Editor’s Table

Editors (Table Who is to Blame? Road houses are increasing unduly throughout the land. In Salt Lake county it has been found necessary to provide so-called strict regulations for them, especially regarding the attendance of the young people. They are to be excluded after nine o'clock, while the older people, perhaps their parents, are to be excluded at one o'clock the next morning; at least the outer doors are to be locked at that time. The vigilant supervisors, officers, directors and sponsors, some of them, perhaps, personally financially interested, are said to "stand ready to enforce existing laws and those to be made later." It often happens that the youth of today are unjustly accused of a variety of faults by the older generation. It is not always the case that young people are going so far wrong as some of their immediate ancestors would have us believe. But if they do not, it is not because there is a lack of opportunities provided for them by their elders. What children stand in need of today is early religious instruc- tion in the home. Parents are too busy to give their children the fire- side stories, the bed-time talks and instructions that the good teacher, Dr. Maeser, in his time, insisted were so necessary and desirable. The result is that children grow up with little training or instruction tend- ing to belief in God and the works of righteousness. They become unwilling, as they grow up, to adopt the old standards of religion and ideals of character that have proved best through the ages, principally because their early training in this direction has been neglected. There is lack of the old, splendid influences of the home life; in its stead there are the automobiles, movies, the modern dances, cheap theatres, the cabaret, cigarettes for men and women alike; and now and lately the road houses — fascinating doorways to iniquity. And the young people, without definite standards, are inclined to prove every- thing by trying it. They have spiritual longings, and seek to satisfy these longings for happiness in the vortex of material things, only to find in the end that these are inadequate. Why? Because one can not receive a fulness of spiritual joy through material sources. It must be coupled with faith, and the love of God, and be taught in the home, early, earnestly and persistently. The responsibility for such teach- ing, as so well stated in the Doctrine and Covenants (68:25, 28-31), is with the parents, and they are accountable for many of the slips and follies of youth. Parents must require their children to walk uprightly before the Lord, because they themselves are upright. They can not patronize road houses, and indulge in every modern ex-

3 74 IMPROVEMENT ERA travagance and evil, and yet have influence with their children to do opposite. What is bad for youth is equally hurtful for those of mature years. The children revolt against hypocrisy; and, in search of better ways, themselves commit new follies — defy conventions, shock sensibilities, and in the process often do wicked things and in- flict injury and cruel injustice upon themselves. In the L. D. S. Church the youth are not entirely free from the doubts, evils and misgivings generally affecting the youth of the land. This is an indication that there are faults in their education and in the home training. On the whole, however, and that is an indication of correct training, our young men and young women are industrious, upright, straightforward, reasonable in thought and action, clean- minded, possessing high ideals and honesty without hypocrisy. They are young men and women who will not break their word of honor. They believe in God, have faith in the hereafter, and believe that, to insure real success in life, the spiritual and material must go hand in hand, both being necessary to their happiness and salvation. These are not engaged in the indulgence of excesses, nor found in the ways of the road house. We are confident that the good judgment of the majority of parents, coupled with their example, wise teachings, tolerance and help, will guide the youth to right conduct and the love bf God which is xhe beginning of wisdom. We believe also that our youth will have the moral courage to spend their leisure hours in such recreational activities as will result in good to them, and in potential values in their lives, in which case they will be sure to steer clear of the road- house, the cabaret and the night club. — A. Reflections Boost the Good — There is truth in the caustic statement, "Virtue is its own reward, but sin and iniquity get the advertising." If one does not believe that, let him look at the front page of his newspaper every day. If there is a wickedness or a vice or an iniquity com- mitted, or if anyone has gone wrong, it is pictured there in large dis- play. On the other hand, if there is anything virtuous or of good report, it is generally hidden on the inside pages among the advertise- ments, or never mentioned at all. In private life, we might well dis- card the newspaper style, and give virtue and good report a chance. For, notwithstanding all the advertising iniquity gets, there is more virtue than sin in the world. Give the good in a man a boost. The Successful Teacher — The teacher who has the Spirit of God with him needs no signboards along the highway of life to tell of his virtues. A successful Advanced Senior class teacher in Southern Utah writes that the really successful teacher is the one who gets the greatest response from the members of his class. ■ "That teacher gains most who has made the best preparation and who by tact transfers his preparation to others." We might add that conveying truth from the teacher

EDITORS' TABLE 3 75 to the student is a great science in itself and requires training; hence, our teacher-training classes. Live Your Religion — The editorial policy of the Improvement Era is to urge every man to live up to the highest ideals of his religion. It is clearly a benefit to every man to do this, and to translate the high ideals of his religion into the actions of his daily life. The aim of the Y. M. M. I. A. is the policy of the Improvement Era; namely, "to assist every young man to complete living, on the foundation of faith in God and his great latter-day work." Gaining Victory Over Evil — In and through ourselves, we are not capable of conquering the enemy of our souls. It is) only when we receive strength from God to uphold our own efforts that victory over evil will be ours. Constituents of Religion — Three things characterize religion: knowledge, emotion and action. Doing or acting is quite as import- ant as knowing. Emotion is of little or no use without action. Religion implies right preparation, sympathy and performance. English Becoming of Universal Usage Dr. James E. Talmage, president of the European mission made an eleven-weeks' tour to different countries in Europe just before Christmas. In his report, he makes some enlivening remarks concern- ing language. We quote: "Except in the line separating the German-Austrian and Swiss and Ger- man missions, the language of the people determines the boundaries of the missions. "As to the many tongues in which people express themselves, much could be said. One is inclined to query whether this diversity of speech is to continue as long as the nations endure, or, whether some day mankind shall speak one and the same tongue. * * * Of all modern tongues, English is 'most generally prevalent as a foreign language, that is as the ac- quired speech of those to whom it is not the mother tongue. It is the well considered judgment of many to whom language is a specialty in study that English will continue to spread, until it shall become practically of universal usage, at least among the educated classes of all nations. "But there are other languages than those spoken by lip and tongue. Thoughts may be given out, received and Understood, between those who have no common speech. Particularly is this observable among the Latter- day Saints in different countries. They soon learn to understand the spirit and meaning of one who comes to them as a bearer of the gospel message, though he speak a foreign tongue. "Another striking feature, amounting in fact to miracle and serving as conclusive testimony of the divine aid attending this latter-day marvel and wonder, is the relative facility with which our missionaries learn to speak the language of the /people amongst whom they are appointed to minister. * * * In the course of the current journey, the writer has found elders who arrived in the field less than ten months ago, then utterly unlearned in the language to them foreign, now speaking freely and im- pressively in conversation and public discourse, and conducting classes in the auxiliaries, wherein the language of the country is used exclusively."