The Unemployed Need Help

'Second Counselor in the Eirst Presidency ¶

I rejoice in the work of the Lord. I know that every commandment that he has given to this Church, through the Prophet Joseph Smith makes for righteousness, for right living, for better citizenship ; makes better husbands, better wives, better children. There is not a single thing, a single thought or idea, in all those commandments, but what is uplifting and for the bettering of humankind. ¶

I would like to read a few verses from (Solomon, the wise man, contained in the first chapter of his Proverbs, commencing at the twenty-fourth verse. These verses of scripture seem to cover the situation today as though they were spoken concerning this generation : ¶

"Because I have called, and ye refused, I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded ; ¶

"But ye have set at naught all my counsel, and would none of my reproof ; ¶

"I also will laugh at your calamity ; I will mock when your fear cometh ; ¶

"When your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind ; when distress and anguish cometh upon you. ¶

"Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me; ¶

"For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the Lord. ¶

"They would none of my counsel; they despised all my reproof. ¶

"Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices. ¶

"For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them. ¶

"But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil." ¶

IN A CHANGED WORLD ¶

The old order changeth ; the new world is upon us. We live today in a changed world from even thirty years ago. At the beginning of this century — take, for example, one item — there was scarcely an automobile seen anywhere in the United States at that time. Only thirty years, within the memory of all of us, and yet today the building of automobiles, the opening of gas stations, with stores upon every street for accessories and equipment, employs, I suppose, probably four or five million men. That is to say, the old order has so changed, just in thirty years, that four or five millions of men are employed in a new occupation, which was not known, or scarcely known, thirty years ago. So rapidly do we move in these days. Necessarily all that affects our conditions of life. It affects our expense account. Automobiles have now become necessities. We are almost compelled to have them. Indeed, the working man goes to work now in a cheap automobile and can well afford it to save time going from his home to his work. ¶

These changes affect employment. Especially do they affect employment when an industry of that kind, going at full blast, stops all at once, or practically stops ; the demand ceases. It is a great calamity come upon the nation — maybe it isn't a calamity at all, but a providence of the Almighty to stop our mad rush of speculation, in which stocks go tumbling to the bottom, and men who were rich, almost beyond compare, yesterday, are practically penniless today. And so industry stops, and men are thrown out of employment. They are not idlers. I would not plead for the idler, for one of the revelations through the Prophet Joseph Smith says, in these words : ¶

"The idler shall not eat the bread nor wear the garment of the laborer." ¶

THE UNEMPLOYED NEED HELP ¶

We do not approve of idleness. In our Church industry is one of our principal doctrines : "Work out your salvation in fear and trembling before the Lord." But I do plead for those who are out of employment at this time. There is not time to go into a discussion very fully regarding these changes that come about so quickly, but here they are; they confront us; they demand solution. The best we can do, temporarily, is, as the President of the United States has pointed out, for our municipalities, our counties, our states, and civic organizations, to do everything they can to put in motion some work, that men who are willing to work may find employment. ¶

The Lord tells us, in another revelation, that men ought to be diligently engaged in a good cause, without being commanded. We ought not to wait till the bishop asks us, or till the President of the Church asks us to do something to help relieve this situation, to try to help our neighbors and our friends. ¶

Whoever can do anything in the way of providing employment for this poor person who has no work, ought to do it without waiting to be asked; for "He who waits," the Lord says, "to be commanded in all things, the same is a slothful and not a wise servant." ¶

Let every man and every woman who can do anything do so. We nearly all can contribute something towards relieving this situation ; and let me say, even the poor can help, for after all is said and done, it is the poor who help the poor, generally speaking ; it is not the rich. Brethren and sisters, let us try to do what we can to see that employment is furnished for those who are out of employment, and who perhaps are in absolute, abject need. They should be taken care of some way. ¶

NATIONS PERPLEXED ¶

Now, I have probably spoken as long as I should. I feel a great concern in respect to this matter. I see changes coming upon the face of the earth. I see the perplexities of nations. England is perplexed today over this situation ; so is Germany ; Our own country, too. War is still extant ; there is one at this moment in China ; an uprising in India, and also in Turkey. Wars are going on upon the face of the earth. We may think that wars have ceased, that peace is here. But not so. There is perplexity of nations. This is one of the signs of the end, of the coming of the Son of Man. The warning is that "Nations should be in commotion and perplexed" because of the situations arising which the wisest of statesmen can scarcely solve. ¶

The scripture I read at the beginning says: "The prosperity of fools shall destroy them. But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely and shall be quiet from fear of evil." ¶

However, we can help to solve our own little affairs by keeping the commandments of the Lord, by being kind to each other, by considering our neighbors. My brother, my sister, I have sympathy, and we should have sympathy, and do have, I am sure. ¶

HOW TO HELP THE POOR ¶

The Lord help us to build up the kingdom of God, to sustain it, to pay our tithes and our offerings. If we would just pay our fast offerings once a month, if the five hundred thousand of our people in the United States would only pay thirty cents a month per capita on fast day, that alone would be $150,000 a month, or in ten months $1,500,000. With that we would have abundance to give to the poor whose necessities are demanding attention. ¶

Now let us, my brethren and sisters, keep the commandments of the Lord, and build up his kingdom. Let us love the Lord our God, seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all things needful shall be granted unto us. Amen. ¶