Vote Or Ever After Hold Your Peace

Vote, or Ever After Hold Your Peace. "I have been a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for more than twenty years," writes William A. Morton to the Era. "During that time I have listened to scores

740 IMPROVEMENT ERA. of excellent discourses on the word of wisdom, and have talked a great deal on the subject myself. The time has now come for us to preach by example that which we have taught for so many years by precept. 'Precept and example,' some one has said, 'are like the blades of a pair of scissors, admirably adapted to their end when conjoined.' The story is told of a little girl whose brother had set traps to catch birds. The child did not want to see the birds caught, and they didn't get caught, either. This is how she prevented them: She said, 'I prayed to the Lord to keep the birds from going into the traps. I prayed to him again not to let the traps catch the birds. After that I went out and kicked the traps to pieces.' "That was certainly a splendid combination of faith and works. That is the example which we as teachers in Israel should set to the youth of Zion. For years and years we have been preaching to them the observance of the word of wisdom. Now let us back up our faith by our works. I never expect to hear a more impressive sermon preached on the word of wisdom than that which I expect to hear on the 27th of this month —a sermon not by the voice but by votes. Failing to vote against the saloons that day, let us never, unless we want ourselves branded as hypocrites, stand up and preach temperance to the youth of Israel. What a sermon we as Latter-day Saints can preach to the world on the 27th of June! God and angels expect us to do it. The eyes of the heavenly host are upon us. The rec Drding angels are ready to make a record of our doings that day. What are we going to do? Are we going, by our votes, to drive this awful temptation from our midst, and save the youth of Zion? or are we, by our carelessness and indifference, going to sustain it, and thus assist in the ruin of our brothers? God forbid that we should do the latter! God forbid that, when the books are opened at the last day, it should be recorded by any of us that we voted for that cursed thing which has brought ruin to countless millions of our Father's children! " 'Arrow,' in the Christian Endeavor World, reads this lesson to Christian voters:" "Well, I suppose it's Alderman Smith today." ' 'Alderman—nothing!''

EDITOR'S TABL . 741 "What? Do you mean to say Smith wasn't elected?" "Precisely. Lost it by forty-one votes." "Well, well, well! Why, I thought Smith was popular, such a nice, clean fellow; and smart, too." "He is popular.'' "And I thought his opponent was a scallawag." "He is. The rummies were all for him, and he celebrated his victory with a big, free-for-all debauch. I guess our ward'11 be open enough now, all right." "But what was the matter? I suppose Smith lay back and took it easy." "No, sir! He got out and hustled for himself." "Then he probably had no machine to back him." "Ah, but he had; and some of the best politicians in the city worked for him. Why, nearly all the strongest men in the ward signed a paper in his interest, and everybody got a copy a day before election." "But they couldn't have known the issues at stake—between decency and indencency, character and hoodlumism.'' "They did, if words could make it clear." "Then why, in the name of all that is reasonable, in that pious ward of yours, wasn't Smith elected?" "Just because about sixty of the pious men stayed at home, or let their sons neglect to vote. We knew the names of that many who didn't vote. Tried to get them to come out, telephoned, and all that; but no good. Too busy, or they 'weren't needed.' And the other side got out every man." "These pious men go to prayer-meeting?" "Yes, most of them; and my! but they shine when the topic is a patriotic one." "Well, I don't know what you think about it, but I'd rather have one X opposite Smith's name on that ballot than ten years of prayermeeting eloquence without it." "So 'd I." A Prosperous Community. It is remarkable how a community may prosper in all that is good when the members of that community seek unitedly to live in conformity with the principles of the gospel. An illustration of this comes from Bluff ward, in San Juan county, in a letter to

742 IMPROVEMENT ERA. President Joseph F. Smith, written by Kumen Jones, on the 6th day of April, 1911: Dear Brother:—Thirty-one years ago this date the pioneers entered this little valley; and in looking up some events and historical data in regard to the story of Bluff ward, we find some things that may be interesting to you, the following being some of them: There has been no Indian or white man or person killed by any member of this ward, nor has any person taken his own life; but Indians have killed one of our members and thirty-two other white men in this neighborhood. There has not been a case of adultery, fornication, nor any case of unlawful association of the sexes; and not even a serious suspicion of a case of those sins come to light, between the members of our community. No member of the ward has been arrested for any cause by officers of the civil law. No divorce nor separation of man and wife; no high council, bishops', or any other ecclesiastical trial; nor any difficulty or differences between members but what have been settled between the members interested, or with the assistance of the ward teachers. A brother from another ward in the stake brought charges against another brother of this ward before the high council, but the charges were not sustained. Out of the one hundred and fifty children born, all have been sound in mind and body. There has not been a saloon, pool or billard hall, or disorderly house in the settlement, from the first. Out of a total population of a little less than two hundred, all told, our missionaries have averaged between five and six out in the field all the time, for the past twenty years, at a total cost of approximately forty thousand dollars. We have a fairly good showing in tithes, offerings,and sustaining Church schools, etc., but still come very far from what we should be in all things that make true Latter-day Saints. The above is not written for publication, nor to make a boast, for if there is anything better than in the average wards, the Lord be praised and the noble men who have presided over us. With warm personal regards to yourself and the brethren, and praying the blessings of the Father to be upon all Israel. Your brother, Kumen Jones. It may be said in addition to the foregoing that a larger