Editor’s Table: Pertinent Counsel

Editor's Table. Pertinent Counsel. BY PRESIDENT JOHN HENRY SMITH. At the semi-annual conference of the Church, in October last, President John Henry Smith gave some very important counsel, in his opening talk to the people. He called attention to the faithful- ness of President Joseph F. Smith, and urged the Saints to live so that they also could be true to God, his people and all men, as President Smith had been true. He urged them to so conduct their walks in life that like him, at the age at which he has arrived, each of them could stand in the sacred presence of their fellowmen and declare: "I have betrayed no trust, violated no obligation, nor counseled other men so to do." After calling attention to the importance of our wonderful missionary work, and commending both men and women for their readiness to respond to missionary calls, he spoke as follows: The Habit of Drifting. There are a number of subjects upon which, probably, we ought to speak in this conference, and in which we are most earnestly and devotedly interested. Among them is the one in which we see evidence of the drifting away from the old habit in the formation of our settlements and establishing ourselves in the land. There is discovered to be uneasiness in some sections of the country. There are still quite a number of our brethren wandering around in the world, hunting something better beyond our settlements. They have been in most states of the Union. They have passed beyond the borders into Mexico. Some of them have gone down into the South American republics. Others of them have passed beyond the borders into Canada. They are seen on the move, looking for something and anticipating something

170 IMPROVEMENT ERA. which never comes. After wandering around the circle, dissi- pating their means, and putting themselves almost in a condition of beggary, they, in many instances, are compelled to return to their mountain home, that they may be enabled to secure the necessaries of life. We have sought to stop this tendency, and to call the people to an understanding of their responsibility in car- ing legitimately and properly for their households, in making their homes, and preserving those homes, that their children may not be wanderers in the world. But it seems difficult to make an imprtssion upon some minds in regard to this matter, and we feel that an effort should be made to preserve ourselves in the posses- sion of that which we have, and to repress this spirit of wander- ing, wandering, and wandering, until it leads to our almost com- plete annihilation, as far as our happiness is concerned, and almost as far as our physical well-being is concerned. The Glory of Our Own Land and Nation. The United States, my friends, is good enough for me. Any- where under that flag, within the confines of the United States, should please every American, should fill him with hope and with faith, and none of you can help but feel that hope and that faith when you stop to think, and weigh the mission of that flag in the world, and the good that has come to you and yours, and the good that has c >me to me and mine. From a far-off land, amidst perse" cution and trial, my ancestry landed upon this continent. Under our flag they have endured some hardships and some privations and tribulations. Even wrongs have been heaped upon them by the intolerance of their fellowmen; but we have yet to find one of them who feels that that flag should be lowered from the place it occupies. They feel that our country's laws should be sustained and honored by the children of the Latter-day Saints in the United States. Our place among men should be a place of honor, a place of worth, that no matter where found we should be recog- nized as among the most obedient, tractable and earnest observers of the laws of our country. In our perversions and the mistakes we make in our lives, we should not lay it to the flag; we should not lay it to the laws of our country. We should not lay it to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which under the

EDITOR'S TABLE. 171 law of God is required to obey every constitutional law of this land. When we step aside from it, we assume personally the burdens and responsibility of our violations of the law. May you and I recognize our places in the great scheme of life to which we have been called by the still small voice, or by the ministration of the elders of the Church in the world outside. May we continue beneath the folds of the flag, in this glorious land, rejoicing in the fact that it floats and invites us to enjoy every blessing and right that mortal can enjoy beneath any flag in the world— and many more. I do not wish to drift away from the thought that is in my mind upon this question of people moving from our sections of country into other sections of the land. To the east of us is one of the finest sections of the world, a place where good homes can be built, where ample water, by labor, can be secured, and where industrious men, in the course of a few years, can stand in the possession of opulence and wealth. There homes may be established and joy abound in the rearing of a family among friends and neighbors who feel, as you feel, reverence and respect for everything that is noble and good. Children and Home. The impress of the remarks of President Lund, in regard to the question of the guardianship of our children, should ever be held in remembrance by Latter-day Saints. Their homes should be homes of love and peace, should be homes of plenty, should be homes of prayer and devotion. They should be homes where a father, loving the right, presides in honor, and where a mother, loving the right, loving the home and all its interests, guards it and her children. There is quite a deal of carelessness and thoughtlessness in regard to the matter of the mingling together of all classes of people, especially of young people, that forebodes evil . f no limited character. We should seek to change and limit that wrong, and the possibilities i f that wrong. Your sons, in pay- ing their addresses to my daughters, should pay to them the addresses of a man who is clean, and moral, and sweet in his life. The girls who receive and enjoy his companionship should recog- nize his worth as a man of honor, of integrity and of virtue. The

172 ROVEMENT ERA. woman to whom he pays his addresses should be above reproach, or the possibility of censure in any respect as to her moral worth. When my sons go into your homes, to pay their addresses to your daughters, you should expect them to be men who are above reproach, whose honor is clean and free; who are as virtuous as maidens could be. Their hearts should be aflame with the true nobility of manhood, a love of God, love of country, love of home, love of faith, love of right, and be possessed of the dignity that should characterize genuine and true manhood, in every sense of the word. My brethren and sisters, let us remember who we are; let us remember from whence we came; let us remember our hope in con- nection with this work which God has revealed, the hope in our souls, written there by the finger of God. Let us keep in mind the obligations resting upon us, that we would stand for the uplifting of the race, that we would guard manhood and require from manhood the same that has been required by the world from womanhood. We shall continue to require from the womanhood of our Church, the womanhood of our nation, a womanhood so clean and so sweet, that wherever found, the impress of the nobility of their characters will write upon the souls of men — respect, honor and devotion. Again I welcome you to conference. Again I say to you, when you go to your homes, go with this impress upon your souls — that the Latter-day Saints love this government; that the Latter- day Saints love every truth that God has revealed; that the Latter- day Saints propose to continue to gather truth from every source in the world, and to utilize that truth, to the best of their ability, in the betterment of the human family — men, women and children alike. Let us keep up the standard of our birth, as far as it is possible for us to do so, and let us teach the women who are for- feiting their right of motherhood, and trampling in the dust that call of God, "Multiply and replenish the earth," that they are on the road to destruction; that it means death; it means shame; it means the blotting out of the purposes of God, so far as their acts are concerned. Let us say to our own womanhood, one and all: Motherhood is her glory, and the fulfilment of the position of motherhood places her, when her mission is done, in the arms and

EDITOR'S TABLE. 173 holding the respect of the Redeemer of the world, and God our Father— the friend and guide of us all. Economy, Honesty and Obedience to Law. Look carefully around, over the land; secure good homes; preserve everything of a temporal nature, and utilize it legiti- mately. Cease to grow in the thought of increasing extravagance and recklessness. There is a feeling of recklessness taking pos- session of the American people — and it reaches us— that will, from time to time, write the dishonor of the men all over the land, who are unfaithfully handling the funds of other people. Wherever a man is entrusted with the funds of a people, or of his neighbors, or friends, as a banker, as a merchant, or in any of the fields of activity where we enter to do legitimate and proper business, he should learn that those interests should be guarded more carefully and sacredly than his life. But we hear and see, upon the right hand and upon the left: This man has gone wrong, and the other man has gone wrong. This one has made a mistake. This one is in the penitentiary, in connection with these matters, and as a result of these conditions has brought himself into disgrace and shame. He has disgraced the family from which he came; he has disgraced the wife and child with whom he was associated, if he had a wife and child, and disgraced, as far as it is possible, the honor of his state and the honor of his nation. You among the "Mormon" people, can write it in your books, that the "Mormon" apostles have never counseled you to steal. They have never counseled you to lie. They have never counseled you to bear false witness against your neighbor. They have never counseled you to do wrong to your fellow — not in any sense of the word. But their instruction, from the day you were born, as you have heard their voices in these gatherings, or in other gather- ings, was that the highest elements of your manhood should be developed, that you might be lifted up and prepared for the duties of life. Pay your debts, be honest, virtuous, truthful, geLerous, brave with unyielding courage and eternal hope, and God the Father will receive you when your mission in the world is done. They have warned you not to destroy the honor of woman. They have sought to guard you in the complete and implicit observance

174 IMPROVEMENT ERA. of every moral rule. Every woman has been warned and re warned by the same voices. See to it that your womanhood is guarded, and that you live in harmony with the principles of righteousness and right. Now, my brethren and sisters, I welcome you again, and ask you to observe the rules of your Church, and you will never be far in the wrong. Observe the duties and responsibilities made incumbent upon you, and which come to you by right under the constitution and laws of your country, and you will never go far wrong. It is true we have our weaknesses, and we make our little mistakes; but the heavy burdens of crime and evil will not rest upon our shoulders. When the time shall come, we will stand accepted of our God, because we have been true to him; we have been true to one another; we have been true to the obligations into which we have entered; we have been true to the requirement given of the Lord, and with which we have had much to do and say in the times past, obeying the laws of our country, which have been decided constitutional by the courts of our country, and doing that, there will be no regrets upon our part. None of our friends will feel that we have trampled upon them, if we have walked in this right and true path. May heaven bless every man, woman and child of our land. May the Lord bless the citizenship of our state, men of every creed and of every faith, if they obey the requirements of that faith in honor and in truth. May he bless the sons of the soil in the United States, and her daughters, that this land may present a people to the world that shall be unequalled among mankind in the future; men and women who shall be unequalled in their equipment for the duties of life; unequalled in their generosity, in their bravery, in their love of virtue, in their honor and truth, and in their sustain- ing of all things that mean, in manhood and womanhood, all that is noble and good. Amen. Christmas Greeting. To the bearers of glad tidings in every nation, on the plains, in the valleys, on the mountains, and in the islands of the seas,

EDITOR'S TABLE. 175 who render free and loving service to their fellows in proclaiming our Redeemer's message of "Peace on earth, good will to men," A MERRY CHRISTMAS. To those who bear the burdens at home, waiting, watching, praying, reaching out by faith and toil to encour- age and sustain the bearers of the word, A MERRY CHRISTMAS. To the faithful officers of the Church, and to the Saints in the wards and stakes of Zion, in quorums and auxiliary organiza- tions, who, without complaint or financial recompense, counsel, direct, teach, and render help in the temporal troubles and mental anxieties of their brethren and sisters, A MERRY CHRISTMAS. To the patient toilers in mine, office, mart, in forest, field and farm, whose brain and brawn are the backbone of the nations' material progress; and to their brethren and sisters, the skilful artisans and learned men and women of the professions, the train- ers of our youth, all teaching that labor is the joyful music of happiness and progress, A MERRY CHRISTMAS. To the fathers and mothers, often misunderstood and unappreciated, unceasingly planning, working and worrying, for the good of their sometimes wayward children, hoping that the future may dawn with healing recompense, A MERRY CHRISTMAS. To the young men and women, full of vigor and strength, standing at the wings of the stage of life, with earnest impa- tience to enter the uncertain storm of action, but full of hope and determination to perform an honorable part in the great drama of life, A MERRY CHRISTMAS. To the veterans, the founders, pioneers and builders of our commonwealth, whose sun of life is setting, who are patiently waiting for the summons beyond, with firm confidence in the Master's promise, "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest, ' ' A MERRY CHRISTMAS.

176 IMPROVEMENT ERA. To the patriotic officers of city, state and nation, to parents, kinsmen, friends, rich and poor, to all, young and old, strug- gling upward and onward in the paths of service, the cheer and peace of Christ rest upon you; to all A MERRY CHRISTMAS. Importance of the Priesthood and its Keys. At a recent priesthood meeting, President Joseph F. Smith answered a question asked by one of the brethren who wished to know what is meant by priesthood, and keys of the priesthood, in these words: The priesthood that we hold is of the greatest importance, because it is the authority and power of God. It is authority from heaven that has been restored to men upon the earth in the latter- days, through the ministration of an angel from God, who came with authority to bestow this power and this priesthood upon men. I say that the priesthood who are the agents of our heavenly Father, hold the keys of the ministering of angels. What is a key? It is the right or privilege which belongs to and comes with the priesthood, to have communication with God. Is not that a key? Most decidedly. We may not enjoy the blessing, or key, very much, but the key is in the priesthood. It is the right to enjoy the blessing of communication with the heavens, and the privilege and authority to administer in the ordiiances of the gospel of Jesus Christ, to preach the gospel of repentance, and of baptism by immersion for the remission of sins. That is a key. You who hold the priesthood have the key or the authority, the right, the power or privilege to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ, which is the gospel of repentance and of baptism by immersion for the remission of sins — a mighty important thing, I tell you. Toere isn't a minister of any church upon all of God's footstool today, so far as we know, except in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, who has the keys or the authority to enjoy the ministration of angels. There isn't one of them that possesses that priesthood. But here we ordain boys who are

EDITOR'S TABLE. 177 scarcely in their teens, some of them, to that priesthood which holds the keys of the ministering of angels and of the gospel of repentance and baptism by immersion for the remission of sins. There is not a minister anywhere else in the world, 1 repeat, who possesses these keys or this priesthood or power, or that right. Why? Because they have not received the gospel, nor have they received that priesthood by the laying on of hands by those having authority to confer it. The splendid steel engraving of the Prophet Joseph Smith, in this number, appeared first in Americana in the History of the Mormon Church, by B. H. Roberts. Messages from the Missions. ELDERS IN COMPANY T, NEW HAMPSHIRE CONFERENCE. Left to right: Victor Austin, William F. Butterfield, Mor- ris Tanner and Vivian Snow. These elders write that President Howell has had the elders working in the smaller cities in compan- ies. It has proved quite a success, so far. "We have finished tracting Frank- lin and Franklin Falls, and are now in Tilton, New Hampshire. We have a num- ber of friends in each place. Lately one of the elders had the privilege of explaining suffrage in Utah, before a large audience in Social Hall. The Lord is blessing us in numerous ways.

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EDITOR'S TABLE. 179 President D. W. Grover of the Nottingham Conference, England, writes, under date of October 18, enclosing a group of elders of that con- ference, including President Rudger Clawson of the European mission, and states further: "We have just closed a very successful half-year, with an increase in all lines of our work. Our baptisms have been nearly as many as the total number of last year. There is bright prospect for a good harvest of souls for the next six months." Elder E. Davis, of Belfast, Ireland, in enclosing this picture of the four largest elders laboring in the Irish Conference, adds: "The work of the Lord is progressing in Ireland. As the people be- come more acquainted with the principles of the gospel as taught by the Latter-day Saints, they see more clearly that the slanderous stories, spoken and published against our people, are based on false- hood and misrepresenta- tion. They begin to real- ize the importance of our message, and can also see that prophets are needed in this day and age to bring men to a unity of the faith. The confusion existing among the sects of so-called Christendom has led the people to see the need of prophets, that they may be made one in Christ, as Christ is one with the Father; also they see that thus they may receive spiritual food. Our meetings are well at- tended, and a larger place of worship is now re- Large ELDERS OF THE IRISH CONFERENCE. From left to right: H. R. Merrill, Preston, Idaho— height 6 ft. 4 in., weight 245 lbs. V. J. Danielson, Independence, Mo. — height 6 ft. 3 in., weight 178 lbs. E. Davis, Waterloo, Salt Lake City- height 6 ft. 3 in., weight 210 !b-. J. M. McMurdie, Paradise, Utah— height 6 ft. 3 in., weight 204 lbs. quired. Our street-meeting season has been a most pleasant one

180 IMPROVEMENT ERA. crowds listen to our message. Though we meet with some opposition, we feel to rejoice, for it causes people to investigate, and proves to be a blessing in disguise. The elders have their hearts and souls centered in the work, and they rejoice in their testimony which they bear to the chil- dren of men. Their prayer is, 'God speed the work throughout the nations of the earth.' '' COMPANY A, EAST KANSAS ELDERS. Left to right: Elders Ben T. Helm. Salt Lake City, William H. Duffin, Provo, Utah; Philander Packer, Franklin, John F. Miller, St. Anthony, Willis Teeples, Goshen, Idaho; President C. R. Christensen, East Kansas Conference, Monticello, 0. T. Harmon, Price Utah; S. C. Adams, Bunker- ville, Nevada. Elder 0. T. Harmon has been called to preside over the St. Johns Conference. The elders are doing a good work, and have had good suc- cess in distributing the Book of Mormon. President Andreas Peterson, of the Swedish mission, writing toC. A. Carlson, from Stockholm, October 26, says that since the 15th of September, when he landed in Gothenburg, until the 25th October, he had traveled over 3,325 miles in Sweden, to bear witness to the gospel mes- sage. He had held forty-one meetings, including Sunday schools and priesthood meetings; and had richly enjoyed the Spirit of the Lord. He remarks further that at no other time in his experience in that land had the priests and press spoken and written so much against the Latter-day Saints as they now speak and write. The leading churchmen of the Lutheran church at Stockholm, a week prior to his writing, in one of the gather- ings of the officials of that church, had suggested sending a petition to the king, providing: that not only foreign "Mormons," but even Swedish citizens who are Latter-day Saints be exiled from the country. The sug- gestion was unanimously adopted by the priests in the gathering. What the result will be, time will show. "We are all, however, in the hands of God," he adds.