--- title: Improvement Era description: Monthly periodical of the Mormon church, 1897 onward. This library holds the issues of November 1897 to December 1930. authors: - Young Men's Mutual Improvement Associations collections: - periodicals tags: - magazine - improvement-era periodical: Improvement Era volume: 23 number: 2 published: 1919-12 publisher: Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Associations publisher_place: Salt Lake City language: en type: magazine reference: "Young Men's Mutual Improvement Associations, \"Editor's Table,\" *Improvement Era* 23, no. 2 (December 1919): 173–177." source: url: https://archive.org/details/improvementera2302unse transcription: Transcribed from the Internet Archive scan of each issue (the item for each issue is named in the issue's own source); unnumbered advertising leaves are omitted, printed page numbers are kept as page markers. identifier: improvementera2302unse start_page: 173 end_page: 177 rights: status: public-domain basis: US publication 1930 or earlier (published 1919-12) source: https://archive.org/details/improvementera2302unse publication_year: 1919 note: The Internet Archive item metadata carries a blanket "© Copyright by Intellectual Reserve, Inc." notice. The library owner judged it inapplicable because this issue was published in 1919, before 1931; a scan-level notice does not restore copyright. --- # Editor's Table Taking the Name of the Lord in Vain Would not any young man consider it a disgrace to be found guilty of contempt before a court of justice of the land? The Latter-day Saints, who are a people of law and order, would justly attach disgrace to any breaker of law. Obedience to law is one of the fundamental principles in their teachings. They respect constituted authority, Church, State, and National. They are not only the exponents of peace and justice, but pre- eminently, of law and order. They believe implicitly obeying, honoring and sustaining the law. This being our position per- taining to the laws of the land, we must and do necessarily take the same position regarding the laws of God. The children of the Latter-day Saints are taught the command- ments of God, as found in the Holy Scriptures, not only in the Sunday schools, but in the Mutual Improvement associations, Religion classes, Primary associations, and above all, in the home. Under these conditions, every good Latter-day Saint con- siders it a shame and a disgrace to be found breaking the com- mandments of God, or neglecting to keep his laws. We desire especially to refer to one commandment, enjoined from the beginning upon the children of men, and which we are informed is being broken to a greater extent today than heretofore, not only in the nation, but in our own and the sur- rounding states, where Latter-day Saints have made their homes. It is this: "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain." This divine law, thundered to the nations from Mount Sinai bv the Lord himself, and reiterated in modern revelation for the guidance of men and women in the day in which we live, is being broken with impunity by many, notwithstanding! the fact that any person who taketh that name in vain, is guilty before the court of God for contempt. Many take his name in vain with anger and malice in their hearts, and others daily, as a mat- ter of indifference, entirely without thought and consideration. In a revelation given to the Prophet Joseph, as early as July 23, 1837, we are told that the vengeance of the Lord which shall speedily come upon the inhabitants of the earth, shall rest, "First — 174 IMPROVEMENT ERA among those among you * * * who have professed to know my name and have not known me, and have blasphemed against me in the midst of my house." Again, we are told (Doc. and Cov. 63:61-64): "Let all men beware how they take my name in their lips; for, behold, verily I say, that many there be who are under this condemnation, who use the name of the Lord, and use it in vain, having not authority. * * * Remember that which cometh from above is sacred and must be spoken with care." The word of the Lord to President Brigham Young, as instruction to those who crossed the plains in pioneer days, reads: "Keep yourselves from evil and take not the name of the Lord in vain, for I am the Lord your God, even the. God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob." Now, shall we stand guilty before the Court of God? Verily no. Let us control our language, using the name of God only in reverence, and by constraint of the Spirit, in which there is no condemnation, thus setting an example that shall purge the chil- dren of the Latter-day Saints and the people from this stain of guilt, banishing it from the schools, the play-grounds, and the associations of the young and old throughout the Church. It is a shame and a humiliation upon anyone to stand in contempt before the Court of God, even more than to stand in contempt before a court of the land. Besides, it is a sin, for "The Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain." A. Defending the Latter-day Saints On Monday, November 10, 1919, Senator Reed Smoot occu- pied fifteen minutes of time in the Senate of the United States to present a request from members of some of the principal clubs of the State of Utah, notably the Commercial and Rotary clubs of Salt Lake City, to refute certain false statements recently pub- lished in many newspapers throughout the United States against the Latter-day Saints. He proved the ridiculousness of the ma- licious charges that seem to have emanated from London, Eng- land, and presented a resolution issued by the Board of Gover- nors of the Commercial club of Salt Lake City, endorsed bv the Rotary Club, two- thirds of whom are non-members of the Church, protesting against the libelous matter quoted from an English writer of fiction named Winifred Graham, who was later one of the principal speakers in the World's Christian Citizenship Conference, held in Pittsburg in the early part of November. Winifred Graham is auoted as saying that "Mormonism" snaps its fingers at law, in both England and America; that the EDITORS' TABLE 175 Church has twelve hundred girls in England ready for shipment to Utah; that the Church pays the fares and offers excellent wages, but once it gets the women over, uses them as it pleases. Every girl who emigrates to Utah either "becoms a polygamous wif or a slave to the 'Mormon' Church," she avers. Occasionally this same novelist hears of girls who are slaving on "Mormon" farms. A number of other such accusations are made. Though ridiculous in themselves, apparently the conclave of ministers and others, three or four thousand strong, who gathered at Pitts- burg, were inclined to believe them, judging from the treatment which that body of ministers gave the representatives from Utah, among whom were Doctor James E. Talmage and Wesley E.King, who were hooted, hissed, and insulted at the convention where they respectfully requested the privilge to present the truth to the congregation. The intolerance of the delegates, in that con- vention, and their ignorance and narrowmindedness, were never more clearly demonstrated. Referring again to Senator Smoot and his pertinent refuta- tion of the press accusations, before the Senate; he was followed by Sentaor Henry F. Ashurst, of Arizona, Senator Charles S. Thomas, of Colorado, and Senator Charles B. Henderson, of Nevada, who each commended him for "scorching" the false- hoods, and spoke in high terms of the loyalty, thrift, education, frugality, industrv, morality and obedience to law, of the Latter- day Saints, which ought to set the novelists, the ministers and the country straight on the subject. Their remarks appear in full in the Congressional Record, of November 11. They will be reprinted in the Improvement Era for Januarv, for our readers will be interested in knowing what our own business men and local friends who are not members of the Church think of the people, and also what our neighbors in the surrounding states believe of the Latter-day Saints as a community a community— loyal, industrious, thrifty, and in which Bolshevism, anarchism, and other radicalism find no congenial soil. Books A copy of a Commentary on the Doctrine and Covenants, by the late Elrler Hyrum M. Smith, of the Council of the Twelve, has just been re- ceived. It was printed and published by Elder George F. Richards, at Liverpool, England, while he presided over the mission. The work contains historical and explanatory notes on the revelations in the Doctrine and Covenants. The aim has been to state, briefly, the biographical circumstances under which each revelation was given; to give sketches of the exceedingly interesting men and women who meet us on the pages of the inspired volume, and to offer such comments on the doc- trines, precepts, and prophecies as seemed to be called for. The explanatory notes consist largely of extracts from the writings 176 IMPROVEMENT ERA and sermons of the Prophet Joseph Smith, Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball, Parley Pratt, Orson Pratt, John Taylor, and others of the great latter-day witnesses whose names are immortalized in history. The late President Joseph F. Smith is largely quoted. President Charles W. Penrose, Dr. James E. Talmage, Elder Orson F. Whitney, of the Council of the Twelve, and Elder Brigham H. Roberts, of the First Council of Seventy, are also freely quoted, and some original comments are offered. The Commentary was begun in 1916, under the direction of Elder Hyrum M. Smith, at that time the president of the European mission. On September 1, that year, when he left Liverpool for Salt Lake City, he carried with him more than half of the manuscript. The entire manuscript was submitted to President Joseph F. Smith, was then read, and revised, as far as thought necessary, by a committee, ap- pointed by President Joseph F. Smith, and which consisted of Elder Hyrum M. Smith, Elder Orson F. Whitney, and Elder Joseph Fielding Smith, members of the Council of the Twelve. President Joseph F. Smith himself read carefully the introduction and the first few folios of the Commentary. The book contains the full text of the revelations, with the historical and exegetical notes appended, a preface by Elder Hyrum M. Smith, an introduction, notes on the appendix, by Elder Joseph Fielding Smith, and a subject index which will prove a great convenience to the student. There are 1100 pages in all, a great portion of it closely printed. It is a timely work. The conditions among the children of i len are such that special attention should be called to the divine message of repentance given to the Latter-day Saints and to all the world, in the Doctrine and Cov- enants. That message is one of utmost importance in our day and age. But the Doctrine and. Covenants is more than a call to repentance. It is a revelation, an unfolding, of God's own plan for the salvation of the world from the evils that are apparent, in our day, and which seem to threaten human society with dissolution and chaos. It contains God's own solution of the intricate social, industrial, political, arid international problems of the present time. It points the way to peace and prosperity; gives laws for the preservation of health and the prolongation of life; proclaims the coming of the Son of God, and teaches us how to be prepared for that event. Hence, a better understanding of its message, and a fuller apprecia- tion of its importance, should be welcome. The present effort at a Com- mentary is a pioneer work of its clase in the domain of Church literature. Necessarily, it has imperfections. But it has nevertheless so many good fea- tures that all serious students of the word of the Lord in modern revela- tion will bid it welcome. The Millennial Star, of Mav 8, 1919, of which Elder George F. Richards, of the Council of the Twelve, was the editor, had this to say: "When the full nature and extent of this splendid new work shall come to the knowledge of the people, by its publication and circulation among them, there can be no doubt of their high appreciation of it. It so sim- plifies the study of this modern volume of sacred scripture that readers and students of inexperience, who have found difficulties heretofore, should find none now: and their delight for the help supplied should be, and will be, equalled only by their gratitude to the brethren who have produced it and thanks to the Lord for having inspired it." This paragraph, signed by Elder Junius F. Wells, expresses the opinion of many others who have examined the volume. Messages from the Missions The Era as a Gospel Messenger Wilford W. King, mission clerk, the Hawaiian mission, writing from Honolulu, T. H., October 10, says: "A few weeks ago, in company with — EDITORS' TABLE 177 President Smith, I made a tour of two of the most important islands in the group, and in all conferences found that the Era was greatly appre- ciated. The elders are using the Era as a tract when they are through with it, and it is doing much good. It really is a treat to pick up a book and be able to find good, substantial food from the front cover to the back, without the pages being filled with advertisements, and the Era is just such a book. Constantly Gaining Friends Loren V. Guthrie, writing from Evansville, Southern Indiana confer- ence, reports that from all parts of that conference come words indicating the sucess of the elders and the cause for which they are laboring. They are constantly gaining more friends. The Saints, whether in the cities or in the isolated country districts, stand unanimously and unitedly behind the elders in all their righteous endeavors. The conference has a splendid force of elders and lady missionaries working in harmony for the further- ance of the cause. They report that they have already learned to love President Winslow Farr Smith, the new mission president. First Japanese Convert to the Church During my recent visit, through the different conferences on the Islands of Maui and Hawaii, I had the privilege of meeting the first Japanese convert to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, who is now living at Kukuihaele, Hawaii. held an interesting meeting in his home and We spent the night there. Becoming interested in Brother Toko, I learned that he was born in Tokio, Japan, in the year 1849. At the age of seventeen he worked his way to Hawaii, arriving here in 1866. In 1879 he married a Hawaiian by the name of Kalala, and they have happily passed their ruby anniver- sary. He joined the Church in 1892, and has been and is still a faithful member. He related to me many interest- ing incidents that took place here many years ago, among which was the Walter Murray Gibson trouble, and how he witnessed Gibson's unlawful rise to power, and his dishonorable failure. An interesting sketch of the life and adventures of Walter M. Gibson, by Andrew Jenson, Assistant Historian of the Church, is found in Volume 4 of the Improvement Era. Brother Toko is now seventy year 8 of age, hale and hearty, and able to work six days a week raising Kalo (a Hawaiian vegetable used in mak- ing poi) for the market. In this way he earns an honest living. He has a large family of bright children. I am enclosing a kodak picture of Brother Toko, thinking it might add a little interest to the Mission Messages. The Era is a gre_t help to the elders in this land, and we greatly appreciate the wonderful amount of good it is doing. E. Wesley Smith, President of Hawaiian Mission. October 22, 1919.