Editor’s Table

EDITOR'S TABLE. AMUSEMENT AND RECREATION. In no other way are the ever- contending principles of right and wrong, good and bad, more strongly engaged in the fight for supremacy than in the furnishing of entertainment for the people. Those who cater to the public, of course, seek to provide what the public will pay for. It is a matter of dollars and cents with them; and with the public, it is a matter of being amused and entertained. But what people enjoy in amusement as well as in entertain- ment is largely a matter of education. The taste for these things is like any other appetite; it grows by the food it receives; and it learns to enjoy the food to which it becomes accustomed, whether that is for the best or for the worst. With a thorough knowledge of this fact, the class of amuse- ments and entertainments that children shall early become accus- tomed to is of vital importance. For that matter, it is of great moment also what men and women of maturer years shall choose, both because of their own welfare and because of the effect their example will have upon their own children, and upon the com- munity in general. With this understanding, it should be every person's duty and pleasure to choose such recreation as will whet and which will tend his appetite for that which is good and right, upward and not downward, towards the exalted in character, not the trivial and the silly. It cannot be denied that the proneness of the present age is toward the frivolous, the obscene and the low. There is a tendency to shun the opposite. This is true particularly of the theater.

; EDITOR'S TABLE. 717 Here the ligitimate will not draw. A striking illustration was witnessed in our own city only a short time ago when a first-class actor of strong personal attraction undertook to present a series of Shakesperian plays in the Salt Lake theater. They were at first so poorly patronized that had he not been persistent, and in possession of means to devote to his art, the presentations must have failed. At the same time, there were more than a dozen licensed show houses in operation in the city, and these were largely patronized by both old and young. The programs in these places are often anything but elevating; they are frequently unnatural and morally illegitimate, portraying rude scenes of murder, vul- garity, lust and lechery, wholly unfit for enjoyment of the right kind. It is not alone to the theaters to which people rush for the abnormal and the ultra-exciting. In our other amusements, the quiet, the legitimate and the orderly do not appear to suffice ; the hazard- ous, the dangerous, that which unnaturally agitates and stirs the feelings is sought after instead. So we are trained to have ele- vated railroads, schutes, and any other device where danger is ap- parent and where great excitement may be awakened in the mind. All this appears to me to be education in the wrong direction it is food for the young mind which causes growth towards the bad; it aids mightily in the fight of wrong to gain the mastery over right. To expect people to go out into nature for enjoyment — to have quiet walks, to admire the clear streams, the woods, the glorious mountains, the flowers, the trees, the grasses, the glens, valleys and canyons — seems to be too tame a pleasure for the present age. So are simple games and amusements. The child's mind, it would appear from our practice, is taught to be stirred to excitement by artificial means, all of which has a tendency to unnatural growth, to nerve-trouble and other evils, moral, mental and physical. Our duty lies in cultivating a better taste in the choice of amusements, and a more rational preference in recre- ation. In this connection, a word to parents on example in amuse- ment may not be taken amiss. Children, we all admit, must have rec- reation. It is not quite the right thing to work the boy sixteen

718 IMPROVEMENl ERA. hours a day on the farm, without giving him some little time for the proper kind of recreation. That time should be given during the week, and not on Sunday. A good Latter-day Saint will not devote the whole week, year in and year out, to worldly labors and then loiter about on Sunday, unkempt and untidy, neglecting his religious duties, and still expect to enjoy the spirit of the gospel. He will not work around home all day Sunday, or visit pleasure re- sorts, and expect his children to attend to their duties on that day. It would seem, then, that a day, or a half day, given to proper recreation, rest and amusement, during the week is what we need and should have for ourselves and our boys — and why not include the girls and the overworked mothers? As for employers, they would get better service from their help, if this were done, es- pecially if they would then insist upon their help giving up their night and Sunday excursions for so-called pleasure. And this, of course, should also be insisted upon in the family. The tendency to be out almost every night in the week, on some exciting pleas- ure bent, deserves to be strongly discouraged, both for moral and financial reasons. Training ourselves and our children to enjoy moderate recrea- tion of the right kind, and providing ourselves and them with an appropriate time to engage in it, so that it shall not interfere with our worship of God, are important considerations in our family government. Joseph P. Smith. CROWDED OUT. A number of articles, mission messages, events, and the M.I. A. June conference minutes, crowded out of this number, will appear with many attractive and instructive papers in the August number of the Era. MESSAGES FROM THE MISSIONS. President Ray L. Pratt sends the Era a cheering ivord from Mexico, under d^te of May 14, with a group picture of all the missionaries laboring in the Mexi-

!?gw

. 720 iMPRO VEMENT ERA can mission, fourteen elders and two sisters. He says: "We are few in number, but the Lord is blessing us abundantly, and we rejoice in our labors among these Lamanites whom we know to be a covenant people of the Lord. Success is at- tending us on every hand. Many people are investigating the principles of the gospel, and becoming convinced of their truth . Daring the past six months 41 persons in the mission have been baptized. All the elders are in the best of health. Mexico is a strong Catholic country, and the Catholic church has held almost universal sway over the people for centuries; but their power is less today than it ever was before. There seems to be a spirit of awakening, as from a deep sleep, and the people are beginning to look for better things, and are investi- gating and accepting the truth. We believe in the promises of the Lord made to this his covenant people, who are of the house of Israel, and we know that they will all be fulflled. Our prayer and desire is that we may be humble and faithful in- struments in his hands in working out his purposes, and helping to fulfil his promises made unto this people; and to this end we are directing our efforts." President Soren Rasmussen, of the Scandinavian Mission, sends the Era this message from Copenhagen, under date of May 11. "Only a few days ago I returned from my spring conference trip through the mission. I had a very pleasant and profitable trip, and am very pleased to say that the conferences all through were very successful, the halls and meeting houses being crowded with many of the latter being earnest investigators of the Gospel. Saints and friends, In all our meetings the Spirit of the Lord was poured out upon us in great abundance. The elders are laboring very faithfully, and as a rule enjoy the spirit of their calling. The auxiliary organizations are in a very fair condition, and I have made a point to work up a greater interest in these organizations, but with two exceptions they meet and labor together conjointly with the young ladies. Our enrollment of the young men is 284, but a great many more attend these meetings. Of the number enrolled one third are not members of the Church, and nearly all the visitors are non-members. A renewed effort will be made to increase our attendance and membership; in fact, I feel that the pros- pects for the work of the Lord in these lands are indeed good." Elder Nephi Jensen who, on arrival in the field, spent the first two or three months of his time on the old Elders' Journal and later, after the consolidation of the paper with Liahona, took a missionary trip to parts of Georgia and Florida, and who last September was appointed secretary of the Southern States Mission, writes under date of May 25, from Chattanooga, Tenn: "The elders throughout the mission are meeting with success. The old bitterness of the past has been removed and the people now generally treat the elders kindly. In a number of instances preachers of other denominations have thrown open the doors of their churches to the servants of God. An immense amount of literature is being dis- tributed; nine hundred and eighty-eight copies of the Book of Mormon have already been sold during the year 1908. There have already been 230 baptisms in the mission this year. Last year we added 843 converts to the fold." There are now 14,000 members of the Church in the Southern States Mission.