Editors’ Table

Editors QTable Items of General Information The closing address of President Heber J. Grant at the late an- nual Church conference, contains a number of very interesting items of general information showing the trend of public activities. He an- nounced that the special drive made recently for clothes and means for the suffering people in Europe, resulted in the sending of four car- loads of clothing to Europe by the Church, the railroad and steamship companies furnishing transportation practically free of charge. "It has been estimated that the cash received, $12,000 of which went to the Near East organization, and the clothing, would amount in round numbers to fully $100,000. Sixty odd thousand was the estimate placed upon the clothing sent." Assistance was rendered to the peo- ple of Netherlands and Germany, to the Armenians, and also to those of the Near East, with some assistance to Great Britain. Other selections from the address deserve consideration: Progress and Increase in Many Church Activities There has been a substantial increase in the attendance at our sacrament meetings during the past year. There has been better ward- teaching and an increase in the number of families visited monthly; sta- tistics show an increase in our tithes, a large increase in the number of tithe-payers, and a splendid record of the stake and ward officers in the payment of tithes, for which we are grateful. An extensive building program is being carried out in many of the stakes of Zion. New meetinghouses are being erected and the people are very liberal in their donations for the same. In the conservation of life, the records show a marked decrease in the deaths of children under five years of age, showing that better methods are being adopted all through the state to prevent our little ones from passing away in their infancy. For the first time, more people have removed to the missions of the Church from the stakes of Zion than have been received from the missions. A splendid work is being done, as I announced here at the opening of our conference, by the missionaries in every part of the world. It is estimated that there have been 1200 converts to the Church as a result of our home missionary work in the various stakes of Zion. The work of increasing the accommodations in the Salt Lake temple has been completed, and has proved a great convenience to those attending this temple. The facilities have been very greatly enlarged and are highly appreciated by those who are working in that temple.

780 IMPROVEMENT ERA /' The Manti temple has been thoroughly overhauled and renovated. The frame-work of the Arizona temple is now completed and the terra-cotta is being delivered. The building is to be covered with terra-cotta — the same general style of covering as the Hotel Utah. The walls will be completed within a few months. Condition in the Missions There is a marked improvement in the conditions for missionary work in Great Britain. The Netherlands mission is very prosperous, having very many investigators. The French mission has just been created, comprising the French people in the devastated regions of France, the French-speaking people of Belgium, and the French-speak- ing people of Switzerland. The Sugar Industry I am very happy to inform the Latter-day Saints that there has been a very wonderful and remarkable "come-back" in the sugar in- dustry of this inter-mountain country. Instead of the various sugar factories being in debt many, many millions of dollars of money to the banks in New York and Chicago, with large stocks of sugar on hand and no sale for it, there is now a demand for sugar throughout the entire country and almost without exception, if not without excep- tion, (I am not thoroughly posted) the companies are not in debt to bankers who were unwilling three years ago, without additional capital being invested, to renew obligations that they held. Today, most if not all of the companies are free from bank obligations in the East and the industry has come back in a splendid way; for which we are grateful. The farmers are giving loyal support and raising larger quantities of beets, which means an increased product, which means an increase of prosperity to this inter-mountain country. Give Loyal Support to Home Institutions From my earliest recollection, I have heard Brigham Young and all of his successors preach to the people and beg them to support and sustain all of the various industries that were established throughout this inter-mountain country; and I appeal to the Latter-day Saints today, to all who are here present, to carry the message to the people throughout the entire Church — to support the institutions of our state, to be loyal to those institutions through which employment can be given to the people, and from which you can secure articles that are manufactured here at home. Give them the preference; help to build up our country; sustain this inter-mountain country. We need sup- port for everything that is started in the nature of a manufacturing institution in this country. We are so far away from the centers of consumption for many of our products that railroad freight charges prevent us exporting many goods which, but for the long distance to

EDITORS' TABLE 781 the markets, we could do. Therefore, let us be loyal to our institutions here at home. The Terrible Catastrophe at Castle Gate We have had one of the most terrible catastrophies in the history of the state of Utah, on which occasion one hundred seventy-three, as I remember it, lives were lost in the Castle Gate coal mine explosion. It fell to my lot, with Elder Richard R. Lyman and others, to visit Castle Gate and to see the effects of that terrible calamity there. The governor of the state and others have inaugurated a drive for the benefit of the families that have been left destitute of a provider. I hope and pray that in every hamlet, and in every home there will be a disposition to contribute something toward this great drive for the benefit of the families of the men who were killed in that great dis- aster. There is nothing truer than the statement in ancient writ that 'It is more blessed to give than to receive,' and I say that the greater blessing will come to those who give than to those who are not willing to give in this case. Let us do our part, as we have ever done our part in all of the various calls that have been made by our nation in times of trouble and by those in distress. I am sure that the appeal will not be made in vain. The Church has been solicited to assist and we have contributed $2500 of the tithing funds for this purpose, which was somewhat more than the request made by the chairman who called upon us. Prayer for the President of the United States I pray that the Lord will bless the President of the United States of America and his cabinet, and that he may vindicate the President and every honest member of his cabinet ; and I believe that there are honest, upright, God-fearing, patriotic men in the cabinet of President Coolidge. I believe he is a man worthy of the blessings of Almighty God. That is my opinion of the President of the United States. I believe that he has the welfare of the people of this great country at heart. Blessings on all Israel, at Home and Abroad I pray that the Lord will bless each and every one of the Latter- day Saints throughout all the stakes of Zion, from Canada on the north to Mexico on the south. I pray that he will bless the Saints all over the wide world, in all the different missions, that they may grow and increase in the light and the knowledge and the testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I bear my witness to you here today that God lives, that Jesus is the Christ, the Savior of the world, the Redeemer of mankind, that Joseph Smith was a prophet of the true and living God, and that each man, woman and child who live the gospel of Jesus Christ shall find life eternal in the presence of our heavenly Father.

782 IMPROVEMENT ERA BOOKS Applied Character Analysis, by John T. Miller, editor of The Character Builder, director of the Psychological Library and the Vocational Bureau, Los Angeles, California, 223 pages, dedicated to all who use the true science of mind in human improvement, physically, socially, intellectually, morally and spiritually. The book contains many excellent things in the twenty- seven chapters devoted to a variety of subjects pertaining to human con- servation and physical and intellectual development. There are chapters devoted to the progress of phrenology, character analysis, criminology, mem- ory training, child culture, and vocational guidance. The book is richly illustrated by quotations from noted authors upon all these and other points, besides the original comments and statements of Dr. Miller whose1 labors in this direction covers a period of many years. The book is well worth a care- ful study by people interested in the science of mind. Dr. Miller was formerly a professor in the L. D. S. University, Salt Lake City, and has had a wonderful experience in the science of which he treats. Richard G. Badger, publisher, Boston, Mass. The Army Boy of the Sixties, a story of the plains, by Major Alson B. Ostrander, illustrated with drawings by H. T. Fiske, and with photographs; 272 pages, published by the World Book Company, Yonkers-On-Hudson, New York; introduction by Howard R. Driggs, Professor of English, School of Education, University of Utah. On sale by the author, price $2.25. This is said to be the only book ever published, written by a private soldier describing conditions on the "Overland" and the "Bozeman Trails" and events around Ft. Laramie, Reno and Phil Kearny, during the fall and winter of 1866 and 1867. The book can be obtained only from the author, whose address is 501 West 182nd Street, New York City. Major Ostrander was formerly a member of Company B, 2nd Battalion, 18 Infantry, U. S. A., and was on the clerical staff of General Philip St. George Cook. In the twenty-five chapters of his book, besides the five divisions of the appendix, we have a very interesting account of personal experiences and of the inside view of every day army life within the barracks, during the Civil War period. In the text we get illuminating glimpses and a close view of Grant, Sherman, Sheridan and other notables, and of General Philip St. George Cook, in whom the western people are much interested on account of his contact with the Mormon Battalion. So also do we get close-up pictures of Indian fighters, cavalrymen, and of old Jim Bridger, the scout and mountaineer. The stories, of which there are many, and many of which are thrilling, are told in a plain, unpretentious way, making them full of personal interest such as one seldom finds in ordinary histories. War Bonus The war veterans' bonus bill, May 19, passed the Senate over the veto of President Coolidge by a vote of 5 9 to 26. For each day of home service above the first sixty days, $1 will be allowed; and for each day of overseas service above sixty days, $1.25 will be given. If this adjusted service does not amount to more than $50 it will be paid in cash. All the other will be paid up insurance. The work will require the search of 167,000,000 war records, with 27 different checking operations, and will require 2,800 addi- tional clerks in the war department.

M. I. A. General Conference FRIDAY, SATURDAY, AND SUNDAY, JUNE 6, 7, 8. Friday, June 6 Assembly and Registration of Delegates, Assembly Hall Grounds — 9 a. m. Community Singing. General Joint Session, Assembly Hall — 10 a. m. Department Meetings — 1:30 p. m.\ Joint: Recreation, Standards, Music, Advanced Senior. Separate Y. M. and Y. L.: Presidents and Secretaries, Organization and Membership, Finance and Publications, Senior, Junior, Boy Scouts, and Bee-Hive. Department Session — 2:30 p. m. : Joint committees on Recreation and Executive Officers. Department Session. Class leaders of Advanced Senior, Senior, (Y. L. and Y. M.), Junior (Y. M. and Y. L.), and Bee-Hive Departments. Try-outs for M Men from different districts of the Church in public speaking and male quartet singing 3:30 p. m. Saturday, June 7 Separate Meetings of Y. M. and Y. L. M. I. A. Officers — 9 a, rv. Y. M. M. I. A. — Department Meetings. Y. L. M. I. A. — General Session. Joint Department Meeting — Advanced Senior. Y. M. M. I. A. — General Session. Y. L. M. I. A.- — Department Meetings. Joint Department Meeting — Committees on Recreation. 1:30 p. m. Y. L. M. I. A. — General Session. Y. M. M. I. A. — Department Meetings. 8:00 p. m. General Joint Session. Sunday, June 8 Joint Testimony Meeting, Assembly Hall — 8:30 a. m. Joint Session of Officers, Tabernacle — 10:30 a. m. General Session, under direction of First Presidency of the Church — 2 p. m. General Session — 7:3 0 p. m. Sunday Evening Joint M. I. A. Program, June Brigham Young By Levi Edgar Young, of the General Board Y. M. M. I. A. Through the courtesy of the General Boards M. I. A., the joint M. I. A. programs for Sunday, June 1, are to be devoted to the life and work of President Brigham Young, by the Mutual Improvement Associations. It is recommended that suitable music be prepared, including the rendering of the hymn. "Come, come, ye Saints."

784 IMPROVEMENT ERA Officers should choose some good speakers to give different phases of the life of the Founder of Utah. The following topics are suggestive: Brigham Young as a leader of his people; as a statesman; as a colonizer; as a prophet of God. Or, let some one give a lecture on the Life of Brigham Young and take up the entire time. The following will give some good ideas as to his work: As Colonizer David Starr Jordan has said that "Stability of national character goes with foot-hold on the soil," and Theodore Roosevelt has declared that, "Throughout our history, the success of the home-maker has been but another name for the upbuilding of the nation." Brigham Young first directed his people to the reclamation of the soil, for, said he, "Agriculture is the highest safeguard to all good government, and the surest means for building of civic, social, and intellectual life." The only self-sufficient vocation of man is that of working the earth and utilizing its products in human society. The colonists of Utah in the very early period of the state's history were forced, like all frontier societies, to the soil; and as products of the land exceeded home supply, markets grew up as a result. All this necessitated the building of roads and bridges, which in time became great highways of commerce and trade. In this regard, Brigham Young's coloniz- ing schemes were eminently successful, and may be called scientific. While the fundamental ideas of colonization are a movement of population and an extension of political power, the very existence of the migratory host depends upon a systematic method of obtaining food and clothing. Herein did Brigham Young understand the fundamentals of colonizing. One popular thing about the colonizing of the American desert is the fact that the physical conditions were so different from what they had been used to, that they called for many vital modifications in their constitution and mode of living. Yet even in the desert waste, nature yielded a liberal return to sturdy effort, and the colonists early learned the law of adaptability to their new environ- ment. Irrigation was a new requirement to make the soil productive, and fitting the needs to the conditions, Brigham Young saw readily the kinds of farms that the future farmer of Utah should till. This state occupying the central portion of the arid region, small areas were tilled, and the Utah farm was smaller than that of any other part of the Union. Irrigating ditches and canals were made by associations of farmers, who in their cooperation made it possible to use the streams that flowed from the canyons into the valleys. The people were directed from the first entrance to the valley of the great Salt Lake to the reclamation and the proper use of the water, and their success was due to their organization, which brought about system in working, and well defined methods in all of their undertakings. In fact, Mr. F. H. Newell has been led to declare that "The excellent results attained demonstrate the practicability of industrious pioneers supporting themselves and attaining prosperous homes on small tracts." Foresight and economy in the use of the natural advantages are noticed in the study of all the settlements of Utah. They became economically independent; they settled their own disputes they lived "under a sort of beneficial regime of neglect and even contempt on the part of their country", and in this were they able to work out their own salvation. The population in each new settlement was homogeneous and "politically experienced," and these together with their economic independence, helped to make of the early day territory, a stable and safe government. The colonization of Utah under Brigham Young's leadership is the one great successful scheme of colonization in the history of the United States. This assertion may appear remarkable to one who has read American history