The Lord's Plan for Equality

This is a wonderful gathering, wonderful from many angles, and from every point of view outstanding and remarkable. ¶

I enjoy working in the ministry and always have done from my youth up. I have enjoyed working for the Church, but I must confess that of all the work I have to do and of all the duties I am called upon to perform I always approach this duty with fear and trembling. I pray that you will assist me with your faith and your sympathy, and that I may have the blessing of the Lord and the Spirit of the Lord to season my remarks. ¶

Ominous Signs

We have fallen upon strange times, as have been outlined by President Ivins, and the end is not yet. The distress of nations, not this nation alone, this people alone, but the distress of nations and the perplexity of nations is here now at the present time. There are signs about us that are ominous, in some ways almost terrible. ¶

President Moyle yesterday pointed out to us some of the difficulties, some of the obvious reasons that go to show how dreadful, and ominous, some of the signs of the times are. There is unemployment by the millions, men who would like to work, not the idler, but men who want to work and are able to work and can find no work. ¶

Nearly one hundred and fifty years ago the great Scottish poet sang in a doleful refrain of this very condition in his day: ¶

"See yonder poor o'er-labored wight, So abject, mean and vile. Who begs a brother of the earth To give him leave to toil. And see his lordly fellow-worm The poor petition spurn. ¶

Unmindful, though a weeping wife And helpless children mourn." ¶

Then he passes on to say: ¶

"Man's inhumanity to man Makes countless thousands mourn." ¶

To Alleviate Distress

And so we have that condition today. Committees are appointed, and well appointed, in every state, and the very head of the nation, the president, has appointed his committee, able men, the ablest men who can be found—good men, men who are desirous of the good of the people—to see if something cannot be done to mitigate these hard conditions. In our own state we have committees appointed by the governor and the mayor, and in small towns and villages of the country committees are at work to see if they cannot help out in this present situation. The work of these committees is to see that those who have, give up and contribute to those who are in need. That is the sum and substance of it all. We have heard that labor organizations are rather threatening. ¶

England's Navy

We have heard of one of the most ominous signs of the time that has occurred in England. President Moyle, I think it was, said that the dole alone, in England, stands between that country and anarchy; and one of the worst signs we have had in the last few weeks is a mutiny in the English navy. The chancellor of the exchequer, Philip Snowden, in paring down expenses, taxing to the last degree—twenty-five per cent of all the income of the people, and large incomes taxed much higher than that—trying to make ends meet, trying to get enough to stabilize the English pound and carry on with the government, and everybody is making sacrifices—in doing this he pared down a little on the English navy's sailors' compensation and the result was mutiny in the navy—in England's navy—something unheard of, unbelievable. Hardly can we conceive that such a thing would transpire. That doesn't have a good look, because it has been the English navy that has done more for the world than any one can imagine. From the days that the Armada of Spain came up the channel to overthrow England and take possession of the country, in 1588, when Drake and Hawkins and a few of the bravest sailors and leaders ever known came out to defend their country, and did defend it, and in the goodness of the Almighty a strong wind was sent to blow that Armada up the channel and help out the weak English contingent. The outcome of it was that the British navy from that day took possession of the seas, and from that day to this has held that possession. It made Elizabeth, who was then queen, mistress of the seas. Spain became a second rate or a third rate power a little later on. ¶

And now, after such a wonderful record, a record that when the World War broke out seventeen years ago this summer the one instrument of war that was ready and right on the spot was the English navy, this thing has happened. These things do not have a good look. That matter of mutiny was just patched up. We have not heard of anybody being thrown into chains or prison. ¶

The Lord's Plan

Well, now, in all this distress are we left without the word of the Lord? Has the Lord not provided a way out? I think he has. A hundred years ago last March a revelation was given to the Prophet Joseph Smith. I read from Section 49, 19th and 20th verses: ¶

"For, behold, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the air, and that which cometh of the earth—" ¶

I wish you to get that in your minds: "that which cometh of the earth," for when we come to think about it everything in the world that we have "cometh of the earth." We have not had anything of a material nature handed down from any other planet. And so this revelation says: ¶

"—and that which cometh of the earth is ordained for the use of man for food, for raiment, and that he might have in abundance. ¶

"But it is not given that one man should possess that which is above another, wherefore the world lieth in sin." ¶

The revelation on the United Order had not yet been given. This revelation was given one hundred years ago last March, and has been in print for about a hundred years, and we have taken practically little note of it. We go on in the same old way. Of course, we do in some respects try to do a little more, I think, for our poor than many other people do. Some of us pay our tithes, and that tithing is administered for the good of the whole Church, every cent of it. We go on missions, our sons and daughters go, and they spend two or more years, I may say, working as in the United Order, working without money and without price for the benefit and salvation of others. And everyone who works faithfully at his mission comes back testifying, as I testify regarding my own case, that never in all the experiences of life was there a happier time than the missionary time. ¶

I have wondered if I would not be much happier, sleep better of nights, without trouble to a great extent, if I knew my family were provided for, just sufficient, not with riches, but sweet content, with enough. If that were the case why should I not give my whole time to the Church? ¶

In Moses' Time

In the days of ancient Israel, in the time of Moses, we find that the land, which we now mortgage and buy and sell, could not be alienated from the family to which it belonged, those who were born on it, so to speak. It belonged not only to those who were alive, but to the unborn generations as well. This is the law of Moses that I will read from Leviticus, chapter twenty-five: ¶

"The land shall not be sold forever: for the land is mine; for ye are strangers and sojourners with me. ¶

"And in all the land of your possession ye shall grant a redemption for the land. ¶

"If thy brother be waxen poor, and hath sold away some of his possession, and if any of his kin come to redeem it, then shall he redeem that which his brother sold. ¶

"And if the man have none to redeem it, and himself be able to redeem it: ¶

"Then let him count the years of the sale thereof, and restore the overplus unto the man to whom he sold it; that he may return unto his possession. ¶

"But if he be not able to restore it to him, then that which is sold shall remain in the hand of him that hath bought it, until the year of jubilee: and in the jubilee it shall go out, and he shall return unto his possession." ¶

That was the law in olden times. People could not be dispossessed of their land. They did allow it to be sold, it seems, but there was a cloud on the title—it would revert back to the original possessor. ¶

Equal Possessions

The Lord, in the revelation that I have read, given over a hundred years ago, states that it is not given that one man should possess that which is above another. I do not think that means that every man should have the same quantity of ground allotted to him. Every man shall be appointed to labor, just as our missionaries are now appointed to labor. The Presidency appoint presidents of missions, select the best men they can find who are qualified and who are willing and obedient, that is to say, obedient to righteous law, to take charge here and there. And so it would be if we had great, extensive operations. Every man could be called to the work which he is most fitted to do, and he could do it, and the proceeds, the surplus, should remain with the Church, not the individual. ¶

Not Destructive of Initiative

I know that some will say, Well that destroys initiative. Nothing of the kind. I was on a mission in the Liverpool office for two years on my last mission and I labored with William Budge and John Nicholson, two outstanding men. I labored under their direction. They had great initiative. They were men of ability and capacity far more than I because I was younger, only twenty-eight years of age, while they had had much experience. In their minds they were planning and praying to know how to extend this work, in this direction and in the other. They were full of initiative, and yet I got just as much as they got. They got their board and clothes, what clothes were necessary, and I got the same. It was not given to them to possess that which was above me, and all were happy. We worked together and were like a happy family. It has been done; and with the tithing, as I say, and our fast offerings, expended for the benefit of the whole Church, we are ten per cent in the United Order. We should pay our tithes. Why could we not be twenty per cent, forty per cent, or all? Why couldn't I, I say again, if my family were cared for, work continually, helping for the benefit of others? ¶

Regard for Others

Here is something more that was given to us January 2nd, 1831 (Doctrine and Covenants, section thirty-eight): ¶

"And let every man esteem his brother as himself—" That is pretty hard, I suppose, but there it is and it has been there for over a hundred years: —"and practice virtue and holiness before me. ¶

"And again I say unto you, let every man esteem his brother as himself. ¶

"For what man among you having twelve sons, and is no respecter of them, and they serve him obediently, and he saith unto the one: Be thou clothed in robes and sit thou here; and to the other: Be thou clothed in rags and sit thou there—and looketh upon his sons and saith I am just? ¶

"Behold, this I have given unto you as a parable, and it is even as I am. I say unto you, be one; and if ye are not one ye are not mine." ¶

Selfishness Must Be Overcome

I do not know, I haven't the wisdom to understand, how we can take people who are still so selfish that they cannot part with ten per cent and make them so that they will part with all, being assured that they will share equally with all. We ought not to ask anything better than that, if we have assurance of that. What justice would there be in our asking for more than that? And that could be done. Just how to do it and when it will be done I do not know, but I do believe this that for many years past, for all the years past, I may say—I do not believe that while times were prosperous it would have been possible to organize the Saints into the United Order. If we did accept it, if we did go ahead and become powerful and great and rich I am sure it would be taken that we were a menace to the country, too powerful, too rich, too much of oneness. "And if ye are not one ye are not mine." Well, then, we were not his up to that point, and up to this point. ¶

If Conditions Mend

But now, things are coming about so that we ask, What are we to do? We are waiting until things mend. How can they do so unless the farmers and working people get money to spend? If we go on in the old way, if we go on producing just as we have produced, in mass production, and if our labor-saving machinery that has been invented for the blessing of mankind, and which should shorten the hours of labor, shorten the work of the laborer, goes on producing and producing just as it has in the past two or three years, we will be flooded again and will be in the same old condition. I do not see any other outcome, even if times change so that we can go on a little way with the hire and salary method, and begging for a job to work. In the phraseology of the streets, we are right up against it. We really don't know what to do. ¶

The Way of the Lord

I have only time to quote from another revelation that the Lord has given on this same subject. (Section eighty-two of the Doctrine and Covenants) This was given in April, 1832—one hundred years ago next April: ¶

"For Zion must increase in beauty, and in holiness; her borders must be enlarged; her stakes must be strengthened; yea, verily I say unto you, Zion must arise and put on her beautiful garments. ¶

"Therefore I give unto you this commandment, that ye bind yourselves by this covenant, and it shall be done according to the laws of the Lord. ¶

"Behold, here is wisdom also in me for your good. ¶

"And you are to be equal, or in other words, you are to have equal claims on the properties, for the benefit of managing the concerns of your stewardships, every man according to his wants and his needs, inasmuch as his wants are just— ¶

"And all this for the benefit of the church of the living God, that every man may improve upon his talent, that every man may gain other talents, yea, even an hundred fold, to be cast into the Lord's storehouse, to become the common property of the whole church— ¶

"Every man seeking the interest of his neighbor, and doing all things with an eye single to the glory of God. ¶

"This order I have appointed to be an everlasting order unto you, and unto your successors, inasmuch as you sin not." ¶

The Lord has provided a way out. People all over the world are groping for a way out. I do not know anything that quite equals this that was given a hundred years ago for the benefit of this Church and the revelations tell us that the center stake of Zion cannot be built up on any other principle. ¶

I see that my time has expired. The Lord bless you, my brethren and sisters, you faithful workers in the cause of Christ. O, how my heart and soul go out to you! You are the salt of the earth. The Church depends on you. God bless you. Amen. ¶