Patience, Faith, and the Constitution

A year ago while occupying this position I advocated patience, — forbearance in reaching hasty and ill-considered conclusions respecting the efficacy of the new plans which had been put into operation to relieve our distresses and a patient compliance with their requirements. I believed then as I believe now, that the quickest and surest way to determine the real worth of any newly enacted policy is to give it a fair trial. I believe still that patience is necessary in the appraisement of the forces which have been set in action for the country's deliverance. However, I am equally well convinced that some things other than patience are requisite if we would make any real contribution to the ultimate end that every one desires. ¶

PHASES OF RELIEF PROGRAM CAUSE CONCERN ¶

I have had a limited opportunity to observe at rather close range, some of the operations of the great relief program which our government is seeking to carry out. There are phases of it which give cause for much concern. Some of these items would not be appropriate for discussion here, but there are one or two things which I feel can be mentioned with propriety and I hope with profit. The expenditures for relief, both direct and indirect are enormous, and the numbers of recipients almost go beyond the believable. In our own state, according to the latest figures obtainable 21.99% of the entire state population is on the relief rolls and in some counties the proportion of the population receiving relief runs as high as 46%. Where these figures prevail, it means that nearly one-half of all the people have demonstrated to the satisfaction of those in charge that they are fit subjects for relief and are actually in receipt of the charities bestowed. I have not included in these statements vast numbers of people who have been beneficiaries under certain governmental emergency measures which have been calculated to save to the owners, homes and properties by the extension of extraordinary credit facilities, I am limiting the number only to those who are on the relief rolls of the counties and municipalities. When I mention the percentages in our own state I wish it known that our numbers are but representative of other states of the union. ¶

INDICATION OF SUFFERING AND DISTRESS ¶

I do not see how any thoughtful person can contemplate this situation without grave concern. I feel that concern very deeply, because this astonishing information indicates such a large measure of want, failure, suffering and distress among the people. No ¶

one can think of it without having his sympathies touched. My first desire would be of course, that the cause of these distressing conditions might be removed, that we might immediately have such industrial recovery as to give all opportunity for work and a good livelihood. This is the desire of all, but how to bring about such a recovery is the subject for some of the hottest debates and contentions we have witnessed in this country for many a year. ¶

Into these I will not enter. Suffice it to say the conditions are here. How long they will last no one knows. We hope not for long. While they do last they are the immediate and pressing concern of every citizen of the country. No conscientious man nor woman can ignore them, for even from a selfish point of view they affect him. ¶

I take it for granted therefore, that everyone would like to do something to help. I am going to take the liberty of making some suggestions which I think can be adopted by almost every one who does desire to help. I am not going to speak now of the giving of financial aid. I hope to mention that later. ¶

MAINTAIN SELF-RESPECT ¶

It is my first suggestion that every man, woman and child adversely affected by this "depression" be encouraged to maintain self respect. I earnestly hope in what I am about to say I shall give no offense. I assure you none is intended. I desire only to be kind, but I know it is necessary sometimes to be frank and seemingly cruel in order to be kind. I know that there have been many hundreds of self-reliant, self-respecting, proud people who have been humiliated to the dust by the hard circumstances which have been forced upon them. My heart goes out to them. I pity them for the humiliation they have sustained, but strange as it may seem, for their own good, I want them to continue to be humiliated in their own feelings so long as they continue to be the recipients of charitable relief. I said, mind you, in their own feelings. I ,want no undue embarrassment heaped upon them, but I want them to be so manly and so womanly in all those terms imply as to be grieved in spirit when they cannof be self-reliant and reasonably independent. ¶

FACTORS IN ECONOMIC AND SPIRITUAL WELFARE ¶

There is a pride in vanity "that goeth before a fall," but that pride in a man which makes him cherish his own good name and gives him the courage to work to sustain it, that pride which makes him shun the bondage of undischargeable obligations, that pride which keeps his head high even in poverty, conscious that he has always been honorable and has given the best that was in him, that pride I admire. I think too it is essential for the preservation of some of the best things within our civilization. Self-respect, selfreliance, and the pride of achievement I look upon as highly prominent factors in our economic welfare and in our spiritual as well. ¶

CHARITY SEEKERS ¶

Unfortunately there has been another class of our citizens who have not had so much pride and self-respect and who have not been greatly humiliated, perhaps not humiliated at all in the receipt of those benefactions which have been bestowed upon them. They have been eager to receive. I suppose some of this class will always be with us. I am sorry for them too because they lack an element of character which is essential to success and enduring happiness. ¶

"sponging'" on the government ¶

Now without mitigation in the least of our sympathies toward those unfortunate ones actually in need, the observing cannot help but note that there is an ever-growing and deeply regrettable tendency to "sponge" on the government and take every gratuity possible to obtain and this too, sometimes by representation and connivance, which will not bear the light of truth. It is true also that this disposition to "sponge" on the government is not confined to those only who are on the relief rolls. ¶

In the obtaining of benefit loans and crop allocations with other concessions so lavishly bestowed it has been manifest in such degree and in such people as to be greatly astonishing to those who have the inside information. Not infrequently does one hear in pseudo justification of these regrettable actions, expressions such as these — "Well everybody's getting it, I might as well get my share" — or "The government brought on these conditions they should get us out." I have been informed of men making application for home loans under representations of distress whose regular income for one month would be regarded by many families as ample support for an entire year. ¶

CONTEMPT FOR IMPOSTORS ¶

I am not pointing out these things in criticism of the administration of the government's remedial plans, although I suppose it is possible to detect errors. I make allowance for the faults and abuses which almost of necessity must creep into the operation of such extensive schemes so quickly set up and manned. Nor do I particularly criticize the plans themselves, not because I do not see deficiencies in them, but because I find it most difficult to discover in my thinking or from the suggestions of others, any satisfactory substitute measures to take their place. Here is where I feel to exercise patience, but I am not patient with impostors on the government's generosity. I tell you these professional charity seekers, these "spongers" on public beneficence are a menace to the morale of our country. They have lost self respect, they have lost their honor and their influence is pernicious. Any public official or administrator who connives with them or tolerates their practices is even more deserving of our contempt. ¶

FAR-REACHING RESULTS ¶

I am not willing to take it for granted that these abuses must be. They are too serious and their results too far reaching to go unchallenged. I fear them, not only because they are costly to the public treasury, the drain on which is a matter of deep concern to every American, but for the more important reason which I have heretofore indicated, that the practice of "sponging'' on the government is perverting the finest virtues of American citizenship — self-respect, self-reliance and integrity. Furthermore, I cannot but conclude that this distortion to the morale of our people makes fertile ground for the seeds of disloyalty and anarchy which those inimical to our form of government are ever seeking to sow. ¶

THE LATTER-DAY SAINT ATTITUDE ¶

I said everyone could help. I believe everyone can. I believe our Church can help as can every other good agency. That is why, my brethren and sisters, I bring this matter to your attention here today. No Latter-day Saint can tolerate for a moment an imputation against his honor and integrity. No Latter-day Saint can afford to be other than self-respecting and as self-reliant and independent as the circumstances will possibly permit. We have been taught all during our history the gospel of work, of self-support and freedom from debt. It so hurts me to see a man lose the pride of selfrespect and self-reliance that I could wish that it were feasible to take an evidence of obligation for every gratuity bestowed, in order that the recipients might say that they had borrowed the money and would pay it back and thus not be humiliated by the taking of alms. ¶

TO RESTORE OUR MORALE ¶

Morale is made by public opinion and public opinion is the composite of individual opinions. We can maintain our morale and if we have lost it in measure, we can restore it as can the country at large by each and every one firmly and definitely resolving: first, that uniler no circumstances will he be guilty in the least degree of the abuses which I have mentioned, and secondly, that to the full extent of his ability he will see to it that such abuses are not tolerated in others. The cost of administration of the relief program is already so enormous (it seems excessive to us who administer relief without cost) that there must not be added to the cost any additional funds for more supervision; so it is indispensable to the success of the program that everyone assume responsibility. By so doing, everyone can help. I do not know how long we shall retain our present methods. Whether they should be changed is a matter scarcely suitable for discussion here, but I do know that so long as we have them, we have a duty to get out of them the best obtainable. That is possible only by full co-operation. ¶

I earnestly hope that my plea here today will not be misunderstood. It may sound harsh and unfeeling, but I know that in my own heart I am not without charity and sympathy and I know that my people are generous and kind. When I think of what we give for charity and for the support of unselfish and noble causes, I am grateful and encouraged. ¶

LATTER-DAY SAINT LIBERALITY ¶

I noted the other day from information issued by the Federal Department of Internal Revenue, that the deductible charitable contributions of the rich men of America as shown by their income tax returns, did not exceed 2% of their net incomes. We who pay our tithing give 10% and to that we add many additional items, so that „ when we make our income returns to the government, if we are fortunate enough to have incomes sufficiently large to report, it is not infrequently the case that the 15% of net income which is deductible for tax purposes is not sufficient to cover all our contributions and we sometimes pay a tax on our gifts. I am glad of this because it indicates our generosity and our truly Christian desire to help our fellow man. I feel that desire. I want to continue to give, not only because of continued need, but because giving is the best remedy in the world for contraction of the heart. I recommend it to all who suffer from that malady. ¶

OUTLOOK FOR COMING WINTER ¶

There is little prospect that the coming winter will not present enlarged demands on our sympathies and our resources. It has been indicated from Washington that the state and local communities may be obliged to bear a larger portion of the burden. I hope we will do our utmost and I pray that no worthy person who is honest and deserving may be permitted to suffer. I pray with equal fervor that no person may become so dishonest and disloyal as to be an impostor on the generosity of our great merciful government which is seeking so diligently to relieve our distresses. ¶

BASIS OF MUTUAL CONFIDENCE ¶

Common honesty is the basis of mutual confidence. If we lose confidence in each other we are lost. We can't trust those who cheat the government. It is as dishonest as it is to cheat the Church or each other. No one can deceive and cheat and be a Christian. He may be called a Christian, but he is not one. Misrepresentation, hypocrisy and deceit are as repugnant to the Gospel as is error to truth, for the Gospel is truth. ¶

THANKFUL FOR CHURCH ¶

I thank God for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Within it I find the true philosophy of life with all the virtues, the encouragements, the ¶

restraints, the hopes and the satisfactions that my soul can desire. I thank God for the Church of Christ with all its agencies, facilities and powers to make the Gospel effective in the lives of men and women. I look forward with confidence to the fulfilment of the promises of the Lord. In the face of many problems I am not discouraged— the truth will prevail. We must be patient in all things, but we must also be vigilant. Patience and vigilance and integrity will see us out. I pray for the blessings of God on the Church, on the Government and on all men, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. ¶