Utah's Holidays

UTAH'S HOLIDAYS. BY S. A. KENNEK. The Utah legislature has added another holiday to the number previously existing, which a good many people thought was ample, the writer of these lines being among the number. That there should be days of rest, days of business suspension, periods in which labor is laid aside and the cares of life mitigated in harmless relaxation, is indisputable, and these have obtained in all ages and places, civilized and barbarous. The tendency of our race to seek repose and enjoyment, however, is one that can be, and too often is, indulged in with too little regard for the duties and responsibilities which are ever present, and neglected too much, are productive of disappointment and loss. There ought to be, in fact there is, the happy medium, and that ground constantly occupied, would produce much better results in the long run than would an inclination to either of the extremes spoken of. In Mexico, among the lower classes, every day is an actual or constructive sort of holiday, the disposition to take life easily, if not indolently, entering into the manner in which what passes for labor is performed. It is the land of the siesta, or daytime slumber, and the land of ma" ana (tomorrow) for pretty much everything else except pastime; and Mexico, notwithstanding the great strides forward that have been accomplished under the administration of the great and good Diaz, is yet far astern of the other nations of considerable population where civilization has a footing. It is forging to the front, though, as rapidly as the peculiarity spoken of and others engendered by climatic conditions will permit, and is, in all substantial respects, a most desirable and promising country. That is one of the extremes. If I knew where the other prevailed in a widespread way, it would be a pleasure to mention it;

11 AITS HOLIDAYS. 451 but such instances relate to individuals, or, at the most, to isolated communities. In the early days of Utah's history she came as near to it as a considerable number of people ever experienced in modern times. And they were not without their holidays, their times of cheer and periods of concerted "laying off" by any means. On the contrary, they observed all the sacred holidays, — chiefly Sundays and Christmas, of course — and the legitimate and natural red-letter days besides, these being the Fourth and Twenty-fourth of July, before they were made such by law. They were and are that kind of people — the hardest, most patient, most indefatigable wonders in the world, never neglecting the coarse arts in favor of the fine, or forgetting the means of subsistence in the presence of means of enjoyment, and yet going into the measures of relaxation with as much zest and apparent obliviousness to the cares of life as if the latter did not exist. This was what might properly be called the ideal condition, neither phase of life infringing upon the other. As the labors became less laborious, with the advent of improved mechanism and the gradual accomplishment of needed ends with less care and attention, more time could be and was given to public and private demonstrations in which pastimes largely figured. The legislature got busy and began to add holidays to those formerly recognized, Washington's birthday being the first of these additions; then came New Year's day, then Thanksgiving, Decoration day, Labor day, and Arb.r day, with governors and mayors empowered to create holidays whenever, in their judgment, such would be either enjoyable or useful. Now the lawmakers have put Abraham Lincoln's birthday into the category, and there should be no objection to it from anv source, probably will not be so far as the subject goes, but there may be some of the general character indicated in the article. The subject having been opened up, suggestions are in order. It is beyond question meet and proper that this and all succeeding generations should do honor to the memory of the great emancipator, and it is no less fitting that all other men whose names and deeds have placed them in the world's temple of fame should be fittingly remembered. Utah has a candidate whose claims should have been recognized long ago. It is almost superfluous for me to say that his name is Brigham Young. Among the world's

152 IMPROVEMENT ERA. pathfinders, colonizers, organizers, builders and genuine statesmen, he takes no second place to any. While it is very true that we cannot look around us without beholding some kind of memorial figure bespeaking his matchless character and wondrous work, it still remains that the lawmaking power has done nothing to keep his well-deserved place in history constantly before the world's people, and there is no longer any excuse for not doing so. He was not great as the result of accidental circumstances, nor providential culminations, such as has made many a hero, and most of the popular idols; but he achieved greatness because born to it, because possessed by nature of the necessary qualifications and making the best use of his opportunities. A natural leader of men, he led them through paths of trial and tribulation to safety, prosperty and enlarged consequence; and those who came with him, their descendants and all who live within the shadows of our mountains, can do no more tittting thing than properly observe the first day of June,the anniversary of Brigham's birth. Salt Lake City, Utah. Photo by David B. Anderson.