicted with this dreadful disease, whose children have not had the disease, whose grandchildren have not had the disease, but in the third and the fourth generation I have seen leprosy break out among the descendants of those people who had that disease before. No one can tell me, I said, that the sins of the parents do not rest upon the children unto the third and the fourth generation of men. ¶

I am happy to be engaged in the missionary work. I come from the firing line, from the front, where we are battling to establish the kingdom of God and righteousness among the children of men. We have arrayed against us Satan and his forces; we have come in conflict with them many times, but I am thankful to say that nearly every time we have come out victorious, and the splendid sons and daughters you are sending into the mission field are valiant fighters for the cause of truth and liberty in the world. I am happy in the thought that I have been called to labor among such splendid young men and women. The early part of my life was cast among people who were not devout religionists, who were not given to religious worship; but today my whole life is devoted to the cause of truth and the labor among these splendid boys. I have heard them testify many times of the inspiration and love which they have from me. I want to bear testimony also that I receive inspiration from them; the love which I have for your sons and daughters in the mission field is almost akin to brotherly love, to the love which I have for my own brothers and sisters. ¶

The Hawaiian mission is prosperous, one of the biggest missions in the Church. I believe there are no sincerer, truer Latter-day Saints in all the world than we have upon the islands of the sea. I pray God that the spirit of the missionary work may penetrate the hearts of you fathers and mothers who are here at home, that you may be able to let your sons and daughters go into the mission field, that you will be willing to make the needed sacrifice to maintain them in the mission field as long as their services are needed. ¶

May the Lord bless us all. I testify to you that God has again spoken from the heavens, that his Church is again established on the ¶

earth, and that all that learn to obey his commandments and walk in obedience to the laws, will receive the blessings of eternal life in the celestial kingdom of our heavenly Father. May this be our happy lot, I pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. ¶

A quartet consisting of Mrs. Irene S. Cummings, Mrs. Madeline Calloway, Milton Fisher and DeVon Meacham, sang, "Send out thy Light." ¶