How Shall We Build This Great Empire?

How Shall We Build this Great Empire?

Utah needs true devotion today as never before

r.\ l. (,. PETERSON, DIRE) ["OH I XTENSION DIVISION, UTAH AGRICUL-

II KM. ( (i I. LEGE

The time has come in the history of Utah when there should he a convention of the third generation. Such a convention would represent more scholarship, a more even distribution of wealth, a greater percentage of adherents to the productive industries, a greater freedom from the common diseases of mankind, less il- literacy, less divorce, and fewer victims of alcohol than any nu- merically equal body of young men and women in the world.

Such a statement while prohahly not capable of precise proof i- a general deduction made after some years of observation and study of conditions themselves here and in other states, and after a careful compilation of the opinion of others who have given study to the situation. Utah has not been subjected to that close sociological scrutiny in the past which will be her portion in the future. She has rather been victimized by yellow journals, cater- ing to a morbid taste on the part of some of their readers. The state and its people are still the object of much unjust criticism. Yet the careful opinion of many visiting scholars has been record- ed in testimony of the fundamental virtue which is in this state in high degree. It is recalled that, in a convention of sociologists during a discussion of the causes of the decline of the rural church, the statement was made that Utah represented the highest degree of efficiency in .America, today, of a rural church organization. The statement is likewise recalled that in agriculture, Utah has contributed a large share to the nation. Irrigation and dry- farming have been given here a keen study and an organized de- velopment. The West owes much of its industrial development to this State and it- people. Medical examinations in Utah gymnasiums show a remarkable freedom from disease on the part of the youth. Criminal records are again a strong testimony to the integrity of the state.

A convention of the third generation would force a recog- nition of these things. There would also be revealed by such a convention an apparent lack of stability and unity of purpose such as was possessed by the founders of the state. This apparent wavering is a symptom only of the readjustment of a great social

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body to an age more keenly analytical and more violent in its trans- formations than any age which has gone before.

Each year young men of Utah are coming back to the state laden with the scholarship of the world. Harvard, Cornell, Colum- bia, Chicago, and the colleges of the national capital, have a heavy enrollment from Utah. And almost universally, honors in scholarship have gone to these men. In Cornell University, in one year, there were six Utah men, four were members of the honorary scientific fraternity, one represented the University in debate and was a member of the undergraduate honorary fraterni- ty, three were made instructors of the University faculty and one made assistant professor, all after two years of study only. Other universities show similar records. Each year likewise hundreds return from two or three years observation in the farthest corners of the world. And all bring much of the spirit of the age, the tireless scrutiny and questioning. All have seen a world troubled by its visions. All have seen this fretting manifest itself in out- bursts of wantonness scarcely surpassed even in dark ages. The deplorable decadence of home life in the heart of civilization, these men have seen.

Here then is centered as nowhere else a variety of experience and study, tending, if properly sensed and guided, to give the state a wonderful soundness of judgment and tone in development. What shall become of this rich observation and experience? How shall this great mass be unified for the good of the empire? The first, step, undoubtedly, is a recognition of the power which does reside here. The second step must be, it seems, the arbitrary or- ganization of that power toward the ends desired. The various associations in the church furnish an organization through which every whit of scholarship and experience can be utilized to the fullest extent.

Where wre err is in not realizing the tremendous power which resides in ourselves. We err temporarily in being more or less distracted by the very wealth of power we possess. We conceive, sometimes, that we are units instead of being parts of a great unit. We muse over the things we know, and feel too seldom the compelling call to weld our influence with the influence of others in the interest of advancement. We have been given some luxury by our fathers ; we are prone to become mere philosophers rather than, as were they, workers.

There are complex problems in political economy, in social service, and in education, the solution of which will be a glory to any commonwealth. LTtah should and will lead. Yet Utah does not now sense fully the greatness of the opportunity or the wonderful aptitude the State has through its unequaled citizen sh'p and organization for the working out of the most intricate

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IMPROVEMENT ERA

human problems. The young men and women too often forget </ perfection of plan is already here! We forget that we are not living marly equal to this perfection of plan. And we sometimes subconsciously falsely assume credit for what we possess. We will know that our glory is in the work we do. The plan is a gift, for which no credit is due US.

The time has come for a reformation of our ideals, and a more compact organization of our power arbitrarily towards defi- nite goals.

LOGAN UTAH.

STAKE SUPERINTENDENTS Y. M. M. I. A.

Top row: George W. Flamm Fremont stake, Idaho; Robert B. White, Beaver stake; Asael Allen Hy rum stake, Utah; second row: William K. Davis, Union stake Oregon; Tames E. Moss, Granite stake; James M. Thomas, North Weber stake; bottom row: Albert Collard, Emery stake; Charles N. Broadbent, Wasatch stake Utah