The Glory Of God Is Intelligence...

"The Glory of God is Intelligence." These words of the Prophet Joseph Smith have been adopted as the motto of the Mutual Improvement Associations. I desire to apply these words to two of the world's great educational movements. ¶

EDUCATION, ANCIENT AND MODERN ¶

Why did people of olden times know so much about eclipses, the stars, their distances and their orbits? Why were they so intensely interested in these and other technical mathematical problems before they knew how to build a wagon wheel? The reason is that in those days the people were divided into two classes, aristocrats and slaves. ¶

As soon as education was given to those who had to toil, as well as to those who were aristocrats, this marvelous mechanical age in which we live had its beginning. Toilers with trained minds found little interest in astronomy. What did they care about eclipses? They were not concerned with theoretical mathematical problems, but with devising methods of lightening the burdens that were resting upon their backs. As a result of this change in the application of learning, we live today in an age of scientific miracles, which the mental efforts of these toilers have made possible. Today machinery can do almost anything. One of the latest achievements is the flight of Lindbergh from New York to Paris. ¶

In 1880, when Louis Pasteur, a French scientist, a French toiler, who had arisen from poverty, put forth the mental effort necessary to discover the relation that exists between disease and disease germs, he gave to mankind the greatest human-welfare contribution of all time, arising from scientific investigation. ¶

SCIENCE APPLIED TO SANITATION ¶

I have returned this morning from the city of Chicago. The Sanitary District of Chicago includes the city of Chicago and fifty-nine other municipalities. I was invited by the district officials to inspect and make a report on their recently completed North Side Sewage Treatment Plant. This project is the largest, the most scientific, the most modern institution of its kind in the world. In this District there are 3,500,000 people. The Sanitary District was created by act of the legislature of the State of Illinois in 1889. Its purpose is the disposal of the sewage and other wastes of that District. The special aim was and is to avoid contaminating the waters of Lake Michigan — the only source of water supply for the city of Chicago and other municipalities in the Sanitary District. ¶

Back in 1893, when the World's Fair was held in Chicago, engineers from every country looked with astonishment and admiration at the tremendous undertaking of changing the direction of the flow of the Chicago River. From flowing into Lake Michigan it was changed, by means of a deep cut, to flow out of the Lake through the city of Chicago, into the Des Plaines, the Illinois, and the Mississippi rivers, and thence into the Gulf of Mexico. Thus, through this canal, by the dilution method, the most modern then known, they had their sewage carried into the Gulf. ¶

But it was in 1895 that the first great modern hydro-electric power plant was constructed at Niagara Falls. This brought to the water of the Niagara river a new value, and at once the power interests began to raise objections to the diversion of the water from Lake Michigan. Led by these power interests, cities located on the shores of the Great Lakes and states on their borders, have waged a long and fierce battle against this diversion. So intense have been these objections that leading citizens have been led to think it has lowered the water surface of the Great Lakes, to the serious injury of shipping. In fact many citizens suppose that the diversion has caused most of the difficulties of commerce on the Great Lakes. As a matter of fact, the water taken through the Chicago drainage canal has lowered the water surface but 5 inches; and by use of comparatively simple regulating works constructed at the outlets of the Lakes, fluctuations of level can be largely prevented and the water surfaces can be held at the highest desirable levels. Such works will protect all interests involved, greatly improve harbor conditions, allow water for power to be used more efficiently, and will make possible the restoration and perpetuation of the beauty of Niagara Falls. ¶

THE MODERN OUTLOOK OF MEN ¶

In this modern day, when the men who labor have been trained and educated, they have brought and they are bringing their minds to bear upon problems of practical value. The work of reversing the flow of the Chicago river was hardly completed in 1900, when the officials of the Sanitary District began, by experiment and by use of other scientific methods, to' devise more recent, better, and more efficient ways of treating the wastes from the District than the dilution method. ¶

The purification works they now have constructed, and those for which they have completely designed plans, will mean, when completed, an investment of $300,000,000. For the welfare of mankind, not on astronomy or on theoretical mathematics, but on the practical things of this practical age of miracles the District has already expended $182,000,000. Modern works like these are coming into the world because we are educating those who labor. ¶

FOR PRESERVATION OF PUBLIC HEALTH ¶

I was at the formal opening last Wednesday of one unit of these great works. This unit alone has cost $32,000,000. State officials, city officials, and eminent sanitary and civil engineers of the whole land were in attendance. ¶

Were the preservation of the public health of Chicago a local problem only, I would not here refer to this project. But since Chicago is a center through which practically all east-bound and westbound traffic of our country passes, all citizens may be affected by the health conditions of this Sanitary District. ¶

For the purpose of establishing, in and about Chicago, the best possible conditions for public health, a veritable army of civil, electrical, and sanitary engineers are making scientific experiments and are studying the results of similar investigations wherever they are being performed. By holding this extensive organization together in entire freedom from politics or other prejudices, qualified men are given positions and are retained in them solely because of their merit. This is one of the reasons why the District has been able to design, construct, and formally to open the North Side Sewage Treatment works. I have said that up to this hour, it is the greatest accomplishment of its kind in the world, for the promotion and preservation of public health. ¶

MAGNITUDE OF CHICAGO'S WORKS ¶

It has been charged that Chicago was not putting forth reasonable efforts to purify and dispose of its sewage and similar wastes. You will be interested to know that there are but 23 other cities in the United States with a population greater than 100,000 which have sewagedisposal plants. All of these 23 combined have expended in this line of work but $149,000,000, while Chicago has expended for this purpose $182,000,000; that is, $33,000,000 more than have all these other 23 cities. ¶

The citizens of Chicago exhibit a real American spirit. It is the same spirit that actuated our soldiers in France. It is said that when the Germans blew out a bridge at night, they were surprised the next morning to find that the Americans had replaced it and were across the river. ¶

RECENT ELEVATION OF WOMAN ¶

That is the first of the two phases of the historic educational problem that I desire to mention. The other is the education of women. ¶

The time is short, even today, since women were admitted into educational institutions ; and just as the education, in years past, of those who had to toil, has transformed the world into this marvelous scientific age, so the education of women is destined to produce further marvelous transformations in human welfare. ¶

There are still many educational institutions that do not believe in co-education ; that is, they do not admit women. In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints there is no educational opportunity provided for men that is not open also to women. Side by side with the women, high priests and patriarchs do their studying each Sunday morning. Young men preparing to go into the mission field get their training alongside of young women, many of whom are also being trained for missions. You heard it said this morning by one of our mission presidents, that he wants us to send more young women into the mission field. Thus we give to the women of the Church, as we have always done, the same educational opportunities that we give to men. ¶

A GREAT CHURCH SCHOOL ¶

A great school, to which women are freely admitted, has been instituted by the Church. For this purpose we have set apart the best period of the best day — Sunday morning from 10 to 12 o'clock. In this school we teach theology to all the people. Side by side in this great Church school men and women listen to the instruction. Will not this equal educational opportunity now provided for women, not only in the Church but in nearly every part of the world, yet produce another profound change in the welfare, the conduct, and the development of the human family? ¶

THIS BOOK OF PUPIN'S ¶

As part of the course of instruction, our Committee on Adult Recreation has recommended for our reading course this year a book entitled From Immigrant to Inventor, written by Michael Pupin. This book portrays a picture and cites an example of the far-reaching influence that a mother may exert upon the character and accomplishments of her son. While in this instance the mother was not versed in the learning of books, she nevertheless had the wisdom to perceive the value of education and the gift to impress upon her son the benefits that come from a trained mind. ¶

At the age of fifteen Michael Pupin came to the United States. Today he holds the chair of electro-mechanics in Columbia University. The long-distance telephone was made possible by his inventions ; the radio is due largely to his genius. We recommend to all people in the Church the reading of this book. Those who have read it appreciate the strength and uplift of the message it carries. It will tell you something of the spirit of our Mutual Improvement organizations. It will teach you to value in the lives of men the development that can come to them from women, especially the training that can come from mothers. ¶

HOW HIS MOTHER GUIDED HIM ¶

Michael Pupin received his inspiration from a mother in Serbia — ■ a mother who was not able to read or write. In his boyhood he surmised that reading, writing, and arithmetic were methods of torture that had been devised by the teacher in order to punish students, especially boys who had appointments with their chums and playmates. ¶

"But," says the inventor, "my mother soon convinced me that I was wrong. She could neither read nor write ; and she told me that she always felt that she was blind, in spite of the clear vision of her eyes ; so blind, indeed, that, as she explained, she did not dare to venture into the world much beyond the confines of her native village." ¶

She would say to him : "My boy, if you wish to go out into the world, about which you hear so much, you must provide yourself with another pair of eyes; the eyes of reading and writing. * * * Knowledge is the golden ladder over which we climb to heaven; knowledge is the light which illuminates our path through this life and leads to a future life of everlasting glory." How closely these words approach the words of the prophet : "The Glory of God is Intelligence." ¶

INFLUENCE OF MOTHERS ¶

What think you of the power that comes into the life of a boy who has the right kind of mother? I urge all the people in the Church, especially those who are and those who expect to be mothers, to study this remarkable book. It proves how powerful is the influence that a mother has in the ambition, in the success, and in the spiritual values, in the life of a man. God bless the mother who whispers such messages of inspiration into the soul of her son. She might have said : "My son, if you live, I expect to see you realize in your life many of the ambitions and many of the hopes that I myself have not been able to achieve." So changed was his mind, so aroused was his determination, that in a short time he had the delight of convincing his mother that he could read and write as well as any boy. ¶

Later, when the teacher had observed the change in the boy's attitude toward study, the teacher was so much astonished that he fancied a miracle had occurred. The mother told the teacher that in a dream she saw a Saint lay his hands upon the head of her son; then the Saint, pointing to her, said : "Daughter, your boy will soon outgrow the village school. Let him go out into the world, where he can find more brain food for his hungry head." She told this to the teacher in the presence of her son. It was like a message whispered into his ear. It brought higher ambitions to his soul. The words of his mother aroused him to action. ¶

A DECISIVE STROKE ¶

Next year the teacher selected this boy to give the recitation at their annual celebration. The teacher wrote the speech. While the mother was not able to read or write, she had a memory. She knew many of the psalms and took delight in reciting them. She amended and amplified the speech and had the boy rehearse it again and again. The success of the address, Pupin relates, was overwhelming. His chums — unruly boys — did not giggle; they looked interested, and thus encouraged the speaker. Pupin writes: "My mother cried for joy." Heaven bless the mothers who cry for joy at the successes of their sons. In the great training-school of the Church, where theological work on Sunday and activity work on Tuesday night, are undertaken, we have a course of training that continues from the cradle to the grave. We trust that, under divine guidance, this training will prepare mothers who can lead their sons as the mother of Michael Pupin led him. ¶

He had heard of Lincoln during the war. His mother appealed now for him to be sent away to school — fifteen miles to a high school. ¶

A FATHER'S DOUBTS ¶

Notwithstanding objections raised by the father, the mother had her way ; and the son, who had outgrown the country school, was sent to the higher educational institution. Here the boy learned of Benjamin Franklin and of electricity. The father had looked upon Franklin as an idle boy playing with a kite, and was indignant when the boy intimated that this American might possibly be wiser than the wise men of their country village. Womanlike, the mother took the boy's side ; and soon the father was himself convinced that wisdom might be found in America. To train the mothers so that they shall exert on the lives of their sons the same fine influence and awaken the same stimulating ambition that swelled the heart of Michael Pupin, — this is an aim of the Church. ¶

THE YOUTH'S RESOLVE ¶

So much had the boy heard about America, that he sold his heavy coat, his books, his warm clothing, for money with which to buy his ticket to America ; for he hoped here to achieve the success his mother had laid out for him. Leaving his school, he started for America without returning to his home. A letter to his mother, in affectionate terms said that, having outgrown the school and the teachers, he had departed for the land of Franklin and Lincoln. He assured her that "with her blessing and God's help" he would certainly succeed. He promised that he would return rich in rare knowledge and in honor. The story is thrilling. Will you read it ? No woman can do so without receiving new inspiration, the kind of inspiration that we are aiming to give to all the women of the Church. ¶

And so he sold his clothing and his coat, got his fare, and started for America. He did not know that he would have to provide his own mattress and blanket; therefore he almost perished. He said he had seen pictures of the American Indians. They did not seem to have much clothing. He sat by the smoke-stack during the night to keep from freezing. He landed in America at the age of fifteen, and no human soul was here that he had ever seen. When by an interpreter he was asked: "Don't you know somebody in America?" he answered that he had no relatives here and knew of nobody in the country but Franklin, Lincoln, and Harriett Beecher Stowe. The emigration agent at Castle Gardens said: "You showed good taste when you picked your American acquaintances." ¶

PUPIN'S SEARCH FOR "LIGHT" ¶

During all of his early days as a student and many of his years as an investigator, Michael Pupin went from library to library, from school to school, yes, even from country to country, endeavoring to find an answer to the question: "What is Light?" It was his lifelong search for an answer to this question that gave him the power of concentration, and laid the foundation for his later inventions. He was searching for Light — the light that illuminates the universe, the true nature of which men did not understand. His question stirs in me a desire to know what light in a spiritual sense truly is. John, the beloved Apostle, says that Jesus "was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. He was in the world and the world was made by him, yet the world knew him not." (John 1:9, 10.) The prayerful life of righteous living apparently brings into human hearts a something we refer to as a testimony — a satisfying feeling that enables one to speak as did Job when he said, "I know that my Redeemer liveth." ¶

CAN PSYCHOLOGISTS EXPLAIN? ¶

I am looking for some psychologist or some other student of human nature who can explain how it is and why it is that this prayerful life of righteous living specified by our Lord and Savior brings this satisfying knowledge into human hearts, — knowledge which hearts can feel and souls can know, but rarely can explain. It is a seemingly unexplainable conviction, which those who have not gone through this religious experience, have difficulty in understanding. Satisfied with the conviction that comes as a result of living in accordance with the teachings and example of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the human soul rises to such a height of feeling that there is hardly any sacrifice in time, money, or effort, which those genuinely converted will not undergo for the advancement of the cause. I ask, "What is this light, which prayerful, righteous living brings into human hearts ?" ¶

THE REVELATION ON LIGHT ¶

The language of a revelation given to the Prophet Joseph Smith in Section 88 of the Doctrine and Covenants, beginning with the 6th verse, refers to Jesus Christ the Son of God as "The Light of Truth; which truth shineth. This is the light of Christ. As also he is in the sun, and the light of the sun, and the power thereof by which it was made. ¶

"As also he is in the moon, and is in the light of the moon, and the power thereof by which it was made ; ¶

"As also the light of the stars, and the power thereof by which they were made ; ¶

"And the earth also, and the power thereof, even the earth upon which you stand. ¶

"And the light which shineth, which giveth you light, is through him who enlighteneth your eyes, which is the same light that quickeneth your understandings ; ¶

"Which light proceedeth forth from the presence of God to fill the immensity of space — ¶

"The light which is in all things, which giveth life to all things, which is the law by which all things are governed, even the power of God who sitteth upon his throne, who is in the bosom of eternity, who is in the midst of all things." ¶

SCIENCE CORROBORATES REVEALED TRUTH ¶

Just as the physical light of the sun illuminates the globe and all the dark planets ; and just as this light and its lesser form heat are necessary physical conditions of all animate life of the globe, all animal and vegetable life being dependent upon the heat from the sun, so the inner light, the light of the spirit, the illumination that comes to the dark souls of men, is derived from One who is the true Light which lighteth every man that comes into the world. The spirit and testimony of Jesus is the light of the soul — the light of the world. This true Light was in the world, and the world was made by him ; yet the world knew him not till he revealed himself to those who were able to understand him and know who he is. So the physical light which, in another sense, is the life of animate nature on the globe, was in the world and the world of life was made or sustained by it, yet men do not now, even the most learned, understand its exact nature. ¶

I probably cannot give to the question, "What is Light?" an answer that would satisfy the scientific intellect of Michael Pupin. Nor have I been able to find anyone who can answer the question, "What is the light that comes into human hearts as a result of the gospel of Jesus Christ?" ¶

Do the words of the Prophet, above quoted, answer these queries ? Is Jesus Christ "The light of truth," the source of all the light of which I am speaking? ¶

READ THE BOOK ¶

Mutual Improvement Organizations recommend to the Church a reading course. This Pupin book, From Immigrant to Inventor, is one of the books recommended. Read it, I pray you. Study it; for the book impresses me as being filled with the gospel spirit. You women are to train up a generation of strong, noble, and Christian men, are destined to produce a generation of women who can teach the gospel to all the people in all the world — a preparation for the coming of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. This great educational institution that the Church has established for men and women, for old and young, will help to prepare for this great work. May we succeed in it; and may we have the power, the influence, and the testimony, that "to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people" (Rev. 14:6) we may effectively preach this gospel of Jesus Christ as it has been restored here and now by the power of God. ¶