Events and Comments

EVENTS AND COMMENTS. BY EDWARD H. ANDERSON. New Member of the Quorum of the Twelve.— Elder Anthony W. Ivins, president of Juarez stake, Mexico, has been nominated, sustained and ordained one of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, to fill the vacancy in the Quorum of Twelve, caused by the death of Elder George Teasdale. His name was accepted by the quorum of Twelve Apostles, then presented to and sustained by the Church at the seventy- eighth semi- annual conference, Anthony Woodward Ivins, son Sunday, October 6, 1907. of Israel Anna Lowrie, was born at Toms River, Ocean county, New Ivins and Jersey, September 16, 1852, and a year later came to Utah with his par- ents, who remained in Salt Lake City until 1861, when the family removed to St. George. His education was obtained in the public schools. From an early age he has been accustomed to practical labor; and he has been a Church worker from the first. As early as 1875, he performed a mission to Mexico, exploring, with his companions, the Salt River Valley, the Little Colorado River country, and northern Chihuahua and all the section of country where the Latter-day Saints are now settled, in Mexico. His second mission was to the Navajo and Pueblo Indians, in Arizona and New Mexico, in 1878. The year following, he became an active officer in the Y. M. M. I. A. of St. George, presiding first over the fourth ward, and later over the consolidated associations. He became a High Councilor in St. George stake in 1881, and in 1888, the first counselor in the stake presidency. In 1895, he was chosen president of the Juarez stake, Mexico, which was organized on the 9th of December. From that time on he has resided in Colonia Juarez, conducting the affairs of his stake with marked ability. In political matters, he has been no less active. He served in St. George as constable, city councilor, attorney and mavor; in the county, as deputy sheriff and prosecuting attorney; and in the state, as representative to the legislature in 1894, as a member of the state constitutional convention of 1895; and as govern- ment Indian agent for the Shebit Indians for two years He gave satisfaction in . every position. As in Church and political affairs, he has had wide and success-

EVENTS AND COMMENTS. 75 ful experience in business.As manager of the Mojave Land and Cattle company, and the Kiabah Cattle company of Utah and Arizona, and at present vice-president and general manager of the Mexican Colonization and Agricultural company, he has shown persistent push, wise judgment, careful management and many other pre-eminent business qualifications that stamp him a successful man of affairs. His practical, wide and varied business, ecclesiastical, and colonizing experiences fit him specially for the exalted calling which he now occupies as one of the Twelve. Besides these qualifications, he is an energetic student, and a fluent and effective public speaker, and he is not unknown to readers of the Era as a writer. He is a practical, influential man of the people, in possession of deep sympathy for the masses, and in full enjoyment of the spirit and power of the gospel of Jesus Christ as a redeeming and uplifting force in the world. He can lasso and brand a steer with the roughest cowboy; or hold his own side by side with the hardiest sons of toil; yet, as a father under the refining influences of home, as a member of society, an able minister in the house of worship, or a counselor and leader among the people, he commands the attention and admiration of all classes. Oklahoma.- By a vote of about three to one, the constitution of the state of Oklahoma was adopted at an election held September 17. The clause which ex- tends over the entire state the prohibition of the sale of intoxicating liquors, al- ready provided for in Indian Territory, was adopted by a majority of ab,out 30,000; and the whole Democratic state ticket, with Charles N. Haskell for governor, was elected by a plurality of about 20,000. Four out of five congressmen were elected by the Democrats, who have also a large majority in the legislature which will choose two United States senators. The action of the legislature is fore- shadowei by the primaries held last June, at which Robert L. Owen, who is one- eighth Cherokee, a graduate of Washington and Lee University, a teacher, an editor, a banker, lawyer, and an Indian agent to the Five Tribes; and Thomas P. Gore, a brilliant young blind man, were elected for senators. Charles Carter, who is one-fourth Chickasaw Indian, and also has some Cherokee Indian blood, a Demo- crat, farmer and stockman, is Congressman-elect from the 4th Oklahoma District. But this man Thomas P. Gore will interest young men, for according to biog- raphies printed of him he has probably overcome a greater physical handicap to achieve success than any other national figure in the history of our country. He is 37 years of age, and totally blind. When eight years of age he was struck in the eye by a playmate, and at eleven years of age, while serving as a page in the Mississippi state senate, he was struck in his remaining eye with the arrow of a But undaunted, he went on with his studies, entering college at six- cross-bow. with distinction. In June, 1892, teen, where he asked no favors, and graduated from the law school of Cumberland University, Tenn. In 1902, he he graduated the campaign last summer stumped was elected to the territorial senate, and in the state and convinced the people, by his ready wit, his iron memory, and his re- people in the national markable eloquence, that he would be of more use to the wealthy attorney, who were his oppo- senate than the millionaire banker, or the what pronounced "a heated and acrimonious campaign.*' If the legis- nents in is election to the senate is practically assured lature shall follow instructions, his

76 IMPROVEMENT ERA. Mr. Gore owes much of his educational success to a fellow class- and room-mate, Charles H. Pittman, who, during the long college years, studied aloud at all times so that his blind companion could follow the daily tasks. Why does Oklahoma have five Congressmen? you ask. Because it is shown, by the recently completed census, that the state has a population of 1,408,732. It has grown to this number since 1900. when Indian Territory and Oklahoma, which two former territories now compose the new state, had .a population of 790,391. The enabling act gives the state five, but the population really entitles it to seven representatives, on the basis of the present apportionment. The state is big in area, also: for it is estimated that the whole of New England could be set down in Oklahoma, and yet leave a fringe of territory amounting to nearly 4,000 square miles. President Roosevelt's Trip Through the Middle West.— On Sunday evening, September 29, President Roosevelt left Washington for an extended trip through the Middle West. He stopped first at Canton where he delivered an ad- dress at the dedication of the McKinley monument. He sailed down the Mississippi river from Keokuk, where he met many governors and addressed the people, to Memphis, on the typical, old-fashioned stern- wheel steamer Mississippi as a guest of the Inland Waterways Commission. This journey was made to accentuate the government's increasing interest in the preparing and maintenance of a deep water highway from the Lakes to the Gulf. It is pointed out that the opening of the Panama canal will give to the Mississippi the opportunity of transporting perhaps one-fifth of our nation's commerce. At St. Louis the governors of eighteen states greeted and, with the people, eagerly welcomed the President. Here, on October 2, he made an address in favor of deep-water transportation, and justified the Pacific cruise of our battle-ships. Arriving at Memphis at noon, October, 4, he delivered an address to a large crowd, and then took train for Lake Providence, Louisiana, in the cane-brake region, where his hunting camp was pitched, and where he spent a brief season of seclusion and sport. The President's addresses on this journey are masterful expositions of the attitude of the government on wrong-doers of great wealth, on the control of corporations, the Pacific fleet, the value of a Mississippi deep-water way, the Panama Canal, business and justice, and his own estimation of the character of President McKinley. Of the PanamaCanal, he said that in August, 1,200,000 cubic yards were ex- cavated, and at this rate, the actual digging could be finished in five or six years. On wrongdoers of wealth he said: At intervals during the last few months the appeal has been made to me not to enforce the law against certain wrongdoers of greath wealth, because to do so would interfere with the business prosperity of the country. Whenever a serious effort is made to cut out what is evil in our political life, whether the effort takes the shape of warring against the gross and sordid forms of evil in some municipality, or whether it takes the shape of trying to secure the honest enforcement of the law as against very powerful and wealthy people, there are sure to be certain individuals who demand that the movement stop, because it may hurt business. In each case the answer must be that we

EVENTS AND COMMENTS. 77 earnestly hope and believe that there will be no permanent damage to business from the movement, but that if righteousness conflicts with the fancied needs of business, then the latter must go to the wall. I am as certain as I can be of anything that the course we are pursuing will ultimately help business; for the corrupt man of business is as great a foe to this country as the corrupt politician. Both stand on the same evil eminence of infamy. Against both it is necessary to war; and if, unfortunately, in either type of war- fare, a few innocent people are hurt, the responsibility lies not with us, but with those who have misled them to their hurt. McKinley Mausoleum Dedicated.— On September 30, at Canton, Ohio, the monument to William McKinley was dedicated, President Roosevelt attending. The cost of the monument was $578,000 received in loving contributions from the people of the United States and many other countries. The bronze statue of President McKinley, which stands in front of the entrance to the great tomb, was unveiled by Miss Helen McKinley, the only sister of the late President. The pedestal supporting this statue bears the following inscription, the words of Presi- dent Wheeler of the University of California, used in 1901, when the degree of LL. D. was conferred on President McKinley, at the time of his western journey: William McKinley, President of the United States a statesman singularly ; gifted to unite the discordant forces of the government and mould the diverse pur- poses of men toward progressive and salutary action; a magistrate whose poise of judgment was tested and vindicated in a succession of national emergencies; good citizen brave soldier, wise executive, helper and leader of men, exemplar to his , people of the virtues that build and conserve the State, society and the home. Mrs. McKinley, the heroine of a great national love story, the sweetheart wife of the late president, was buried last May. It was her wish that she might live to see the monument completed, but this consolation was denied her. The site selected for the memorial is a half mile west of the receiving vault where the bodies of the President and his wife now lie, and not far from the original McKinley lot in West Lawn Cemetery. ' 'Not far away" says Joe Mitchell Chappie, "from the resting place of William McKinley and his wife lie their children. At the head of the two little graves is a bronze cherub upholding a basket of flowers the figure seems the very emblem ; of immortality, and almost speaks aloud of victory over death and the grave. Just over the brook, its waters running 'smooth music from the roughest stone,' on the crest of the ridge, is the memorial. It is approached by circular terraces with spacious flights of steps, recalling a picture of some old Grecian temple. Before it is a lagoon whose tranquil waters lend the charm of a magical restfulness to the landscape. The memorial may be reached from the rear by two other stair- ways, and from the height one looks over the beautiful green hills and valleys, ' forests and lakes of Stark County. Nebo Stake Tabernacle. — A new style of church architecture for this region, excepting, perhaps, Ogden, Nebo Stake tabernacle, recently com- is the pleted at Payson, Utah, and to be dedicated at the stake conference this Novem- ber. Its dimensions are 60x125 feet, not including towers and portico. The tow-

78 IMPROVEMENT ERA. era are 54 feet high. The auditorium is 58x123 feet, with a 28-foot ceiling. The exterior is of white pressed brick, and the wood is all of Oregon fir, except the flooring, which is of white maple. The pressed steel ceiling is colored white and gold, and the walls are a light green, making the color scheme white .and gold and green. The building is seated with best grade pews, and furnished with electric lights, steam heating plant; and matting for the aisles. The acoustic properties, tested by Elders George Albert Smith, Reed Smoot and the stake presidency, John S. Page, Jr , Hermon Lemon and Henry Gardner, are pronounced very good. The conveniences and comforts of the building are said to be much better than some tabernacles costing two or three times as much as this one. The cost of the completed building is $22,000. The Awakening. — Since the Japanese proved their ability to defeat the soldiers of a great European power on the battlefields, the more highly civilized peoples of Asia have had a great awakening, and as an outcome the agitation for self-rule is fast gaining momentum among them. In Bengal and Hindustan, there appears to be a spirit of inquiry as to why the triumph of Japan cannot be re- peated elsewhere — and as a result there are omens of a desire for self-rule, accompanied by great unrest throughout India. It is called to mind that the seemingly fundamental step towards reclothing Japan with dignity and authority after the extinction of the old rule, was the establishment of a constitution, and the introduction of a parliament. Persia seems to have been the first Asiatic na- tion to profit by the example, and that country's national assembly is now engaged •in legislation. The Dowager Empress of China, said to be the most powerful

EVENTS AND COMMENTS. 79 woman ruler in the world, now in her 73rd year, has announced her approval of many reforms in the administration of the Chinese Empire. She recently ordered the council of state to prepare plans for the admission of her subjects to a share in the national government, at no distant date. Hence, it is not surprising that the more advanced natives of India should begin to enquire of Britain why they also may not take part in legislation relating to their own affairs. To this end the Hindus have clled an "Indian National Congress, "and the Mohammedans of India> who constitute the largest Islamic community on the face of the earth, have organized an "All Indian Moslem League" with the avowed purpose of preparing a constitution providing for a national parliament to be finally presented for ap. provalto the British government. The problem, in case their request is denied which there is good reason to believe it will be as long as the House of Lords has a voice in the matter, is one of dreadful gravity. Why? Because, in the Indian empire there is perhaps less than three million Christians, including soldiers and civilians, against a mixed mass of 207,000,000 Hindus, 62,000,000 Moham- medans, and 22,000,000 Buddhists, Jains, Sikhs, Animists, etc. These three hundred millions have been resigned and quiescent since the insurrection of 1857, but now there are signs of upheaval among them which may well excite the pro- found misgivings of the rulers; this, notwithstanding that the classes or kinds of people may not be united, for each agitation is on so huge a scale that it may prove formidable in itself. Owing first to the new Anglo-Russian treaty, and second to the fact that the artillery is exclusively in British hands, there is little hope that an uprising could hope for success, but strikes and boycotts of English goods might be inaugurated, which would mean destruction to many British manufactures, and this alone is causing many English residents much anxiety. The Bear and the Lion Lie Down Together.— A new treaty, recently published, between Russia and Great Britain clearly defines the interests of the two countries in Central Asia, and if carried out sincerely by both parties will put a stop to the struggle over Central Asia which has been going on between the two powers for a large part of the last half century. It is reported that the hope of Russia to gain the head of the Persian Gulf by rail, and so obtain an ice free sea port, is now, on account of the treaty, definitely abandoned. India is thus com- pletely fended by buffer states which Russia for the first time explicitly agrees not to invade. On the other hand, Great Britain acknowledges the importance of Rus- sia's commercial interests in Northern Persia, and practically sacrifices all that was supposed to have been gained by Col. Younghusband's invasion of Tibet. The action practically allies France with the two great powers, and closes Germany out from another concert of the Powers, and she will probably on that account be checked in her commercial advance into Persia. Another result is the practical ending of the Japanese alliance with Britain which country, being freed from fear of Russian invasion of India, against which the Japs had promised to assist, finds the Japanese alliance no longer so necessary. A neutral strip in Persia is provided, into which the Russian sphere from the north and the British sphere from the south are not to be extended. The predominent British interests in the Gulf of Persia are not explicitly recognized in the convention, but as nothing appears to be

80 IMPROVEMENT ERA. said against them, the English will doubtless continue to enjoy the present privi- leges. Afghanistan is practically placed under British tutelage. Both countries agree to treat with Tibit only through the Chinese government. Utah State Fair.— One of the best, it is safe to say the best — state fairs ever held in Utah closed a six-days' run on October 5. Better, more important and more numerous manufacturing exhibits were never before witnessed in the history of the fair association. The stock and other animal exhibits were very interesting and satisfactory. The fruit and farm industries, showed market strides of progress since the fair of two years ago. The exhibits and promises of dry farming were grand revelations. There were more buildings, more room, better preparation, than ever before. The amusements were not overlooked, and the horse-racing drew bigger crowds and got more praise than usual. The mining industry, strange to say, was nearly lacking, and the art exhibit, though good could be largely improved. The attendance broke all previous records. On Friday 40,000 people attended, and on the last day 25,000, while the total attendance was 137,000 against 51,- 500 in 1905. All told, there are $20,000 to the good from gate recipts. The directors decided to hold a fair next year, to make the mining exhibit a feature, to improve the entrance acccmmodations, and to add attractive features to every division and amusement for 1908. President J. G. McDonald and Secretary H. S. Ensign were delighted with the fair's success, and promise greater things for the future. The First Aerogram.— There were failures in Wall Street, political troub- les, personal and domestic tragedies.strikes, and other important items that filled the news columns of the daily papers on Thursday, October 17; but no event approached in importance the fact that on this day the Marconi Wireless Telegraphy Company began sending trans- Atlantic wireless messages between Canada and Great Britain. The first message was sent by Sir Wilfred Laurier, Premier of Canada, congratu- lating the British people on the new means of communication between Great Brit- ain and Canada. The message was received without a flaw in the office at Clif- den, Ireland, and flashed from there to every newspaper in the kingdom. The rate per word for Atlantic messages is ten cents. Think of sending accurately twenty words a minute, three thousand miles, through the air, without a wire to guide them! It is not only a stupendous scientific feat, but an epoch-making marvel, one of the most wonderful achievements of man recorded in history