Editors’ Table: About Our Conference

Editors' Table

About Our Conference

The Era devotes considerable space in this number to the Annual M. I. A. Conference. Attention is called to the winning public speeches published in this number, together with the pro- ceedings of the conference of Friday, containing the principal bus- iness, particularly an account of the literary and musical activities, joint work of the associations, and the closing speech by Presi- dent Grant. Officers will do well to scan carefully the instructions relat- ing to contest work for the coming season. In numbers to follow, vital instructions on the spirit of the Gospel in M. I. A. work, the faith of the youth of the Latter-day Saints, given at separate meetings on Saturday, and in the general meetings of Sunday, will be published. The conference was among the best ever held by the M. I. A. An interesting feature was the presence of National Scout Comissioner Ludvig S. Dale, who spoke on three or four occasions to Scout officials, to officers of the M. I. A., and to the general public. Demonstrations of "Home Evening" and the ward dance by the Social Committee was a very pleasant and instructive feature. A special meeting of superintendents, while not as well attended as it should have been, was one of the important features of the conference. A number of leading speakers gave valuable instruc- tions to the officers. President Grant's remarks, on Sunday evening, printed in this number, call attention to the faith and testimony of the young people, the evils of tobacco, and the distribution of a thou- sand copies of the Little White Slaver, an anti-cigarette pamphlet published by Mr. Ford, which the General Board has authorized distributed free. There are several features of the annual report of the Gen- eral Secretary which are of special value to officers and workers. The increase in membership is commendable, and yet, a number of the stakes are very slow to respond to the request of the Gen- eral Board for a 12 per cent enrollment in the organizations. This should become a slogan for active and persistent work for stakes that are behind the general average, for the coming season. If

there were to be active effort in all the stakes in the matter of mem- bership for 1916, there should be at least an increase of ten thou- sand, making fifty thousand young men as active workers in our

organizations. More attention should be paid to the requirements in the courses of the junior classes, and to the reading course books. Stake officers will notice that while $22,143 were collected for local expenditures in the associations, only $3,463 were con- tributed to the general fund for the expenses of the General Board, which was nearly $2,000 less than the actual expenses of the Board this year. We trust that the new method of collecting the Fund, as suggested in the new edition of the Hand Book, pages 111 and 112, and presented at the conference, will enable the officers to contribute their full quota for the year 1916, at the opening of the season, so that the Board may continue the splendid work of the Field Secretary and the Scout Commissioner. The general statistical report of the Young Men's Mutual Improvement Associations, prepared from stake reports by Sec- retary Moroni Snow, for the year ending April 30, 1915, shows a commendable increase in nearly every department of the associ- ation, including membership. It appears from the report that there were 704 associations, with 611 having senior and junior classes. The permanent enrollment is 40,090, which is the highest in the history of the organization, and an increase of 5,686 over 1914. There are 19,574 active senior, and 12,422 junior members enrolled, an increase of 2,588 senior, 1,681 junior, or a total of 4,269. There were 998 members away from home attending and 784 on missions, which latter is a decrease of 150 as school, compared with 1914; this is doubtless owing to the Great War. The average attendance in the associations was 18,082, an in- crease of 2,210. A larger number of meetings than heretofore were held. These included officers' and regular weekly, joint officers', and monthly meetings, conferences and conventions, making a total of 30,290, an increase of 3,258. In special activities the report shows that there were 1,241 public lectures, 219 public debates, 585 public contests, 256 public concerts, 639 dramatic entertainments, and 683 athletic meets, with 285 scout contests and demonstrations, making a grand total of special activities and meets of 3,908, an increase of 341. There were 461 scout patrols, as against 277 for last year. There was a slight decrease in the number of public contests, and in athletic meets, otherwise in all these special activities there was an in- crease, and it is estimated that at least 15,000 people took part in the various activities, aside from the scout work. The division of class work and reading course shows that there were in the junior classes 1,391 who passed the first year's course, and 1,200 who passed the second year's course. There were 2,017 reading course books in the libraries, and a total of

EDITORS' TABLE 925

9,733 books; 2,042 members read one or more of the reading course books. In the financial department $22,143.49 were collected, and $18,457.25 disbursed, leaving a balance on hand in the local asso- ciations of $3,686.24. This did not include the General Fund, but was the amount collected and disbursed in the local associa- tions. Only $3,463.79 was collected on the General Fund, a de- crease of $311.14 over 1914, and $1,940.00 less than the actual expense of the General Board. Six stakes, Beaver, Duchesne, Panguitch, San Juan, Summit and Union, failed to report for the year, and the totals of the year previous, except in finances, were used in the compilation of the figures given above. There were seventeen stakes that obtained 5 per cent or more of the Church population as subscribers for the Improvement Era, and ten stakes that obtained more than 4 per cent. Cassia, Fremont, Pioneer, Uintah and Woodruff forwarded to the General Secretary 100 per cent of the General Fund. Sev- enteen stakes have more than 12 per cent (the mark set by the Gneral Board for all the stakes) of their entire population en- rolled in the Mutual Improvement Associations. The highest ac- tive enrollment was in Alberta stake, with 16.8 per cent, fol- lowed by Bear River, with 16.7 per cent, and Young with 16.6. The lowest stake was Panguitch, with an enrollment of 3.9 per cent, followed by Beaver, with 4.3 per cent, Weber 5.6, Ogden 5.7, St. Joseph 6.3, Parowan 6.4, Salt Lake 6.5, and South San- pete 6.9. Eighteen stakes have 12 per cent enrollment and over; and fifteen have between 10 and 11 per cent enrollment. The Church average is 8.4 per cent. On the whole, Mutual work is onward and upward. With the young ladies, who are increasing in numbers and good works than the young men, we shall soon have an even more rapidly army of one hundred thousand young men and women full ot

the spirit of the gospel, true to the faith, ready to render service salvation of the unto the spiritual, intellectual and temporal youth of Zion.

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