Editors’ Table

EDITORS* TABLE 841

other side is in the field. One man at least,, a Mr. Brown, a rep- resentative of the eastern liquor interests, has organized under the subterfuge of establishing a business league, all who are willing to come to his standard. These will have to be reckoned with at the primaries. This combination has any amount of money, and will make every effort to carry the primaries for men who will oppose prohibition and stand for the saloon and all its concomitants. Three things, the friends of prohibition in Utah should remember, and get immediately to work at them: (1) Organize; (2) have pledged people in sufficient numbers at the primaries to carry the nominations to state and county con- ventions, of men and women who are pledged to destroy the in- fluence of the saloon; (3) have every nominee for office in the state in every party pledged in like manner. This requires work, and work, too, for the love of the cause. There is no money to expend, as in the case of the breweries and liquor interests who are willing to scatter broadcast untold thousands in gold to pur- chase or to defeat the will of the people, for there are many weak souls who seem willing to take money and sell their vote for a mess of pottage.

President Smith at San Diego

President Joseph F. Smith, prior to his prayer at the dedication of the Latter-day Saints church in San Diego, Cal., in his introductory remarks called attention very feelingly to the attendance of little children and welcomed them to the meeting which, bv-the-by, was so crowded that many were compelled to stand. He said, as reported in part by President Stephen Riarnson, that he would prefer to stand during the entire service rather than see one of the little children turned away from the church. The Latter-day Saints build their churches with a view to care for the needs of children. The house of worship is a place in which we may learn the truth of the gospel and in which we may be built up spiritually. The Saints believe that men in their wisdom cannot without the Spirit of God understand the things of God, and hence the need of spiritual education. The Lord can and does reveal His will to the lowly, the meek and the humble. The Latter-day Saints affirm that God has revealed himself to men in this day. and it is therefore reasonable that he should require that we should be as respectful and considerate of his children in this day as he was in the days of Moses and Abraham. He declared that the Latter-day Saints believe in clean, good, wholesome, elevating social recreation, and that some of these diversions mav be held in a house of worship. They may be

842 IMPROVEMENT ERA made acceptable to the Lord if properly conducted. do not We believe in the new, fashionable dances. They are suggestive of lust and are sinful and harmful. We deplore participation in then by any of the Latter-day Saints. We believe that the earth is the Lord's and the fulness thereof, and the things of this earth are not ours but the Lord's which is evidenced by the fact that we leave everything behind when we pass from this existence. There- we have a farm or a house we should dedicate it to him fore, if and receive him as a partner, asking his blessings upon it and seeking his advice concerning its management. We should not be unmindful of the great Giver nor respect the gift more than the Giver. Frequently many blessings come to men through

PRESIDENT AND MRS. JULINA SMITH, AT SAN DIEGO President Robinson at the extreme left and Elder Ivins just back of Mrs. Smith.

accident and misfortune, and therefore it is the duty of men not to blame God nor to charge him in affliction. If men sin, God is not acountable for it.Every individual must answer for every act in his life. We wish to go to heaven on the platform of worthiness and on no other. "I do not want to be compelled to p;o to heaven in sin, for consciousness of sin will be damnation." We have been given free agency in this life in order that we may develop and progress. He deplored the fact that some teachers of men influence mankind toward the infamous doctrine of death- bed repentance, implying that men may sin, and then on their death-bed repent and be forgiven and even exalted. He de- clared his amazement that men of intelligence frequently looked upon the doctrines of the Latter-day Saints with condemnation,

EDITORS' TABLE 843

but declared that when men learn their virtues they will cease to condemn them. Those who have been leaders of the Church have been men of God as great and good as any that ever lived upon the earth, according to the intelligence which God had given them. As for himself he would let others judge of him, but he was positive that no one could say he had ever wronged them, and further that no leader of the Church had ever counseled any man to do evil.

Conditions in Northern Mexico

A glimpse of the conditions in Mexico was given by Elder A. W. Ivins, of the quorum of the Twelve Apostles, in his speech in San Diego at the dedication of the new meetinghouse of the Latter-day Saints, May 21, as reported to the Era, by President Stephen Bjarnson. Elder Ivins had just returned from Mexico and contrasted the conditions in that country with those which prevailed there four years ago. All the bridges and railways be- tween the colonies and the United States border some one hun- dred and fifty miles distant had been destroyed; buildings have been razed to the ground, and devastation in general has taken place in that country. Through the providence of God the people of our colonies have been well provided for, notwithstanding all this tumult and destruction. They have escaped the wrath of the rebels on various occasions, some of which were wonderful and almost miraculous. They have been required to give their pro- visions on many occasions to the raiders in very large quantities, but on the other hand they have been blessed by the yield of abundant crops. The Latter-day Saints in their cities in Mexico had established equal rights, good schools, and a high standard of morals. Among them the use of tobacco and liquor were un- known. They were prosperous and peaceful, in the midst of neighbors who were poverty-stricken and in confusion. This is an illustration of what the gospel does, and he was bold in de- claring that if the gospel of Christ were lived by all men and women they would find salvation and peace in this world and eternal life in the kingdom of God. He expressed the opinion that in due time the Lord will effect a peaceful condition in stricken Mexico, where the war is a war between servants and pitiless masters. He voiced the hope that righteousness, truth, and liberty will be established as a result of this fearful and long drawn out conflict.

844 IMPROVEMENT ERA

Books

Books Received. — "Thoughts on Business," by Waldo Pondray Warren, Forbes & Co., Chicago, 260 pages, price $1. A short and pointed business help. It will give a young man a thousand helpful hints on succeeding in business.

"Wealth from theSoil," by C. C. Bowsfield, by the same pub- lishers,320 pages, price $1. A special help to townspeople who con- template farming or gardening. It treats, as well, how animal indus- try may be made to pay.

— Public Schools of Salt Lake City. The Era is indebted to Supt. I). H. Christensen for the twenty-fifth annual "Report of the Public Schools of Salt Lake City," for the year ending June 30, 1915. It shows that there were 26,347 children between the ages of six and eighteen years in Salt Lake City for the period ending July 31 that year. Of these, 12,960 were boys and 13,387 girls. All of these can read and write except 1,548 boys and 1,508 girls. The gain of school popula- tion is 727 over the figures of the preceding year. The most notable outside event of the school year was the survey made of the entire school system which had been authorized the preceding year, and which important document was published on June 30, 1915. There were all told 74 men teachers and 509 women in the 33 schools of the city. — Out of this number, 84 were high school teachers 27 men and 57 women.

The Y. L. M. I. A. Song Book, volume one, consisting of quar- tets, trios, solos and duets for ladies' voices, has just been issued from the press, published by the General Board of the Young Ladies' Mutual Improvement Association. It contains ten quartets, seven trios, four solos, and one duet, principally productions of home talent, both words and music. The musicians represented are Evan Steph- ens, E. Beesley, J. J. Daynes, Tracy Y. Cannon, William C. Clive, B. Cecil Gates, George Careless, John J. McClellan, Charles J. Thomas, C. W. Reid, Edna H. Coray, Laura S dgwick Collins and Joseph Sco- ville. The song writers are Blanch K. McKey, S. C. Watson, W. W. Phelps, Ruth May Fox, Susa Young Gates, Bertha A. Kleinman, So- phia Valentine, Alfred Lambourne, Rose Thomas Graham, Grace Ingles Frost, William H. Apperley, Eliza R. Snow, Edna H. coray, Kate Thomas, and Joseph Scoville. The idea is commendable. The book is a very creditable publication, which will undoubtedly receive the support it so richly deserves from the musicians of the energetic — and splendid organization the Y. L. M. I. A. In the foreword we are told that all the selections are composed specially for ladies' voices, and are suited to our Church ideals. From the fact that this is marked volume one, we are led to believe that other volumes of a similar char- acter will follow.

"The Mormon Battalion and Its Monument" is the title of a bro- chure of which is a compilation of data for sculptors fifty-six pages, cind architects. published by order of the State of Utah Mor- It is mon Battalion Commission, which was created by act of the legisla- ture of the State of Utah at its eleventh session. Seven residents of the state compose the commission, who are serving without pay, and "whose duty it shall be to select a proper site upon the Capitol

EDITORS' TABLE 845

grounds, and procure a suitable design for a monument to commem- orate the important contribution made to the early settlement and development of the State of Utah, and the western portion of this country by the Mormon Battalion." It is also the duty of the com- mission to report their acts and recommendations to the twelfth session of the legislature. An expenditure of $1,000 was appropri- ated for carrying out the provisions of the act. The names of the commissioners are: B. H. Roberts, chairman; Mary Jones Clawson, George S. Goodwin, William H. Pettigrew, John S. Bransford, John K. Hardy, May Belle T. Davis, secretary. The purpose of the brochure is to place in the hands of sculptors and architects some information which will give them in condensed form a true skeleton of the bat- talion story, and to give them the right viewpoint respecting the call and service of this body of United States volunteers, so that those who may design the monument may do so from the right point of view. The object of the brochure is to give this point of view for their benefit. There are articles describing the Utah state capitol grounds, by John K. Hardy; description of the two-thousand mile march of the Mormon Battalion, by May Belle Thurman Davis; sketches of General Philip St. George Cooke, who commanded the Battalion, and staff; a letter from the daughter of General Cooke; — brief sketches of the five Battalion captains -Jefferson Hunt, Jesse D. Hunter, James Brown, Nelson Higgins and Daniel C. Davis; an ac- count of the Battalion at San Diego, by Mary J. Clawson, and "The Mormon Battalion in the Perspective of Seventy Years," by B. H. Roberts. He recounts that the movements with which this famous body of soldiers was identified and that made it possible for the de- velopment of the great West, were: The conquest of Mexico; The opening of the highways; The introduction of irrigation among Anglo-Saxon people, and the discovery of gold in California. He points out that the achievements of the Mormon Battalion are not local and sectarian, but belong to the conquest of the great West and to the Nation. For that reason a monument worthy of its work is now suggested. Not only are the sculptors and architects, who are asked to make the designs for this monument, interested in this col- lection of data relating to the Mormon Battalion, but it is of great moment to the citizens of Utah and the West generally. The pro- priety of erecting such a monument cannot be questioned, and the act of the last legislature creating the commission to arrange for its erection must meet the hearty approval of every citizen of the state.

Messages from the Missions

Friends for Life

Elder E. J. Sorensen, president of the Oklahoma conference, Cen- tral States mission, writes: "Our conference never was in better or more prosperous condition. The number of baptisms have been larger than ever before, and the Saints are living their religion better than in the past. In the matter of holding meetings and the distribution of literature, the elders have succeeded admirably. Elders, back row, left to right: G. N. Wray, Blackfoot, Idaho; H. P. Oldroyd, Glen- wood, Utah; Conference President E. A. Bennion, Logan; former Con- ference President E. J. Sorensen, Bear River City; R. W. Turner,

.

846 IMPROVEMENT ERA Riverton, Idaho; D. H. Price, Samaria; R. B. Perkins, Montpelier, Idaho; front row: H. J. Winkler, Bluebell, Utah; L. Archibald, Day-

ton, Idaho; E. S. Hess, Salt Lake City, Utah; C. K. Wade, Guthrie; Walt Sturgell, El Reno, Oklahoma; George A. Smith, Cedar City; C. Smith, Beaver, Utah."

Missionaries of the Tahitian Mission

Back row, left to right: Otha Stephens, Ogden; Alma G. Burton, Salt Lake; George W. Burbidge, Salt Lake; Albert Touse, Salt Lake; *%/fc ajr "»ap '

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William Orton, North Ogden; Alfred Compton, Ogden. Eront row: Venus R. Rossiter, Mission President Ernest C. Rossiter, Margaret Compton, wife of Elder Compton.