ANGUS P I3ENNIUN
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Helping Him to Choose Wisely
A few. years ago a young man gradu- ated from the law school of a noted uni- versity. He had a host of friends, he had inherited a modest fortune and every- body predicted a brilliant career. But he didn't succeed. Why? Simply because he disliked office work and had no taste for the law and therefore he never even attempted to begin practice.
Having nothing definite to do, he be- came discouraged and finally started on the downward path of dissipation. For- tunately, however, a wise friend, who un- derstood the principles of "vocational guidance" took hold of the young man. He found that the boy loved outdoor life and that he was interested in horses and
machinery. Accordingly the boy was urged to purchase a farm and to study scientific agriculture.
Today that young man is one of the most successful farmers and stockmen in America. And his success is due to proper "vocational guidance," or the se- lection of the work for which he was best adapted..
Statistics show that 763 out of every 1000 persons in gainful occupations feel that they are in the wrong vocations. In other words, they are "square pegs in round holes" and therefore the chances for their success are very slim. And the sad part of it all is that such failures are unnecessary.
"The Man of Tomorrow"
a wonderful new book on "Vocational Guidance"
By
Claude Richards
a successful business man,
It is
will help every young man and woman in the selection of their life work, suited for young and old, and should be read by every parent.
"Vocational Guidance," as outlined in Claude Richards' book, is insurance against failure and a short cut to success.
This book should be in every home. It has been adopted for supplementary reading by the state schools and also by the Church schools.
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One hundred writers or more will contribute to make this volume, commencing November, 1918, radiate brightness, goodness, pleasure and profit. Over a thousand pages and 300 illustrations. The following indicates the scope of the matter to be presented:
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EDITORIAL COMMENT BY PRESIDENT JOSEPH F. SMITH |
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"A Lesson from the Book of Job" a consoling exemplification, by Elder Orson F. Whitney, of the main reason why men and women are called upon to suffer, which is not made plain in Job; but the why and wherefore of human suffering was brought to light by the Prophet Joseph Smith, by which mankind are given the strength and power to endure, not before possessed.
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Improvement Era
Organ of the Priesthood Quorums, the Young Men's Mutual
Improvement Associations, and the Schools of the
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
VOLUME TWENTY-ONE
Published by the General Board Y. M. M. I. A.
"What you young people want, is a magazine that will make a book to be bound and kept, with something in it worth keeping."
President John Taylor.
Edited by Joseph F. Smith and Edward H. Anderson Heber J. Grant, Manager; Moroni Snow, Assistant Manager
1918
The glory of God is intelligence'
IMPROVEMENT ERA, VOLUME XXI
INDEX TO SUBJECTS
Aim in the Teaching of Theology 330
American vs. German Ideals 29
America's Part in Preventing Fam- ine 313
Answering the Call in M. I. A.
Work 25
Applause of the Multitude, The... 23
Are Men Created Equal? 818
Art of Tracting in Japan, The 41
At the Soldier Boys' Farewell 144
Brigham Young and the United
Order 668
Call, The 159
Case Against Smokes, The 984
Causes of the Great War 581
Cause of the War, The 1032
Cigarette, The 801
Constitution of the United States,
The 35
Deliverance Through the Gospel 516 Dixie is Doing her Bit 877
EDITORS' TABLE
Authoritative Declaration, An.... 639
Books 266, 361, 641, 918, 1019
"Era" Story Contest, The 452
Faith and the Resurrection 353
Fall of Jerusalem, The 259
Helpfulness 1017
In Honor of Hyrum M. Smith.... 451 In the Foreground of Funda- mental Things 821
Keynotes to Conference Topics 70 Let Each Man Learn to Know
Himself 264
Lincoln's Prayer and the Battle
of Gettysburg 639
Man of Tomorrow," "The ...265, 641
Message to the Soldier, A 261
Messages from the Missions
79, 162, 267,
363, 452, 544, 642, 738, 826, 920, 1095
Nation-wide Prohibition 824, 1095
New Volume of the Era 1094
Nobility 265
Notes 542
Notice to the Melchizedek
Priesthood Quorums 361
Old and the New, The 539
Only Life Worth While 448
Organization of the Church, The 637
PAGE
EDITORS' TABLE (Cont.)
Our President's Seventy-ninth
Anniversary 77
Patriotism 640
Penrose, President Charles W... 449 Pershing to the Soldier Boys.... 79
Profanity 737
Providence is Over All 264
Recognition of Noble Work 917
Sentiments from the Soldiers.. ..1018
Stories - 641
Third Liberty Loan, The 539
Thrift and Economy 631
To My Son 264
True Nobility 263
United States Boys' Working
Reserve 541
Unjust Profits 918
Unpardonable Sin, The 732
Vital Call, A 1093
Who was Joseph Smith? 167
Win the War but Save the
Youth 915
Word from President George F.
Richards, A 171
El Morah — Inscription Rock 504
"Era" Story Contest 550
Eternal Progression 623
Experience at the Front 810
Foolish Virgins of 1918 980
Friend, A 946
GENERAL EFFICIENCY REPORT OF Y. M. M. I. A.
For October, 1917 188
For November, 1917 282
For December, 1917 376
For January, 1918 469
For February, 1918 563
For March, 1918 658
Get the Saving Habit 876
God's Foreknowledge Not a De- termining Cause 404
Gold Mines and Riches 759
Grizzly of the Idaho Woods, The.. 793 Healing and the Emmanuel Move- ment 1065
Health Conservation, Some Fund- amentals of 1051
Home Evening 203, 477
How Permanent Peace May Come 575
INDEX TO SUBJECTS
How to Lessen Contributions to
Crime 1004, 1089
Hyrum Smith Monument, The 847
ILLUSTRATIONS
Air Battle in Progress, An 488
American Soldiers on the March
to the Front Line Trenches. ...1016 Americans Teach British Base
Ball 970
Amiens 690
Author and Three Elders La- boring in Nipon, The 816
At Luncheon 670
Bailleul 714
Bastile, The 982
Battery Assembled for Retreat.. 999
Being Gassed 550
Bethlehem, the Birth Place of
Christ 352
Bonaparte Napoleon 983
British Tank, A 574
Browne, Maurice 1014
Byng, Lieutenant General
Julian 252
Canada Goose, The 426
Canadian Cavalrymen in France 1105
Canvas Back Duck, The 292
Charles Billman's Family 642
Clemenceau, Premier of France 280 Cottage Home in the Hills, A .... 941
Cotton Field in full tJloom 877
Cove Fort 99
Damascus 447
Descendants of Members of the
Mormon Battalion 327, 328
Descendants of Mormon Bat- talion at Old Town 324
Dip in the Great Salt Lake, A .... 126
Ditching Machine, A 314
Doctor Taylor and Scout Mas- ters and Pioneer Smoot 1023
El Morah — Inscription Rock 504
Elders and Missionaries of
Alabama Conference 826
Australian Mission 456
Dallas, Texas 644
Dayton, Ohio 920
Denver, Calorado 741, 1096
Haapai Island Conference 454
Hull Conference, England 1099
Illinois Conference 363
Indiana Conference 253
Indianapolis Conference 545
Irish Conference 827
Leeds Conference 80
Los Angeles, California 921
Manchester Conference 454
PAGE
ILLUSTRATIONS (Cont.)
Mississippi Conference 81
Missouri Conference 364
Naikohi Conference 741
New Castle Conference 267
New Haven Conference.. ..258, 643 New South Wales Conference 922 New Zealand Mission. .1098, 1102
Norrkoping Conference 831
North Carolina Conference... 829
Nottingham Conference 1097
Samoan Mission 269
San Luis Conference 268
Savaii Conference 455
Tasmanian Conference 453
Tongan Island Conference 828
Vermont Conference 548
Elephant Butte Dam, The 315
Enemy of Democracy, The 18j
Fairbanks, Douglas 622
Firemaking 694
Four Generations 436
French Refugees 789
Front of New Meetinghouse in
Parowan 136
Fuhriman, Walter U 898
Gaza, City of 190
General Foch and General
Pershing 656
German Prisoners 793
Glade, George Blair 900
Gondolas on Zeppelins 242
Green Winged Teal, The 695
Hancock, John 39
Haunted Mesa, The 618
Hog Island Launching, The
First 1028
Holy Sepulchre, The 291
Home Evening 477
Hyrum Smith Monument, The.. 846 In the Court within Cove Fort.. 101
Incendiary Grenade Attack 375
Inhabitants of Chateau-Thierry Going to Meet their American
Liberators .1031
Inter-Allied Naval Council 560
Irigoyen, President Hipolito...... 93
Irrigation Canal, An 316
Italians Armored Like Tanks... 186
Jerusalem, The Heart of 254
Jerusalem Delivered 431
Kerenski, A New Picture of 65
King Cotton — Picking Time 879
Kirkham, Field Secretary, with
Boys in Field 365
Lambert, President, and His
Office Force 268
Lee, Lieut. Robert E 467
INDEX TO SUBJECTS
ILLUSTRATIONS (Cont.)
Linemen at Work 997
Lone Sentinel, The 284
Lowering a British Hydroaero- plane 396
Lyman, Elder Richard R 628
Lyon, General LeRoy S 322
Maori Agricultural College Bas- ket Ball Team 740
Meeting of Cortez and Monte- zuma 603
Meeting old Friends in Mount
Pleasant 105
"Milking Up," and Resting on
Return Trip 1047
Miller, Bishop Orrin Porter 910
Monroy, Rafael, and his Mother 721 Monroy, Rafael, and Relatives. ... 722 Monument Marking "Mormon"
Traces Through Iowa 132, 134
Narrow Streets Lined on Both
Sides, etc 42
"Never Heard From" 148
New Presidency of Bear Lake
Stake 351
New Zealand Saints Who Ap- peared in Concert 546
New Zealand Sunday School
Teachers 547
Odessa 602
Old Cypress Tree 566
On Top of Zuni Pueblo 506
One of the Wonders of the War 69 Party Lined for Photo after Lunch at Mt. Pleasant, The... 103
Potato Cellar, A 315
Presidency of New Montpelier
Stake 350
Presidents Smith, Lund, and
Grant, Showered with Flowers 107 Reading Matter for the Soldiers 667 Reception of the Party on Ar- rival at Manti 108
Retreat of the Dismal Night 611
Richards, President George F. .... 427
Ring-billed Gull, The 783
Roberts. Chaplain, Brigham H. 325
Ruins of Colonia Diaz 616, 617
Sage-brush Land Prepared for
Dry-farming 317
Saints of Transvaal Conference 741 Salutes of the Allied Soldiers .1041
Savannah River 878
Scene at a Southern Cotton Gin 878 Scene in Red Cross Pageant,
May 21, 1918 782
Scene on Temple Block, April 6, 1918 638
ILLUSTRATIONS (Copt.)
Scenes in Mexico 718
Scouts Gathering Books for
Soldiers 833
She Bows, Touching her Head
to her Hands 43
Site of Peter Whitmer's House.. 637
Smedley, James, Jr , 897
Smith, Hyrum Mack 378
Smith, President Joseph F., and
Company 154
Smith, President Joseph F., and
Grandchildren 864
Some Spells 469
Starting Over the Top at Night 904 Statue of George Washington... 37
Statue of Liberty, The 96
Steamer Herbert L. Pratt 841
Stream in the Wasatch Moun- tains, A 943
Sunday School of Asakami,
Japan 830
Terminal Grain Elevator, A 313
Thousands of Troops 2
Troop 51, Salt Lake City 699
Turkish Prisoners Bagged by
the British 559
University of Utah Detachment
Radio Class 998
Van Volkenburg, Ellen 1013
View of the Whole Monster
Zeppelin 243
Weed, Floyd L 184
Wells, Bishon John 938
Wells, Brig.-Genl. Briant H 1077
White Pelican, The 614, 617
Whitney, Elder Orson F., and
Party at El Morah 505
Whitney, Elder Orson F., at
Grand Canyon 508
Wilson, President Woodrow 35
Wilson, President, on 5th Ave- nue, New York 754
Yankee "Doughboys" Entrained
for the Front Line Trenches. 1011 Young, Brig.-Genl. Richard W. .1074
Young, President Brigham... 660
Zuni Indian Vegetable Gardens 50*> Zuni Women Winnowing Wheat 507
Tn Memoriam 379
In the Footsteps of their Fore- fathers ".. 321
Interest in Church Literature 698
Is the Shadow Lifting from Pal- estine? 137
Journev to the South, A 97
July 4th, 1918 : 820
Latter-day Martyr, A 720
INDEX TO SUBJECTS
PAGE League of Nations to Enforce
World Peace, A 499
Liberty 763
Lincoln, Abraham, to the Nations 283
Little Children, The 892
Living Witness to the Power of
God, A 893
London Conference Reunion in
Salt Lake City 425
Loyalty to Utah's Manufacturing
Interests 51
Lyman, Elder Richard R 627
Makers of Science, The
53, 123, 244, 334, 397, 673, 780, 886
Man Who is not a Man, A 336
Meaning of Education, The
201, 683, 808, 1048
Meeting a Great Man 661
Mental Influence 902
Mexico After the War 715
Miller, Bishop Orrin P 910
"Mormon" Trace, The 132
"Mormonism" and the War 1029
Mortality a Boon — Man is Im- mortal 473
Mutual Improvement Association
Reading Course, 1918-1919 814
MUTUAL WORK
Advance Senior Class Study..834, 930 Annual M. I. A. Conference.645, 745 Annual Pioneer Trail Hike,
1918 1022
Annual Report of M. I. A.
Scouts - 833
Class Methods in New Zealand. .1102
Corn and Bean Contest 461
Death of Morris Gottfredson 461
Destroying an Association 1101
Efficiency Reports.179. 366, 463, 554 Enrollment in the Y. M. M. I. A. 837 Ethics of the Doctrine and
Covenants .86, 179, 273, 367, 457 Four Essential Things to be
Taken Care of Early 1021
General Fund 837
Helpful Hints to Stake Officers .1100 How to Make a Better Mutual . 367
How to Raise Corn 551
Improvement Era, The 836
It«»ms on Scoring 84
Liberty Bond in Every Home, A 85
Live Associations 177
Man of Tomorrow, The 271, 84
M. I. A. Activities. 84, 272. 462, 925 M. I. A. Activities for 1918-1919 927 M. I. A. Bovs' Industrial Contest 746 M. I. A. Calendar for 1918-1919.. 930
MUTUAL WORK (Cont.)
M. I. A. Gathering at April
Conference 551
Milwaukee on the M. I. A. Map 462 New Movement for Summer
Work in the M. I. A., A 552
New Y. M. M. I. A. Roll Book ... 181
On Ensign Peak 1022
Pioneer Stake Activity Guide. ...1101
Plan for Summer Work
645, 747, 832, 928
Program for Stake Conference
Conventions 923
Purpose in Studying the Doc- trine and Covenants 178
Reading Course Books 653
Saving of Souls, The 463
Scout Work in Chicago 554
Senior Manual for 1918-19, The 929
Snowflake in the Front 460
Southern States Y. M. M. I. A 746
Stake Efficiency Reports 553
Statistical Report of the Y. M.
M. I. A • 835
Suggestions for an Opening So- cial 1021
Suggestive Preliminary Pro- gram 1023
"The Mission of America" 1100
Thrift Stamps and Savings Cer- tificates 462
Value of Religion, The 84
War Savings Stamp Campaign.... 931 War Savings Stamps and Cer- tificates 366
Wasatch Stake Efficiency Report 461 Y. M. and Y. L. M. I. A. An-
nual Conventions, 1918 923
Y. M. M. I. A. Bean and Corn
Contest 365
Y. M. M. I. A. General Fund 930
Y. M. M. I. A. Work 85
New Stake Presidencies 350
Notes 270, 653
Only a Woman to Deal With 127
Ottinger, George M 146
Outlines for Scout Workers
292, 426, 614, 695, 783
PASSING EVENTS
Abdul Hamid 464
Airplane Mail Service 748
Alberta's Loyalty in Production
and Men 281
Alcedo 182
All the Railroads in the United
States 373
Allenby, General 556
INDEX TO SUBJECTS
PAGE
PASSING EVENTS (Cont.)
American Army at the Front,
The 839
American Casualty List, The 840
American Engineers Fight 277
American Independence Day... 934 American Soldiers in France. ...1103
American Soldiers' Letters 555
American Troops in Lorraine
Sector 557
Americans in the Trenches in
France 183
Anti-Tank Rifle 1103
Argentine Troops Mobilized 277
Army Draft Men 932
At the Italian Front 277
At the Vernal Dinosaur Quarry 539
Audubon Societies 562
Auerbach, Herbert S 454
Austrian Drive, An 838
Baker, Secretary of War 555, 654
Barthou, J. Lewis 183
Basinger, David L. 373
Being "Gassed" 558
Bennett, James Gordon 749
Bliss, Major General Tasker H. 91
Bohi, Gotlob 561
Bolo Pasha 467
Bolsheviki, The 279
Book Campaign, A , 555
Boyd, John D., Jr 748
Brady, Senator James H 372
Brazil 277
Brazil Proclaims War 182
Brigham Young University,
The 1024
British Army, The 91
British Sank a Masked Raider,
The 182
Brown, Carl G 91
Byng, General 278
Call Issued for 95,000 More
Troops 556
Callister, Edward H 280
Cannon, Wilhelmina Mousley .... 371
Cardona, General Luigi 464
Carlquist, Carl A 1103
Carter, Charles W 465
Clark, Lieutenant O. R 1025
Clayton, Private Albert G 751, 841
Clemanceau, Georges, Premier
of France 280
Cold Weather in New York 371
Concrete Ship "Faith," The 655
Condition in the Army Camps.. 374
Conscription in Canada 371
Crawford, Private Edward J 371
Crow, Raymond Franklin 750
PASSING EVENTS (Cont.)
Cullen, Mathew 556
Cummings, B. F 561
Czecho-Slovak, The 1024, 1103
Daylight Saving Law, The 655
Decoration Day, May 30 753
Died in Service. ...752, 953, 1026, 1106
Diet of Finland, The 277
Disastrous Fire at Bamberger
Electric Railroad 749
Dutch Ships 560
East Africa Cleared 277
Eclipse of the Sun, An 838
Egan, Richard Erastus 750
Elders of the Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints 465
Election Day 92
Election in Utah, The 182
"Era" Story Contest 753
Farewell Parade, A 94
Federal Prohibition Constitu- tional Amendment 932
Fifth German Drive, The 933
Fifth Great German Drive, The.. 1025
Finland Wants a King 556
First Shell Shock Victim, The.. 838
For Military Purposes 839
Ford, Mrs. Lena Gilbert 558
Forty-Second Infantry of Fort
Douglas, The 184
French National Holiday, The... 932
"Garabed," The 91
Gardner, Vern 372
Gaza, The City of 182
General Foch and General
Pershing 656
German Army, The 561
German Long Range Guns, The 748
German Submarine, A 841
Giles, Elmo 654
Grant, President Heber J 464
Great German Drive, The 657
Guatemala City 372
Haight, Lloyd Burt 839
Haiti 932
Halifax 278
Hasbrouck, Colonel Alfred 838
Hendrickson, James L 749
Hertling, Count Von 183
Holland 656
Hotzendorf, Field Marshal Von 933
Howell, Hon. Joseph 932
Iliff, Rev. T. C 555
Immigration to the United
States 1103
Increased Artillery Action 559
Irigoyen, President Hipolito 93
vi INDEX TO
PAGE
PASSING EVENTS (Cont.)
Italian Army on the Isonzo
Front, The 187
Japan 555
Jensen, Lee 748
Jenson, Harold H 749
Jerusalem Surrendered 277
Keith, David 654
Kelly, Lincoln G 555
Kemmel, Mount 748
Kesler, Alonzo P 466
Latter-day Saints School Con- vention, The 839
Lee, Lieutenant Robert E 467
Lenine, Nikolai 1104
Lessman, B. Henry 464
Liberty Cabbage 748
Liberty Day 750
Leggitt, Major General Hunter
L 838
Liliuokalani, Queen 187
Logan Temple, The 555
Loomis, Lieutenant Dudley A... 464
Lufbery, Major Raoul 838
Lund, Henry C 556
Luxburg, Count 182
McAdoo, Secretary of the Treas- ury, William G 92
McKay, Patriarch David 186
McQuarrie, Bishop Robert....93, 278
Marine Casualties 838
Marshall, Vice President Thom- as R 182
Miller, Clarence Earl 92
Marshal Foch 1103, 1104
Mohammed V 934
Montgomery, Forest 933
Moore, Edward 932
Moyle, James H 91
Nation-wide Prohibition .374, 1104 Naval Battle in the Gulf of
Riga, A 91
Neff, Patriarch John 373
New Inter-Entente War Council 278 New Mexican Revolution Move- ment, A 183
New Mexico and Ohio 182
New Registration of Young Men 838
New Wireless System.. 1103
New York 182
Ogden : 374
On the West Battle Front in
France 182
One Hundred Ships 934
Page, Jonathan S.. Jr 372
Palmer, J. Mitchell 184
Pasha, Bolo 655
Peace Treaty, A 466
SUBJECTS
PAGE
PASSING EVENTS (Cont.)
Poulson, Bishop Otto J 654
Profiteering Exists 932
Prophecy Come True, A 465
Purchase of Liberty Bonds, A.... 655 Raids by the German U-boats.. ..1024 Railroad Administration, The.... 838
Railway Situation, The 278
Rainbow Division, The 277
Rainfall, The 371
Reconstruction Hospital, A 1024
Reconvened 65th Congress, The 279
Red Cross, The 277
Registration Day 1104
Richthofen, Baron Von 748
Rip-tide at Ocean Beach, A 750
Roberts, Coach E. L 751
Roosevelt, Lieutenant Quentin..l024 Russian Church and State, The 465 Russian Government at Petro-
grad Taken by Bolsheviki 183
Rust, David D 839
San Francisco Conference Office
Moved 753
Sargent, Wilford N 748
Scott, Major General Hugh L 555
Second Conscription, The 371
Second Contingent of Drafted
Men 92
Second Increment to the Second
National Army, A 654
Second Liberty Loan, The 91, 184
Second War Fund for American
Red Cross, The 751
Seeley, Joseph F 654
Senator Tries New Browning
Machine Gun Rifle 556
Serious Railway Accident,- A 840
Sevey, Milton H 278
Shelley, Idaho, Completes Sugar
Factory 183
Shipp, Dr. Milford B 556
Ships Sunk by Submarines 466
Shutdown of Industries, A 371
Siberian Situation, The 558
Since Charles H. Schwab was
Made Director 750
Sloan, Thomas W 374
Smith, Calvin S. 556
Smith, George Albert 91
Smith, Joseph F., Jr 654
Smith, W. Clarence 843
Some Shells 464
Spain 92
Spring-Rice, Sir Cecil Arthur. ... 464 Statements for the Income Tax.. 375
Steel Armor, The 186
Stefanson, Vilhjalmar 371
INDEX TO SUBJECTS
PASSING EVENTS (Cont.)
Stephens, Professor Evan 292
Taft, Sargeant Major Charles P. 96
Tanner, Horace R 839
Texas and Prohibition 654
Texas Legislature, The 555
Third Liberty Loan, A 371
Three Temperance Steps 373
To the 145th Field Artillery 842
Total Subscription to the Third
Liberty Loan, The 838
Turkish Prisoners "Bagged" by
the British 559
Tuscania, The 466
Twentieth Infantry, The 933
Two Year War Cost of the
United States, The 277
United States Airship Program,
The 279
United States Army in France,
The 934
Utah Artillery Band, The 935
Utah Boy, A 94
Utah Coal Road, The 279
Utah has 18,097 Men Serving 1024
Utah's National Guard 1103
Von Eichhorn, Field Marshal
Herman 1025
War, The 372
War Savings Campaign, The 560
War Savings Certificates 277
Weed, Floyd L 184
Weggeland, Danquart Anthon.... 840
Wells, John 932
Weston, James Hughs 748
Weymiss, Vice Admiral Sir
Rosslyn 371
What Russia Lost 749
Wheat Prices 96
When the United States Troops
Arrived in Britain 840
Wilhelm, Kaiser 185
Wilson, Charles R 751, 839
Wilson, President Woodrow 465
Winning the War Through Bus- iness 467
Winter During February, The.... 556 Winter Term of the Utah Agri- cultural College 183
Woman Suffrage 372
Woolley, Elder Marion E 1024
Wounded in Action 935
Young, Alonzo 654
Young, Brigadier General Rich- ard W 750, 842
Young, Colonel Richard W 655
Zeebrugge 749
Peace Terms 446
Philosophy of the Atonement 727
Plucky Pioneer Mother, A 755
POETRY
Ambition 498
American Mothers' Prayer, The 195
Anticipation 241
Boy Who Fights for his Mother,
The 719
Christmas, 1917 112
Coming Spring 403
Consolation 34
Day, The 350
Day with Nature, A 845
Departure of the "First Utah".... 312
Each Little Hour 243
El Morah — Inscription Rock 508
Evening Visitor, An 22
Flag Goes By, The 296
Fortitude 471
Freedom's Flag 54
God's Gift— A Mother 536
Gold Star in the Service Flag,
The 837
Grace of the Power to Give,
The 406
Green Winged Teal, The 696
Gull, The 785
Hope 1056
I Do Not Ask 630
I Stepped in Your Steps All the
Way 672
In Mesopotamia 865
Innocents, The 297
Invocation 503
It Matters Not 52
Jerusalem 255
Latter-day Kingdom, The 479
Life's Strenuous Journey 729
Lilacs, The 515
Lines 659
Listening Post, The 891
Little Nell 880
Lucy Mack Smith 779
Memories 50
Metamorphosis 149
Mountain Men, The 565
My Sleepy Goslings 429
My Work 514
Nation's Prayer, The 287
Nature's Peace 617
Needs of Yesterday, The 116
Night's Goddess 122
Old Glory 958
On the Fall of Jerusalem 518
Our Boys 525
Our Country's Call 895
INDEX TO SUBJECTS
POETRY (Cont.)
Our Flag 538
Our Flag Must Stand 44
Prayer, A .„ 189
Prayer, A 613
Prayers 892
Results and Roses 580
Sagebrush 817
Song of the War, A 232
Sonnet 1
Strength to be a Helper 786
The Great Ideal 1027
The Shepherd of the Range 1038
These "Former Things" Shall
Pass Away 675
Time and Eternity 726
To a Waterfowl 295
To a White Carnation 28
To Avelan 288
To Camille Desmoulins 982
To Napoleon Bonaparte 983
To the Sons of Freedom 753
Two Boys and a Cigarette 686
Voice of the Grand Old Organ,
The 60
Why Should I Sing? 758
Wild Duck's Nest, The 698
Write the Soldier Boy a Let- ter 553
You Who Stand at Armageddon 1073
PRIESTHOOD QUORUMS TABLE Changes in Officers for Months of September and October,
1917 176
Home Bureau Department, The 82 How to Stimulate Interest in
Gospel Study 174
Missionary Work in Star Valley
Stake 742
Notes 270, 550
Priesthood Meetings in Pioneer
Stake .' 742
Priesthood Quorums Study for
1918 270
Priesthood Study for 1918 176
Quorum Fraternity and Officer's
Responsibility, Granite Stake 743
Special Missionaries 549
Spirited Teachers and Deacons
Class, A 549
Summer Amusements, Davis
Stake 742
Principles of Government in the
Church 3
Problems of Every-day Life 233
Problems of the Age 304, 407,
526, 591, 700, 799, 866, 971, 1057
PAGfc
Prohibition in Canada 806
Question to Young Men, A 248
Religion Active and Passive 993
Religion of Daily Life 256
Remember the Sabbath Day 114
Return of the Jews, The 773, 881
Riches vs. Riches 418
Scouts and the Tobacco Problem. 1037 Secretary Daniels and the Soldiers 202
Service to Country 1050
Service to Country, "Over Here".. 912 Should Latter-day Saints Drink
Coca Cola? 432
Sick are Healed, The 790
Smith, Hyrum Mack 377
Soldiers and Tobacco, The 64
Spirit of Song, The 939
Social Hall, The 1012
SONGS
Farmer Boy, The 250
Hark! Listen to the Gentle
Strain 730
Home Defense Song 787
Invocation to Harmony 444
Marching Song of the Utah Na- tional Guard 61
Old Grey Mare, The 524
Pioneer Campfire Song, A 155
Teamsters' Chorus 338
There's a Letter a-Coming for
You 1000
Spiritual Aspects of the War 483
Spiritual Training Indispensable
in Education 150
"Stars and Stripes," The 888
Status of Children in the Resur- rection 567
STORIES
Aged Recruit, An 196
Amateur Short Stories I, II 55
At St. Peter's Gate 45
Back to the Faith 765
Coquette 618
Corporal Ron of the 362nd 489
Doc. Keaver's Christmas Gift... 117
Dorothy's Career 947
Escane. The 905
F^ud, The 298
First at Last 207
Forfeits 519
God's Way 1042
How Like Us All 303
In the Midst of Fangs 687
Ladv of his Dreams, The 16
Marian's Profession 676
Miracle, The 509
INDEX TO AUTHORS ix
PAGE PAGE
Mother-Heart 214 To the Soldiers of the National
Only a Woman to Deal With... 127 Army 213
Pink Pearls vs. Self Respect 959 Tobacco for the Soldiers 885
Retreat of the Dismal Night 602 Tragedy of Israel, The 12
Saint's Tragedy, The 399 Tribute to Mothers, A 713
Streak of Gray, The 987 "Truth,"' a New Mission Pamphlet 253
They Kissed Again with Tears.. 437 United States Soldier, A 95
Victory for Peace, A 420 Utah's Brigadier Generals 1075
With Saw and Saw-horse 1069 Utah's Detachment School 995
Study of Evolution, A 161 Wells, Bishop John 937
Teachers' Training Classes 1080 What is Spiritual Death? 191
remple Ceremonies 208 What the Cigarette Does 981
remple Ordinances, Blessings and What is Success? 1086
Responsibilities 955 Why America Entered the War... 896
restimony, A 710 Why at War and on What Terms
Testimony of a Japanese Member Peace 340
of the Church 815 Why Boys Should Not Smoke 691
Thoughts of a Farmer Will of God, The 28*
319, 537, 671, 813 World's Potato Record, The 979
Three Practical Sermons 66 Wrong Start, The 487
Thrift 40 You Folks at Home 158
INDEX TO AUTHORS
PAGE PAGE
\damson, Henry Nicol 437, 905 Foshay, Milford W 987
\llen, Louis L. 763 Frost, Grace Ingles
Anderson, Edward H 40, 132, 321 149, 241, 758, 786, 1073
Anderson, Nephi 45, 519, 759 Gates, Susa Young 668
Anderson, Venice Farnsworth..489, 959 Geise, L. N. A 127
Arnold, Frank R 888 Graflin, Margaret Johnston 264
3abcock, Maud May 1012 Grant, Heber J 64,262,379, 853
3aggarley, Maud 312 Greaves, J. E 1051
Baird, Clarence 499 Guest, Edgar A 263,580, 916
3arnes, Claud T 687, 793 Hafen, Annie Woodbury 195, 676
iennett, Henry Holcomb 296 Harrington, Jesse Frederick 810
iennett, Flora E 429 Harris, Dr. Franklin S
iennion, A. S 174 53, 123, 244, 313, 334, 397
iest, Theodore 565 Hickman, Joseph 117
Jiddulph, Samuel 485 Hodapp, Minnie Iverson
Srimhall, Dr. George H...248, 483, 406 34, 122, 675, 779, 1056
3rooks, Fred Emerson 719 House, Roy Temple 672
Bryant, WiUiam Cullen 295, 875 Inonye, G 815
Carroll, Elsie C 298, 509, 1042 Iverson, Violet 292
^ary, Alice 265 Ivie, Lloyd F 471
]oakley, Thomas F. 891 Ivins, Anthony W 161, 715
!!ole, Lou E 22 Jacraes, John 263
Coleman, W. J. 516 Jeppson, Wilmer 695
"ummings, D. W 214 Jordan, David Starr 1086
Curtis, Theodore E 28, 60, 880 Kennedy, Crammond 287
)aniels, Secretary of the Navy 202 Kleinman, Bertha A 116, 232, 243
)e Vinci, Leonardo 887 Kooyman, Frank 1 503
)obson, Will 420 Lambourne, Alfred 1, 112,
Eastman, Max 403 146, 189, 255, 297, 399, 515, 618,
Ickersley, Joseph 144 659, 661, 753, 820, 865, 982, 983, 1027
Ivans, Amy W 16 Larson, Louis W 995
Isher, Dr. George J 984 Latimer, Wm. H 523
letcher, Samuel H s 536 Lauritzen, Annie G 613
INDEX TO AUTHORS
PAGE
Lincoln, Abraham 283
Lund, Anthon H 395, 847, 856
Lund, E. H 773, 881
Lyman, Francis M 1086
Lyman, Richard R 388, 912
Lyon, David R L44, 95
McAllister, D. M 208, 955
McMurrin, Joseph W 893
Maughan, George H 487
Merrill, H. R 197
Merrill, Joseph J 203
Merrill, M. C 159
Miller, 0. P 82
Moorehead, Rubetta 614
Morgan, Angela 273
Naisbitt, Henry W 726
Nibley, Charles W 66, 387
Nibley, Preston 23
O'Brien, D. R 538
O'Gorman, H. M 691
Olphin, A Ray 41
Olsen, John A 729
Osmond, Alfred 630
Otterstrom, F. W 97
Pack, Dr. Fredrick J 432
Palmer, Annie D 765, 947
Parker, Aubrey 54
Parratt, D. W 292,426,614,695, 783
Paul, J. H 29, 939
Pearson, Sarah E. Hawley 288
Penrose, Charles W 290, 479, 1086
Peters, T. McClure 1038
Peterson, E. G 201, 683, 808, 1048
Porter, Elizabeth Cannon 603
Poulson, Ezra J 946
Pratt, Rey L.....". 720
Quincy, Josiah 169
Rees, A C. 51
Reynolds, Alice Louise 150
Richards, George F 171
Richards, Lula Greene 525
PAGE
Robinson, Joseph E 50*
Roe, Watkin L 137
Romney, George 730
Sanderson, Owen M 4l8
Shick, Stuart 696
Smedley, James, Jr 896
Smith, David A 862
Smith, Hyrum M 25
Smith, Joseph F., Jr 191
Smith, President Joseph F 3, 70,
167, 448, 567, 631, 639, 732, 755, 859
Sorenson, A. J. T 50
Sprague 478
Stanford, J. S 817
Steele, Frank C 52, 350, 518, 877
Stephens, Evan 61,
155, 250, 338, 444, 524, 730, 787, 1000
Sweet, F. H 1069
Talmage, James E
12, 114, 171, 256, 285,
383, 404, 473, 623, 727, 819, 993, 1029 Tanner, Joseph M.
233, 304, 319, 407, 446, 526, 537,
591, 671, 700, 794, 813, 866, 971, 1057
Taylor, Frank Y 385
Thomas, W. G. M 581
Wells, Junius F 8, 48, i075
West, Joseph A 790, 902, 1065
Whitney, Orson F 169, 381
Whittier 617
Widtsoe, Dr. John A
672, 780, 886, 1032, 1086
Widtsoe, Osborne J. P 330
Wiley, Dr. Harvey W 931
Wilcox, Ella Wheeler 686
Wilson, President Woodrow
213, 340, 575, 1100
Woolf, De Voe 806
Wordsworth : 698
Young, Levi Edgar 35
Young, Seymour B 862
ijlllllllllllllllllllllllllimillllllllllllllllltllllllllllllllllllllllllllinilllllllll III! Illlllllllllllllllll Illlllllllllllllll tllllltlllllllllllllllllll =
THE GREAT IDEAL.
Through baltle clouds there shines a sacred light, Where roar the guns and bursts the deadly shell, Where love and mercy lie in darkest night, Lost in the passions of the lords of hell. High, far beyond the conflagration's glare, Clear to the inner sight that splendor lies, The brave look onward and they see it there, A hope of Freedom written on the skies. Lo, now all radiant the message glows, As though our age had ever been the goal; Of fear this hour none but the coward knows, To win or die is in the daring soul:
War, carnage, shame, old hatreds, blinded strife, Shall end in Freedom — Man's long dream of life !
Alfred Lambourne.
.11 niiiiii inn in iiiiiin in iinnii nun in mi i nun innnnninininnnninninininniniii nnininiiiinninininniinnininimnniiniiiniinn
THE FIRST HOG ISLAND LAUNCHING
The first ship fabricated at the Hog Island yard was launched in the presence of President Wilson and other Government officials. The vessel, one of 110 identical 7,500 ton, eleven and one-half knot cargo carriers, to be built at the biggest shipyard in the world, was christened the Quistconck, by Mrs. Wilson, that having been the name by which the Indians knew Hog Island.
The President and Mrs. Wilson made the trip in a special train which ran directly to the launching platform.
Less than a year ago Hog Island was a mosquito-ridden, barren waste of mud. Today, its 846 acres have been converted into a yard capable of launching from three to five vessels a week. Before December 31 it is esti- mated that fifty more vessels will have followed the Quistconck down the ways; and before a year is out, it is expected that the entire initial order for 180 vessels will have been executed. In addition to the cargo vessels there will be seventy 8,000-ton 15-knot transports.
The photograph gives a general view of the boat going down the ways, with President Wilson waving his hat, and Mrs. Wilson standing at his left.
IMPROVEMENT ERA
Vol. 21 OCTOBER, 1918 No. 12
M
Mormonism" and the War
By James E. Talmage, of the Council of the Twelve
The proinpt and liberal response of "Mormon" commun- ities to the Nation's call for concerted and determined effort in the current world crisis is very generally known, thanks to the generous liberality of the press and the commendable free- dom fostered by the potent spirit of the times.
Liberty Bond quotas, Red Cross apportionments, War Sav- ings allotments, all have been largely over-subscribed in every "Mormon" city, town and hamlet. In addition to the generous contributions of its members as individuals, the Church as a body has devoted half a million dollars to Liberty Bond pur- chases, and this was done on unanimous vote of the member- ship in general conference assembled.
But beyond all contributions measured in terms of money, is the unhesitating response of men, who have leaped to their places in the ranks by thousands for the hundreds asked, offer- ing their lives in pledge of patriotic devotion.
In this ready and whole-souled cooperation the "Mormon" people claim neither preeminence nor special credit. They have tried to do their part in common with the mighty citi- zenry of our land. All classes in Utah and adjacent states are working shoulder to shoulder, without distinction as to former nationality or present creed.
In addition to the imperative demands of citizenship, to which the Latter-day Saints are responding with unsurpassed devotion and zeal, our people consider duty in the present crisis as a requirement of their religious profession. We have particular concern in the outcome of the great conflict, for we solemnly proclaim that to this Church has been given the divine appointment to preach the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ in all the world; and the discharge of this high commission is
1030 IMPROVEMENT ERA
possible in its entirety only as free speech, liberty of conscience, and a free press are insured among the nations.
The frightful war forced upon liberty-loving peoples is a belated attempt on the part of Lucifer to try anew the issue on which he was defeated in the primeval world, as the Scriptures attest. His plan of compulsion, by which every soul would be bereft of agency, was rejected in the council of the heavens, and the plan of liberty and individual freedom was adopted, with Jesus Christ as the fore-ordained Redeemer of the race.
The decision brought war, and Lucifer and his hordes were cast out upon the earth. In these last days that same Lucifer, or Satan, as he is now known, is operating through those who are ready to do his bidding, to rivet the shackles of monarchial despotism upon mankind.
Autocracy is the form of government that prevails in hell; and individual freedom is the basal principle of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Any man who seeks to enforce unrighteous dominion upon his fellows is the devil's own agent.
Citizenship in the kingdom of God is offered to all men on equal terms, for truly God is no respecter of persons. The Church proclaims this fundamental tenet in her Article of Faith: "We believe that through the atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the gospel."
Obedience to righteous law is an essential of true liberty. That liberty, falsely so called, which regards not the rights of others, is but evil license for selfish dominion with all its attend- ant abominations.
Our missionary elders have time and again been imprisoned in Germany, and others have been forcibly banished from the empire of boasted kultur, because they bore the message of freedom and individual agency. Formerly they went into that land with only the Scriptures and their own testimony of the truth as weapons in the conflict with sin. Now many of those selfsame men are on their way back wearing the uniform of the Nation, and with Browning guns as their instruments of persuasion.
The world is preparing for the consummation of the ages, which is the second coming of Christ. It is wise to be on guard against spurious prognostications as to the precise time of the great event, for, as the Scriptures affirm, this shall not be reveal- ed even to the angels in heaven. Nevertheless, every day wit- nesses the ripening of the specified signs into actualities. The conditions set forth by Christ and His apostles as characteristic of the day of His coming are being realized with the exactness of detailed fulfilment.
MORMONISM" AND THE WAR
1031
The world war, with all its frightful atrocities incident to autocracy's determination to subvert the God-given birthright of agency and national freedom, is one of the most significant of the portentous signs of the times.
Heaven offers her bounties to man; his title thereto must be established by effort.
"Mormonism" holds that right shall yet triumph, tyranny be overthrown, and the liberties of mankind be established and made to endure.
© Underwood & Underwood, New York
INHABITANTS OF CHATEAU-THIERRY GOING TO GREET THEIR AMERICAN LIBERATORS
In this, one of the first pictures to reach this country of the battle of Chateau-Thierry, are shown the inhabitants of the town who remained dur- ing the German occupation, walking through the destroyed streets, going to meet the American soldiers, to thank them for their deliverance from the German fiends.
"Next door to hell" was the way one soldier described the battle, and his assertion was not far from right, judging from the ruin and desolation left behind by the retreating Germans whom the Americans drove back with a courage that insured the turning point of the war.
The Cause of the War*
By Dr. John A. Widtsot
My fellow workers, — It seems almost unnecessary, after the vivid address of our Australian friend, to discuss, at this late hour, the facts behind the war. There is only one great fact in our minds, after hearing our friend from the trenches speak — the fact that we are at war; that we are in the business of win- ning the war; that we must remain in the war until it is ended; and that we must come out of the war victoriously, so that the world may be free. With President Grant's permission, there- fore, in view of the message given us by our soldier friend, and because of the far spent time, I shall not attempt to give you the outlined talk that I brought with me this morning, but shall call your attention to some of the outstanding facts that may be used in the war programs that may be given throughout the Church.
I suppose every Mutual worker and all the members of the Church are familiar with the few simple facts upon which rests our attitude with respect to the war. If these facts are not understood, they should be known by every member of the Church; for there is no organization in the world that has a deeper interest in the progress and the outcome of this great world war than the organization known as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Though we may know well the facts upon which President Wilson rested his message to Con- gress, and as a result of which war was declared with Germany, it may be helpful to review in the various wards and stakes of Zion these facts, that our courage may not grow faint and that our loyalty may remain undimmed and untarnished.
I may remind you that this great war is an effect of many causes — some very evident and near, some not so evident, but remote. This war did not come out of a clear sky. It did not simply happen, but came as a result of things that have occurred through generations of time. When the war broke out in 1914 the people of this country were occupied in their crdinary pur- suits— a peaceful and peace-loving people. We desired no quarrel with the world. We attempted to keep out of all kinds of disputes with our neighbors. We did not maintain an elab- orate spy svstem; we had no involved secret diplomacy; for a democracy does not lend itself easily to the spy system or to
*An address delivered at the annual M. I. A. Conference, June 7, 1918, following an address on experiences in the war, by Capt. Walter K. Harris, of the Australian Army.
THE CAUSE OF THE WAR 1033
secret diplomacy. Such things are confined to monarchial forms of government, the forms of government that are passing out of existence and will be largely of the past when this war is ended. We were going about in our own way to develop our natural resources, and contending simply for the right to work out on this land, in this hemisphere, our form of government — a government by the people, so that the people may be free — a government which does not depend upon a king or upon a military class, but which does depend, for its power and in- fluence, upon the will of the people governed. That was all we asked of the world; and we were determined, as we are deter- mined today, that no power on earth shall come in and destroy our experiment in free government. On that point we are all united. We propose to stand together to the last in behalf of this great experiment in free government which we believe, and which all sane thinkers of the world today believe is a solution of the social difficulties that vex the world today.
During all these years, in order to maintain our right to work out our experiment in free government, we had asked the world to recognize three things, three main principles. If the American people will keep them in mind, it will be easier to understand the causes back of this war:
First: We insisted upon the recognition of the Monroe doctrine, which simply meant that we would not permit any European or foreign power to come to these shores, or to this hemisphere and become a power here, so that our work for the freedom of the world might be endangered. At the same time we agreed that we would keep out of Europe; we would not attempt to interfere with European politics. We wanted to be left free to work out our big experiment for the good of man- kind.
Second: We insisted that the world recognize the freedom of the seas, so that we might carry on commerce with the world. In spite of the fact that we were located thousands of miles away from the older and more thickly settled domain of the world, we might still, by the use of the seas, have free com- munication with our neighbors in every part of the world.
Third: We insisted that all our disputes with other nations should be settled by the method of arbitration.
If you will read the history of the last hundred years, you will find that the United States of America has simply asked that these three principles be recognized — the Monroe Doctrine, the freedom of the seas, and the arbitration of difficulties that might arise between us and other nations.
Let me now call your attention to the fact that the German government, which stupefied this country when it began the
1034 IMPROVEMENT ERA
war in Europe, has been unwilling to recognize any of these fundamental principles upon which we rest our claims with respect to the world.
We tried to be neutral when the war broke out. We re- fused to be drawn into it. Our President issued a manifesto asking all the good citizens of the land to remain strictly neutral. It was difficult to he neutral when a power across the sea invaded small countries, murdered innocent children and women, killed the manhood of a country and destroyed the heritage of the past by burning and wrecking great buildings, libraries, pictures, monuments to the thought and skill of generations of men. We were loath to believe that the German government could lend itself to such practices; yet we all know, whether we like it or not, that the German government, which is controlling the Ger- man people, has lent itself to every possible outrage that can be devised by the human mind. In spite of the insults to civil- ization that were hurled at us, this country attempted to re- main neutral, but we were not allowed to remain so.
Almost at the beginning of the war an anti-United States propaganda was started by the German government at home and abroad, based largely upon the claim that we were furnishing munitions to other countries; and we were asked to stop our trade with other nations. We were requested to remain here, as if we were on an island of the sea, quiet and subservient, tak- ing orders from a power which was showing itself unfit for leadership among the nations of the world.
We soon learned that spies, sent out by the German govern- ment, were honeycombing our country and other countries. They were down in Mexico, over in Japan, in the Latin republics of America.
They had one message to deliver: "Let us all get together and destroy the United States of America." The Monroe Doc- trine was being ignored absolutely by the German government in its propaganda. You will all remember the Zimmerman note, so-called, in which the German government proposed to Mexico that if she would join with Japan and certain other countries, to fight this country, Texas and New Mexico and Arizona would be ceded to Mexico. These things became known, little by little, as the war went on. The German government, within the first three years of the war, said, in actions if not in words, "We do not believe in the Monroe Doctrine. We shall not respect it; we shall do all we can to overthrow it."
Soon after the war broke out, sea troubles also began. Un- protected" zones were established within which U-boats and other destructive craft might operate, even to the extent of destroying vessels of neutral countries and drowning or destroying
THE CAUSE OF THE WAR 1035
passengers on neutral ships, who were on their way to neutral countries. After some time this submarine warfare became ruth- less, until there was nothing left but to believe, at least as far as our government was concerned, that the freedom of the seas was no longer a principle held in respect by the German gov- ernment. It said in substance: "We do not belive in the free- dom of the seas. We shall keep you on your sea-bound con- tinent and make you separate and apart from the rest of the world."
Long before the war broke out, in spite of our repeated requests, the German government, almost alone in its views among the great powers of the world, had said to us defiantly: "We will not submit any of our difficulties to a treaty of arbitra- tion; we will not have such a treaty."
In other words, all the things for which we have stood, sacred rights to us because upon them depends the future of popular government, were all dishonored by the German gov- ernment. There was nothing else for us to do than to declare war on such a government, that we, ourselves, and the great cause of our land, might live and be protected.
The steps that led immediately to the declaration of war may be followed in the President's so-called War Message, which is printed in the first number of the war information series and entitled "The War Message and the Facts Behind It," contain- ing the annotated speech of the President on April 2, 1917. (See Improvement Era, May, 1917, Vol. 20, No. 7, for speech in full.)
There are other great and grave causes back of the war which the time does not permit me to discuss. It is an uncivil- ized warfare, and many of us doubt if we may in justice remain neutral in the face of a return to barbarism. There has been also a distinct attempt for many years on the part of the Ger- man government to impose German "kultur" upon all the world, that is, to make the world see as they see. If this were the place and time I could give you my own personal experience to show you how vigorous yet subtle was the attempt in all parts of the country to impose German kultur upon us. As one American, I refuse to have anybody's kultur imposed upon me. I live in a free country, and am free to express myself and to belong to the majority or the minority as the case may be, from year to year, but always to let the popular will rule me and my actions in a governmental way.
Finally, we may as well remember that the great, big over- whelming cause of the war, the reason why we are in the war and wish to remain in it to the end, is that one great system of government is opposed to another system of government. The one system says that a man, ordinarily in power because he is
1036 IMPROVEMENT ERA
born of a certain father, shall stand at the head of a nation, and through a controlling, self-protective military machine, shall speak to the people and compel their obedience. The people under this system shall have little or no voice in the manage- ment of their own affairs. The other system declares that with- in the majority of the people lies the power of government, and that they may select men to govern them for one, or twenty, or a hundred, or more years, but that the power remains with the people. This latter system says that there is no place in this, world for war; that this is a world in which justice and peace must reign; and that our government must be so established that cannons and rifles and poisonous gases will be removed from the possibility of destroying human life; that there is noth- ing more precious upon the face of the earth than human lives, and that these lives must be guarded and guided and allowed to develop to serve the God they worship, and to develop the earth which has been given them. Shall autocracy rule, or shall democracy prevail? That is the question.
We are fighting today, in a small way, the fight that was waged in the heavens, according to our own doctrine, long be- fore we came to the earth. We were assembled in a great gathering, to discuss the journey to the earth and the life we were to lead here. The Father of the race laid before us his plan. "I will send you down there. I am the Master of men, because I am the possessor of the largest knowledge; and we shall so arrange things that you, my children, may know the law; and as you succeed in obeying and living the law, so shall your greatness before me be." It was not wholly an in- viting program, because men are likely to fall, always, when they have the freedom of choice, but it was God's plan, a pure and perfect plan. Then Lucifer arose and said: "I have a better plan. I will take these people with me. I shall be the master. I shall see that every one of them shall live in joy and happiness, They shall have all they want to eat and fire houses to live in, and I shall see to it that the life journey is a beautiful, happy one, and I shall save every one of them without any effort on their own part." By God's plan every soul would be obliged to earn its own salvation; by Lucifer's plan, salvation will be forced upon every one, irrespective of deserts. God's plan is natural and wholesome — Lucifer's plan was unnatural and forbidding. One was good ; the other was evil.
Today the world is fighting out the age-old issue. Shall man govern himself, though he makes mistakes at times, — or shall government be imposed upon him, even though the gov- ernment be of perfect precision? We of this land and this Church have long since answered the question. Government
THE CAUSE OF THE WAR 1037
by the people is right; government imposed upon the people is wrong. We shall remain with the right. Though our life- blood be shed, we mean' to fight for the right to be free against any evil power, like that of Lucifer's, that would impose its sugar-coated bitterness, its "kultur" upon us.
Scouts and the Tobacco Problem
No. 11 of the Scout law declares: "A Scout is clean: He keeps clean in body and thought; he stands for clean speech, clean sport, clean habits; and he travels with a clean crowd." A scoutmaster must be all that his scouts are. He has an unclean habit if he uses tobacco, and is not fit to lead the boys. An arti- cle in Scouting, the National Headquarters publication, Boy Scouts of America, declares as a belief what the M. I. A. Scouts of the Boy Scouts of America know to be a fact proven by practice :
At a recent Field Department Conference at National Headquarters the following recommendations and suggestions were formulated:
It is the sense of the Field Department that its representatives should not smoke when on official scout business. This relates to regular office hours and to personal interviews and meetings in the conduct of the field. It is also the view of the members of the Field Department that the Na- tional organization of the Boy Scouts of America encourage similar practice among all of its employed officers.
The Field Department will not recommend for employment by any local council of the Boy Scouts of America any man who is a habitual smoker of cigarettes.
While it may not be within the province of the Field Department to make such recommendation, it is our belief that the influence of the Boy Scouts of America throughout the nation would be greatly enhanced by a regulation forbidding the use of tobacco in connection with any Boy Scout camp or on hikes. Further, it is the hope of the men of the Field Depart- ment that all volunteer workers with Boy Scouts, whether acting in the capacity of commissioners, deputy commissioners, scoutmasters, and assistant scoutmasters, may give thoughtful consideration to this question as it affects their relationships with boys of the organization.
We go a step further and say that no man should be a teacher or leader of boys who smokes at all or at any time. Why be a hypocrite and avoid smoking only when not seen? Another scoutmaster in the same article in Scouting hits the nail on the head in the following:
A local minister preached a sermon to our local scouts last Sunday eve- ning, and a very good sermon it was, with but one exception, and that was on this very question of smoking. He had better not said anything about it at all than to say what he did. He told the boys not to smoke, and at the same time apologized for smoking himself, saying he did not have the training that the boys do now. A few minutes before this he told the boys it was not honorable to hide behind excuses.
I think the whole question is, let the scout officials first cut out the habit, for this they must do if they want an earnest appeal to their boys.
The Shepherd of the Range
I.
From Pyrenees to Utah's hills I came. In summer suns, I herd complaining flocks Far up her steep and brushy mountain slopes, Or drive them through the pointed canyon rocks To lofty summit pastures, fresh and sweet And gay with snowy, fragile Columbine And proud pentstemons' gaudy azure bells, To air as pure and strong as Provence wine, And watch them spread about like driven snow In moving, bleating masses rude and strange ; — I, with my book before me on a rock, I, a poor lonely shepherd of the Range.
II.
When winter's silvery mantle settles down, Covering the naked peaks against his cold, And firs stand black in dazzling wastes of white, And sinking suns transmute the hills to gold, I, with my bleating charges, following down, Seek deserts dry where sage and shadscale grow, And sage cocks strut, and the sad coyotes call, And never hear the pleasant waters flow; Here browses wide on meager winter feed The fretting flock, and I, in quarters strange, Open my book again and read and read, I, a poor lonely shepherd of the Range.
THE SHEPHERD OF THE RANGE 1039
III.
I read the story of the Son of Man
From Matthew, Mark, and Luke, and holy John;
All that He ever did, or said, or thought,
Closing my book, I like to think upon;
On Christinas eve I hear the angels sing,
As other shepherds heard; I, too, rejoice,
And hold the peace they promise in my heart,
Of all His gifts the holiest and most choice:
These are the pastures of my hungry soul;
That other men should pass them by, how strange
It seems, but I am ignorant, I know, —
Only a lonely shepherd of the Range.
IV.
I hear men say, who seem to me quite sane, That holy Jesus never walked the earth; Others, that never either God or man Entered life's portals through a virgin birth. Some say a man named Jesus lived and died, But that his life was never rightly told; But many things were added or left out By them that wrote these gospel books of old. It may be so. I have so little lore; The miracles, I know, are passing strange; I often skip them when I read the book Here in the bleating silence of the Range.
V.
I think at times on this that men have said, With troubled mind, and to myself I say, — We often speak thus to our other selves, You know it is the lonely shepherd's way: — What matters it what men say of the Christ, Or even doubt he ever walked the earth? Since from the first I read these gospel books The Jesus of my soul has had his birth: His power as great as if in flesh and blood; The truths He told of goodness do not change; I worship though men say he never was, I, a poor lonely shepherd of the Range.
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IMPROVEMENT ERA
VI.
I care not how these gospel books were writ,
By man or God, it matters not to me,
My Christ, by these four books, has lived and died,
And now lives on to all eternity.
I see no need for weary argument;
I love my holy Christ and tend my sheep ;
His gentle words are written in my heart.
O, Holy One, thy faithful shepherd keep.
But when I tell this to the men I see,
They say my words are something more than strange,
And shake their heads, and with a patient smile
Leave me, the lonely shepherd of the Range.
VII.
The evening sun has tinged to rose the snow, The dogs with eager eyes wait my command, The tinted hills through wintry hazes seen Seem like the shores of some far distant land; Soon will my fire blaze up with cheerful glow And spicy sage like incense bite the air, And gathering night awake the wistful owl And draw the coyote from his chilly lair: And I shall lie beneath the cold, bright stars Unlet by priests or doubts or creeds that change, And worship God, the Christ I know so well, I, a poor lonely shepherd of the Range.
T. McClure Peters.
SALUTES OF THE ALLIED SOLDIERS
Each of the Allied soldiers represented here is giving the military salute of his country. It is exceedingly interesting to note that the signs of respect of each of our Allies are different with the exception of the Bel- gian and Czecho-Slovak, which are nearly alike. They are represented in this photo starting at the top from left to right: English, American, Bel- gian, Greek, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Serbian and Czecho-Slovak.
God's Way
By Elsie Chamberlain Carroll
"Here is a letter from the President. He wants us to go down through the western part of the state and canvass a number of towns that haven't been worked for a long time, and through
which a Rev. N has been spreading his influence against us."
Elder Simpson handed an open letter to his companion beside him on the park bench just outside of the post office. The letter was perused in silence, though the young man's face showed some agitation.
"Elder Simpson, I don't see why the Lord permits such men
as this N to go about doing all the harm they do," he
burst out indignantly when the letter was finished. "Why, one man like that does more to injure the cause than the good a dozen of us missionaries can do."
"0 no, Elder Crane, I think you are mistaken. Of course, we Elders suffer some unpleasant consequences from the work of such men, but on the whole they do more good than harm for the Church. They succeed in drawing the attention of people we could never reach. It is all good advertising, and after all that is a big help. The Lord has a peculiar way of turning the effort of his enemies to the ultimate good of his cause. There is something about the gospel message that no matter how it is distorted by the foes of truth it still echoes a familiar tone in the souls of the true sons and daughters of Israel, and many an honest heart has been aroused to investigate the truth by having it traduced." The man spoke earnestly and as his companion did not reply he continued.
"When the keys for the gathering of Israel were committed to God's servants in this last dispensation, they were promised that his power would accompany the message which they were asked to bear, and that the honest in heart — the blood of Israel — would know the call of their Shepherd. I have heard of a number of conversions, for instance, that can be traced directlv to the curiosity aroused by this same Mr. N — ."
"That may be true," the younger man admitted relunctantly, "but I don't relish the thought of going along in the fellow's wake. I suppose I won't mind so much when I'm a little older in the work and don't have a fit of the ague every time any one tries to open an argument with me." Both men laughed as they gathered up their mail from the bench.
GOD'S WAY 1043
"You'll get over that. We all had those days," the older man assured him as they started toward their room.
"I suppose we may as well start in the morning," said Elder Simpson. "We can get to Courtland in two days, I think. There are a few investigators in the town, besides this man Beckett that the President mentions, who has already been baptized. We'll wait until we get there to arrange for a meeting."
A couple of days later the two men reached Courtland and found their way to the home of Mr. Beckett. ,
"I'm mighty glad to see you," Beckett greeted them warmly. "It's time some of you elders came. There has been a man named N — through here telling all sorts of scandalous things about the 'Mormons.' John Dillon's folks and the Mercer sisters and Mrs. Adamson were all about ready to be baptized, but they are wondering now whether to be or not. Shall I invite them over this evening and let you straighten their questions out?"
"Certainly," Elder Simpson replied. "I believe we would better hold a few cottage meetings before we try to do anything in a public way."
Young Henry Beckett was sent to notify the investigators of the meeting. When he returned he seemed somewhat excited.
"Pa, Champ Connell was over to Dillion's and Nick Dennis from out at the Cross Roads and they said that they were coming to the meeting, too."
"Why, that is all right, my boy," Elder Simpson assured him. "We are glad to have any who wish to come."
"But they are the two worst toughs in Courtland," asserted the lad.
After supper the elders and the Beckett family gathered in the living room. Soon the Mercer Sisters with a couple of friends arrived, and a little later Mrs. Adamson and her daugh- ter-in-law came; and finally the Dillion family and the two self- invited guests.
A hymn was selected and sung. Elder Crane opened the meeting by prayer. Then after another hymn, Elder Simpson arose and spoke at some length on the first principles of the Gospel. When he had finished he said,
"Now, if there are any questions we will be pleased to hear them and answer them if possible."
Before anyone else had a chance to speak Champ Connell who was sitting near the door, got clumsily to his feet.
"Yer sermon sounded purty fair, Mr. 'Mormon,' but I bet ve ain't got Scripture fer all of it. Ye must a got some o' that dope out o' ole Joe Smith's gold Bible. I jist wish ye'd let Rev. Jackson ask ye a few questions, an' I'd like t' hear ye explain a few o' the things a Mr. N — told us about ye last week. So
1044 IMPROVEMENT ERA
if ye ain't afraid, we'd like to see ye show yerselves over in the Baptist Church tomorrow night."
"Do I understand this to be an invitation to a meeting?" Elder Simpson asked.
"It is."
"Very well, we shall be glad to come, and we thank you for the opportunity." At this point, Connell and his companion withdrew and the elders spent a couple of hours in conversation with their friends.
The next day was spent by the elders in visiting and letter writing. Late in the afternoon Mr. Beckett and his son came home very much excited. They hurried at once to their guests.
"That meeting you were invited to tonight was a fake," Mr. Beckett began. "Henry, here, overheard Champ and Nick and a gang of their friends planning to tar and feather you. Henry tell us just what you did hear."
"Us fellers was playing 'Run Sheep' and I hid under some logs down behind the old saw-mill. Pretty soon Champ and his gang came around there and sat on the logs right over me. They were drinking and swearing and laughing over the good time they are going to have tonight. I found out there wasn't to be any meeting at all. That was just a trap to catch you in, then they are going to take you to the woods and tar and feather yoii and make you perform for them. If you don't come to the meeting they are coming here and drag you out." Elder Crane was plainly agitated and even Elder Simpson was grave.
"Surely there is no -danger of a barbarous thing like that being carried out in a civilized community," he said seriously.
"I don't know, Elder Simpson," their host replied. "Of course, you must not judge the whole town by this lawless gang, but as for them, there is no limit to which they will not go when they are full of whisky. It is strange I didn't wonder at it last night when they gave the invitation for Rev. Jackson, so to speak. Champ hasn't been inside of a church since he was a baby and I guess Nick hasn't been many times since he 'hoodooed' pretty little Millie Greene into marrying him. I called Rev. Jackson up after Henry told me what he had heard, and he knew nothing of a meeting. It will be positively dangerous for you to stay in town tonight."
"It seems cowardly to run away," Elder Simpson said after a thoughtful pause. "But I suppose it is worse than useless to stay. We would only be rieking Brother Beckett's family as well. I was just thinking, Elder Crane, we might go out and stop at some of those farms we passed coming in, then we can do some trading in the morning and take the Cross Roads over to
GOD'S WAY 1045
Spencer, and probably come back here in a week or so and do the work we had hoped to accomplish now."
And so, as twilight settled over Courtland, the elders took their heavy grips and started out upon the road.
"This is the discouraging part of missionary work, Elder Simpson," complained the younger man. "To think of having the good we ought to have accomplished there in Courtland, defeated by a couple of 'drunks.' " The two were making their way against a fierce storm which had been brewing all day and had now arrived with February fury.
"We cannot be the judges, Elder Crane," the older man remonstrated. God's ways are not always ours, you know. Per- haps even this defeat may be turned into a victory; who knows?"
"Well, it doesn't look very probable out in a night like this."
Before long it was pitchy dark. Their clothes and shoes were wet and cold and the wind blew the icy sleet into their faces. When the light of the first farmhouse gleamed before them, they turned hopefully into the lane and knocked at the door. A rheumatic old man hobbled across the floor and opened it with a mumbled curse.
"Good evening, friend," Elder Simpson said pleasantly. "Could you take in a couple of travelers for the night?"
"No, I couldn't," came the ill-natured reply. "I ain't able t' take care o' myself an' all the folks is gone t' town," and the door was shut unceremoniously in their faces. Patiently the two men turned back to the road and resumed their unpleasant journey. In a half hour they saw another light twinkling ahead of them. Again they approached the door and knocked. This time a pleasant-faced woman with a babe in her arms came to the door.
"I would like to let you stay," she told them with sincere regret as she looked at their wet clothing, then out into the stormy night, "but my husband is away and I couldn't very well take you in. I believe the Carters who live a few miles this side of the Cross Roads take travelers." They appreciated her position and thanked her for her kindness of heart as once more they turned back to tramp through the mud and slush.
When they reached the Carter farm, they found it deserted. The storm was still raging fiercely.
"Shall we try to find shelter some place about the barn?" asked Elder Simpson, feeling great sympathy for his young companion who had not yet grown accustomed to the hardships of the mission field.
"No!" replied the young man stoically. "I'd rather walk all night than resort to the methods of a common tramp," and so once more they plunged into the darkness ahead of them.
1046 IMPROVEMENT ERA
They walked on for a couple of long, painful hours, before the next place was reached. Scarcely daring to hope for any- thing but further disappointment, they approached the light that glimmered in the gloom beyond.
In answer to their knock the door was thrown open instantly and much to their surprise, a white-faced woman with wide, frightened eyes cried out,
"Oh, thank God! Thank God! I have been praying that someone would come! I'm alone and — my baby — is dying!" She rushed from the door back to the cradle which stood by the open fireplace, where now she knelt, sobbing hysterically.
Elder Simpson removed his dripping coat and approached the cradle. A little child of about two years lay gasping for breath. One look told the man that the mother's fears were well founded. The little one was choking with croup. There was no time for formalities. He turned to his companion.
"Get the bottle of oil from my grip, Elder Crane." Then to the mother: "We are ministers of the gospel, madam, and through the power of God, and the priesthood which we hold, the sick are often healed. Will you allow us to anoint and bless your baby?"
"Yes! yes! Do it quickly!" The poor woman was almost frantic with anxiety and grief.
Elder Simpson poured some oil into a spoon and asked Elder Crane to administer it to the child.
This he did and afterwards anointed the little head.
Elder Simpson was about to seal the anointing when there was a sound at the door. But the mother as well as the elders were so engrossed with the sick baby that none of them heard it. A big, dark man, with a bloated dissipated face, had entered and stood glowering at the group before the fire. He clenched his fists and was about to step forward when Elder Simpson's deep voice arose in earnest prayer.
The man stopped. He could see the death-like face of his child, and also hear its labored gasps for breath. A peculiar change came into his face. The hated stranger was praying for his baby. The baby he had left sick, alone with its pleading mother to — . *
The fierceness left the dull face and something like re- morse stirred in the man's soul. As the wonderful blessing up- on the sick child continued, even the blear-eyed father could see a change. The breathing became more and more natural. The drawn lines of the suffering face relaxed. The prayer had scarcely ended when the baby's eyes opened and the little voice cried, "Mama."
The mother stared at the miracle which had been wrought
GOD'S WAY
1047
before her eyes, then she clasped the little one to her, murmur- ing, "My baby! My baby!" while tears of glad thanksgiving rained down her cheeks.
A deep sob from the door filled the room. The group at the fire looked around.
"O, Nick, these men have saved our baby's life!" the woman cried and the elders were looking into the astonished face of Nick Dennis. He stumbled toward them and threw himself upon his knees beside the woman and the child. Heavy sobs shook his big frame.
Presently he rose to his feet and faced the elders. The dull eyes had cleared and the face showed only the workings of sincere remorse and deepest gratitude. He held out a trembling hand to each guest.
"Can you forgive a cowardly sinner and tell me how you can do — a miracle like this?" he asked brokenly.
Elder Simpson grasped the rough hand warmly as he said, "It was not we who did it, my friend, but our Father in Heaven." Provo, Utah
"MILKING UP," AND RESTING ON RETURN TRIP
M. I. A. Scouts, Troop 35, Emigration ward, in charge of Scoutmaster T. S. Green, returning from night hike, Decoration Day, May 30.
The Meaning of Education
By Dr. E. G. Peterson, President, Utah Agricultural College
XI — Unselfishness
The secret of world peace is personal. We pray for peace but we do not, in full, deserve it and if we think seriously we know we do not deserve it. As long as we embody jealousy and hate, so long as we deny in act if not in word Christ's simple doctrine of brotherly love, we cannot have complete peace. France is ennobled by the very sacrifice she has made; Belgium is exalted. These peoples have paid the full price and their reward will be as sure as their suffering. France and Belguim today are cleansed. It is said that thousands of the soldiers in the trenches pray to God with a deep meaning and a comradeship that is one of the glories of the war. Such men have rendered themselves, in a measure, holy. Were all the world such, peace would be automatic. War is an expres- sion of aggregate emotion, the accumulated wrath of millions, the jealousy of a whole population, the hate of a nation. The beginnings of war are in ourselves.
The world advances with irresistible logic and in perfect harmony. As we conquer in part our own personal delin- quencies the world steps forward a bit in achievement looking toward the realization of the ideals which live in the hearts of most of us. If every man would kill the idealism within him the world would stop going forward. Invention would cease, discovery would end, poetry would not be written, music could not be written or sung, educational institutions would decay and man would lapse into the brute. Only in so far as we cherish idealism and crush selfishness does invention and dis- covery thrive, educational institutions flourish, poetry, phil- osophy and music ripen among us. And only in so far as we crush selfishness does deep religious devotion, which encom- passes all, take hold of us.
Brigham Young is reported to have once said, "I will live my religion and be saved, if every other man goes to hell." This is the attitude of consummate devotion to ideals, to un- selfishness, if you will analyze it thoroughly; the unbending determination of a strong man to conquer himself. Brigham Young, of course, wished all men to be saved but he realized that no man could be saved by following the crowd. Only by
THE MEANING OF EDUCATION 1049
burdening himself with the responsibility of his own acts and fighting it out to the end could his own soul be exalted. The statement might well have been uttered by Cromwell or CarlyLe.
One day Brigham Young, so it is said, came into alter- cation, as he passed from his office to his home, with a pugna- cious brother. The argument became irritating to President Young. His emotion was aroused and his wrath, as powerful as any other phase of his wonderful strength, craved satisfac- tion. He undoubtedly had the temptation to crush the offender. Instead, he controlled his emotion and walked with all pos- sible composure to his home. A member of his household saw him enter, his face flushed, and hurry to his room where he locked himself in. This member of the household became somewhat anxious as the minutes passed. Later she went to the door to investigate and she heard from inside these startling words, "Down on your knees, Brigham, down on your knees!"
A strong man conquering himself!
This is the story of every life of achievement, of every worth-while thing in the world. This will be the story of world peace. The same key that unlocked the western desert will unlock the door to universal peace. The desert refused to re- spond when men came only for profit and pelf. Those who sought only for gold or fur saw nothing in the land but its bar- renness. Homes and a civilization were built only when men came to sacrifice.
A degree of unselfishness gave to the world a knowledge of radium and the gasoline engine and "Lines to a Water Fowl." Unselfishness gave us the art of irrigation in America, and will conquer for us the insects that infest our crops and the dis- eases that prey upon us. France gave us our knowledge of radium because the French gave of their means unselfishly that Madame Currie might seek to discover the laws of nature. Had the attitude of France been one which said, "I will give nothing to others," the discovery of truth would have been delayed or prevented. We conquer nature only as we give un* to others. The people of our own nation give of their means that not only their own but their neighbors' children may be educated and that scientists may discover truth that will be a blessing to all. It is the idealism, the unselfishness, of the thousands of quiet men who till our fields and husband our flocks and herds as well as those who dwell in shops and offices that make possible free education which will be the salvation of the race. No poet ever wrote while thinking of self. There is a great desert yet to be reclaimed of sand and drouth. Only devotion to truth can conquer it and adjust it to the needs of
1050 IMPROVEMENT ERA
man. All the unsolved problems of the race wait for solution until we conquer selfishness.
We are building a great rural civilization in America. Many of the obstacles have been removed, and life on the farm is working toward that condition of stability for which we all hope. Rural life in America pauses now in its development for the farmers to conquer themselves. Are they sufficiently unselfish to cooperate. If not, all the machinery of govern- men and education will help only to a limited extent. If they are, rural life in America will blossom into a very rich social thing. Cooperation means organized unselfishness. California has organized a so-called Cooperative Fruit Grower's Exchange. It is, however, only a business cooperation. It entails no feel- ing of sacrifice. It is organized selfishness in a degree; al- though, we recognize it as the best of its kind in existence, and we hear nothing but admiration for its founders. Real cooperation involves moral devotion to the principles involved. Merely organizing to protect one's interests or to fight one's commercial enemies is not cooperation. We will never truly cooperate until we believe that the greatest among us are the servants of all.
The world is entitled only to the degree of peace and pros- perity it does enjoy. As we enrich our souls we will endow and support things that are good. From such endowment will flow blessing upon blessing, until the world revels in plenty ; but the heavy demand will continue for sacrifice and devotion. The world will be conquered in every detail from the apple worm to the fierce passion of nations for war, only as in the hearts of all of us we drive out greed and envy and hate and replace these with a strong brotherly love. Logan, Utah.
Service to Country
J. Bryan Barton, writing from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, July 22, who is with the United States Shipping Board Emergency Fleet Corpora- tion, in the service of our country, writes: "Undoubtedly you feel that the service rendered by our boys to our country just now is equally as im- portant as the missionary work which is directed more particularly for the spiritual welfare of men. The gospel anticipates religious and political lib- erty, and teaches that it must be maintained if needs be by force. For many years I have anticipated the time when the fate of the world should hang in the balance, and when the United States should come to the rescue and save mankind from oppression. We have always been told that our boys should take a part in that. We realize now that prophecy. I am thank- ful that I can take a small part in such a tremendous undertaking as Uncle Sam has begun. We know that successes will come, followed, perhaps, by short periods of reversals. We also know what the ultimate result will be for Kaiser Bill and his court."
Some Fundamentals of Health Conser- vation
By J. E. Greaves, Ph. D. Prof, of Bacteriology and Physiological Chemistry, Utah Agricultural College
A truism well recognized by medical men is that the sol- dier has much more to fear from the ravages of disease than the fire of the enemy. During the South African War the British army lost twice as many men from preventable diseases, chiefly tvphoid fever, as died from wounds received in battle. In the Spanish-American War there was only one death from battle to 12.5 deaths from disease. In the Russo-Japanese war, on the other hand, the number of deaths from disease was only one- half the number of killed. In the present war the deaths from communicable diseases is very low when we consider the number of men engaged. In short, the stage had been reached in the armies of the world, prior to the war, when the death rate within the army was far less than it was in the civilian life with the same class of individuals.
For four centuries the narrow Isthmus of Panama was re- garded as the white man's grave. Ferdinand de Lesseps, who undertook the construction of a canal across the Isthmus, was forced to abandon it. His men died like flies. It has been stated that before the work was finally abandoned, a human life had been sacrificed for every cubic yard of earth excavated. Eighteen per cent of all the men employed had died and many more were rendered helpless. Twenty years later a canal was constructed and that with a mortality of slightly less than sixteen per thousand, while today the mortality is less in the canal zone than in many of our large cities.
Since 1882 tuberculosis has decreased forty-nine per cent and typhoid fever thirty-nine per cent. During this same period the death rate within the registration area of the United States has decreased from 19.6 to 15.0 per thousand. In short, the average life of man has been lengthened ten years. This is due mainly to the control of the communicable diseases, for during this period there has been a large increase in deaths from kid- ney disease, heart disease, and apoplexy. Upon what funda- mentals is this science founded which has worked such won-
dcrs
The first marked advance was made when it became estab- lished that microorganisms are the descendants of other similar
1052 IMPROVEMENT ERA
organisms, and that all communicable diseases are due to minute plants and animals. It was only three hundred years ago that the famous physicist and chemist, Von Helmont, stated that mice can be spontaneously generated by merely placing some dirty rags in a receptacle together with a few grains of wheat or a piece of cheese. This same philosopher's method of engend- ering scorpions appears to us very amusing. "Scoop out a hole in a brick. Put in some sweet basil. Lay a second brick upon the first so that the hole may be perfectly covered. Expose the two bricks to the sun, and at the end of a few days the smell of the sweet basil, acting as a ferment, will change the herb into a real scorpion."
These false notions were overthrown by the Italian poet and physician, Redi, who clearly demonstrated that larvae were not spontaneously generated in decomposing meat. He simply took the precaution of placing the meat in a bottle the mouth of which was covered with gauze. Flies attracted by the meat deposited their eggs on the gauze, but no worms were developed in the meat.
When, however, the microscope became sufficiently per- fected it was found that all substances, especially those decay- ing, were filled with various forms of life. These it was thought had developed from the dead inanimate matter in which they were found. Needham took the decaying organic matter en- closed in vessels which he placed upon hot ashes to destroy any existing life. Yet later he found developing in these fluids microorganisms. Spallanzani repeated the work, Using hermet- ically sealed flasks which he sterilized bv heating for one hour. There were no organisms developed in this.
But Needham replied that the boiling had so altered the character of the material that it was unable to generate life. This Spallanzani answered by cracking one of the flasks so air could enter. Decay soon set in. Even this was not sufficient to overthrow a popular belief, for the claim was made that the air was excluded and this they considered as essential to the normal development of these forms of life. This objection was answered by the work of many an ingenious worker. Some passed the air through tubes containing acid, others through redhot tubes and then into the infusion. But the final proof came when it was shown that it was sufficient to place cotton plugs in the bottles, so that, as the air passes in the minute organisms are held back by the cotton and the media does not change. This, together with the work of Pasteur on fermen- tation and Tyndall on the floating matter of the air, proved conclusively that bacteria are the descendants of other similar organisms
FUNDAMENTALS OF HEALTH CONSERVATION 1053
This principle, although undertaken for purely theoret- ical reasons, is the first fundamental upon which is construct- ed the modern science of fermentation. Exclude the specific microorganism of the disease and there can be no communicable disease. And it has been firmly established that a great major- ity of diseases which are exacting such a toll of human life are due to microorganisms.
Our second milestone on the path of progress was marked by the discovery that the great majority of microorganisms which cause disease in man multiply only in the body of man or the lower animals.
The evidence is conclusive that the causative agents of tuber- culosis, pneumonia, influenza, cerebro-spinal meningitis, scar- let fever, typhus fever, smallpox, whooping cough, gonorrhea, syphilis, malaria, yellow fever, and sleeping sickness multiply only in the body of animals and the number which reaches the body of one animal are only those which leave the body of another animal.
Diphtheria which for so long has been considered a filth disease, that is, its germs were supposed to have a habitat out- oide of the body in various forms of dirt, is now known to be a purely contagious disease. The organism is more resistant than are some disease-producers, but there is no evidence that it is propagated outside the body except occasionally in milk.
While it is well establised that water often gives rise to typhoid fever, it is also well established that the typhoid rapidly disappears from water and probably never lives in water longer than fifteen or twenty days. And there is no evidence that the germ ever multiplies in the water. Hence, water re- quires a constant source of new infection from the body of a human individual to be at all dangerous; for it is evident that while the typhoid organism may live for sometime in the soil there is no evidence that it can multiply in soil So this organism has its origin only in man or some special food which has re- cently been infected by man, and the same principles hold for cholera, plague, and dysentery. It is possible that the anthrax tetanus and pus-forming bacteria may develop in the soil or decaying material, but there is no evidence that they commonly do. It is well known that disease-producing organisms find soil. water and decaying material unfavorable for their continued existence, as is seen from the fact that typhoid organisms will live longer in sterile, distilled water than they will in normal well water.
The establishment of the principle that the majority of all diseases are spread by direct contact or by insects, put a new and effective weapon in the hands of the sanitary worker. From
1054 IMPROVEMENT ERA
time immemorial vapors and emanations, gaseous or otherwise, have been considered to be frequent causes of diseases. But with the growth of the subject of bacteriology it was found that bac- teria were the real cause of disease. The favorite explanation of the transmission of disease was that they were conveyed in the air. But experience soon taught that even smallpox or measles could be housed in the same hospital with other patients with- out infection, provided care be taken to prevent the carrying of the infection of one to the other by the attendants. Moreover,' it was even found that the highly communicable diseases could be kept in the same ward with other patients, and even scarlet fever is no longer considered as an aerial-transmitted disease. Moreover, the scales which may at times be carried in the air have not the power of producing the disease.
If this is the case, what is the origin of those cases which seem to occur spontaneously? This has been answered by the discovery of carriers and mild cases. Some individuals, although apparently healthy, may be harboring within their mouths the disease germ and they can safely make the journey from the lips of one to the lips of another on the common drinking cup. The fingers are continually finding way to the mouth, and if the saliva were indigo, what a blue world it would be indeed! For "the cook spreads his saliva on the muffins and rolls; the wait- ress infects the glasses and spoons; the moistened fingers of the peddler arranges his fruit; the thumb of the milk man is in his measure; the reader moistens the pages of his book; the con- ductor his transfer tickets; the "lady" the fingers of her gloves. Everyone is busily engaged in this distribution of saliva, so that at the end of each day we find this secretion freely distributed on the doors, window sills, furniture, and playthings in tin home, the straps of the trolley cars, the rails, counter and desks of shops, and public buildings, and indeed upon everything that the hands of man touch, and in many cases, with it, the germs of many of our diseases. If the next comer has not learned that the hands are to be kept from the mouth, he can easily transfer to his mouth disease germs, and, if perchance, they find suitable soil, the individual soon finds himself suffering from a disease. It may be a mild attack of la grippe or a fatal attack of tuber- culosis.
Furthermore, individuals may have such mild attacks of a disease that they never realize that thev are suffering with a disease, hence continue to prepare food or produce milk for others. This they infect, which in turn infects the consumer.
Then there are the insects which often act the part of the go-between from the sick to the well, the fly in typhoid, the mosquito in malaria, the louse in typhus fever, and the flea in
FUNDAMENTALS OF HEALTH CONSERVATION 1055
plague. So, sanitary workers are continually giving more atten- tion to contact infection, including fingers, food, and insects, and with it there is being noted a decline in the communicable diseases.
For a long time it has been the conception of layman and physician alike that general good health protects against in- fection, but it is fast becoming firmly established that the "physically fit" and robust at times fall prey to typhoid fever, smallpox, and probably all the other infectious diseases as well as does the weakling, and with this knowledge is coming infor- mation that it is first and best to keep them out of the body; and second, to have within the body the specific antidote for each particular germ.
When Pasteur announced that he had found a prevention for anthrax he was looked upon with derision; even the leaders in scientific thought would not believe, artd the president of an agricultural society suggested that it be submitted to a decisive public test and offered to furnish fifty sheep, half of which should be protected by Pasteur. Later they were all to be in- fected by the disease-producing organisms and if the material be a success the protected ones were to remain healthy, the un- protected ones to die of the disease. Pasteur accepted the chal- lenge and suggested that for two of the sheep there be substi- tuted two goats, and that there be added to the herd ten cows. The sheep, cows, and goats were all turned over to Pasteur and treated as was the agreement. The results of the test, as de- scribed by one writer, are: "June second, at the appointed hour of rendezvous, a vast congregation, composed of veterinary sur- geons, newspaper correspondents, and farmers from far and near, gathered to witness the closing scene of this scientific tour- ney. What they saw was one of the most dramatic scenes in the history of peaceful science, a scene which Pasteur declared afterwards amazed the assembly. Scattered about the enclosure, dead, dying, or manifestly sick unto death, lay the unprotected animals, one and all, while each and every protected animal stalked unconcernedly about with every appearance of perfect health. Twenty of the sheep and one goat were already dead; two other sheep expired under the eyes of the spectators; the remaining victims lingered but a few hours longer. Thus, in a manner theatrical enough, not to say tragic, was proclaimed the unequivocal victory of science."
In 1885 Pasteur announced his cure for hydrophobia, the disease following the bite of a mad dog, and since this date thousands have been rescued from this terrible disease.
This was followed by other great advances, until today diphtheria, in place of being a disease in which the death rate
1056 IMPROVEMENT ERA
is 30 per cent, is now cut to less than three. Typhoid fever is no longer the great scourge of the armies, and the Asiatic cholera, and the yellow fever have been nearly wiped from the face of the earth. These are being accomplished through the establish- ment of these principles: First, that microorganisms are the descendants of other similar microorganisms. It is these which are the cause of the communicable diseases. Second, the great majority of microorganisms which cause disease in man multiply only in the body of man or the lower animals. Third, the over- whelming majority of all diseases are transmitted through di- rect contact or through the intervention of insects. Fourth, a high state of bodily health does not confer entire immunity to the communicable disease, but such immunity may often be con- ferred by the causing of a mild attack of the disease. Fifth, in some diseases the immunity may be transferred from one animal to another through the blood by means of so-called antitoxins. Logan, Utah
Hope
Thou wouldst not, couldst not sit and grieve, A present misery enweave,
O friend, didst thou but know The loveliness, the glow and shine In one forgotten deed of thine.
Such grace it doth bestow!
O friend, couldst thou but know!
Thou wouldst not, couldst not longer pine O'er weak and faulty step of thine,
Couldst thou more clearly see The unwrit pages pure and white The unclaimed chances, gleaming bright,
That gladly welcome thee,
O friend, wouldst thou but see!
Rich promises of good are thine,
Where faith, sublime and clear, doth shine,
Each promise shall prevail. In Wisdom's ways act well thy part, With Truth thy guide, where'er thou art, And God, who sees thy contrite heart,
Can never, never fail:
In joy thou shJt prevail!
Minnie Iverson Hodappi
Problems of the Age
Dealing with Religious, Social and Economic Questions and their
Solution. A Study for the Quorums and Classes
of the Melchizedek Priesthood
By Dr. Joseph M. Tanner
XXXI — Back to the Land
Present Conditions. — In another chapter I have called attention to the excessive and dangerous growth of the so-called middle-class, or non- producers. Conditions have favored their occupations, and financial pros- perity has perhaps attended them more generously than it has the farmer. The war. however, is bringing about a very realistic change: governments that provide for the armies have been liberal buyers. They have fed the soldiers better on the battlefields than the same men have been cared for in times of peace. Such excessive Government demands naturally make prices high. It should then be observed that a very large proportion of every army is taken from the producing classes, especially from the farms, where the vigor of manhood is perhaps more abundantly found. A large army of farm men will lose their lives in battle or become cripples, and thereby unfitted for farm life. It goes, therefore, without saying, that the number of men qualified to conduct operations upon the farm will be enormously decreased. In the civilized countries of the world there is no place for the "mujik" or the "fellahin." Farm work has made rapid strides in the direction of scientific practice and theory.
As a nation grows in years, it settles down to an inherited classification; as with father, so with son. It will not be easy to tear men up from the roots of their social and business inheritance and experiences and transform them into a new and different life. It will require great suffering to bring about such an exchange on any extensive scale. Such conditions mean the continued burden of higher cost in living.
Want of Preparation. — Our agricultural schools will not alleviate very greatly such an unfortunate condition. They are based too extensively on the rest of our school practice. We seem to forget that the most serious thing about education is the habit which our modern school system fastens upon our child life, — the book habit. Our children learn to hear things, and they learn to tell things, but only in rare cases do they acquire the actual habit of doing things. If we acquire the wrong habit of life, what we learn has little practical value, because the habits we have acquired prevent us from putting our knowledge into practice. I have often heard mothers say that though their daughters do not cook and do much house- work, they know how to do it. They can make the best of bread, and in fact do well any kind of housework. But there is after all a wide differ- ence between acquiring the ability to do a thing and the habit of doing it. Ability may be acquired in a very short time, whereas it takes years to acquire a habit. It is not, therefore, so much a question of what this girl can do, but her willingness, her contentment, her happiness,— in other words, her habit of doing it.
Value of Farm Life.— The habits of our lives are more and more away from the farm. Farmers send their children to school, and likewise change
1058 IMPROVEMENT ERA
the habits of their lives, so that the farm is now in a process of race suicide. We may as well face an unpleasant truth, and confess a belief that the occupation of the middle-man is really more respectable, and therefore more desirable than work on the farm. The influence of dress is beyond computation. The world of fashion lays its load even upon the farm boy, and persuades him to be a devotee of worldly fashion. Again, work on the farm is more strenuous: it has its out-of-door life, its storms, blizzards, cold, heat, and other things that make life often quite uncomfortable. In contrast with these unpleasant conditions, young people usually manifest preference for employment that takes them away from this important source of production.
Are we really destroying farm life? If so, we are adding by so much to the burdens which we now feel from the high cost of living. It is a fallacy to suppose that in the civilized world there will be enough people in the so-called lower strata of industrial life to do all the work needed on the farm. The truth is that education is becoming universal. The same ideals and aspirations are reaching the boys on the farm that affect the boys in the so-called more refined occupations of city life. What does it mean? The last ten years has taught us something of its meaning. The next ten years will teach us vastly more. "O, well," it will be answered, "men will come to the farm when there is more money in it." Such a statement is made in blind ignorance of facts. In the first place, men will have to be trained for the farms as they are for other occupations. If, through their habits of life, the farm is uncongenial to them, they will work only half-heartedly.
Farm Education. — What we need is a saner belief among people gen- erally of what the farm stands for. Our vocational life today is guided in the vast majority of cases by financial considerations. It is not an uncom- mon thing to see men leave the bent of their minds, turn from the gifts with which God has liberally endowed them, to engage often in some un- congenial pursuit, because "there's money in it." Can a world made up almost wholly of Mammon endure?
By the sweat of his brow man was required to live; that was the in- junction to Adam in the Garden of Eden. Those who evade it pay the penalty, generally in physical deterioration. "How can you stand it?" said an on-looker to a man drudging at his work in the dirt and mud. "I can stand it," he replied, "because I am remunerated in the fullest degree by the enjoyment of my food and sleep." Of course there is overwork: every virtue offers some opportunity for abuse. We are learning through this war something of the value of a vigorous manhood as an asset to national wealth and events. Men and women who maintain proper physical valuations in their lives, perform an important duty to themselves, but they perform one equally great to their children, and their children's children after them. "We owe our children an education." That is true, but there is a priority lien upon their right to enjoy health and vigorous bodies, which nothing promotes more than farm life.
Morals of the Farm.— Our farm life has also great moral value. It af- fords less time for idleness, with its attendant evils. There is more remove from social evils. It brings men into intimate contact with the inexorable laws of Nature, which he learns to respect more upon the farm than per- haps anywhere else in the world. There he enjoys more than elsewhere the double opportunity of self-examination and communion with his conscience and the punishments which Nature inflicts, not only upon those who violate her laws, but upon those who neglect them. "Back to the land" has also its intelb ual value, because physical and intellectual manhood and woman- hooC. are kindred. Then we have come to study the whys and the where- fores, and the processes of Nature. The farm offers abundant opportunities
PROBLEMS OF THE AGE 1059
for meditations, analogies, and those studious wonderments that help men and women on to investigate and know the deeper truths of life. In city life, in business life, men ponder too little, — meditation is thrown to the winds. Man's place in the universe, and his relationship to God take but slight hold upon his life. There is a vast difference between making two blades of grass grow where one grew before and making $2.00 where only $1.00 was won before. The former process requires time, industry, patience, hope, and faith. You cannot cheat Mother Nature. If you do, you will raise a sickly spear of grass or none at all. Nature has her inexorable laws. She demands an honorable compensation. Not so in business life: it is much easier to cheat men than it is to swindle nature. The Latter-dav Saints, under a guiding Providence, have been driven into industrial and farm life in all their great movements from their homes in the East to the unredeemed lands of the West. Agriculture was their first problem on entering the val- leys of the mountains. They encourage it; they know its virtues and its values. It would be strange indeed if the present movement awav from the land did not touch them in vital parts; but fundamentally, they love to till the soil, from a sense of duty as well as from a wish for gain. Many will remember the ridicule that was piled upon them in days gone by be- cause they talked water ditches and the best methods of farming, from the pulpit. They knew their God-appointed task, and went about it in their appointed way.
The cry has gone, as a voice out of the wilderness, "Back to the Land." But will the cry be more a wail of distress than a heartfelt desire to relieve the burden of the world by lending a helping hand to that industry that offers grave dangers by the neglect of it to the social and industrial happi- ness of the world.
Revelation. — "And, as I, the Lord, in the beginning cursed the land, so in the last days have I blessed it, in its time, for the use of my Saints, that they may partake the fatness thereof" (Doc. and Cov. 61:17).
XXXII. — Back to the Land (Continued)
Increase in Production. — A great increase in production may be achieved by the tillage of waste lands in different parts of the less civilized countries, such as Russia and Turkey. But it is doubtful if these countries will prove very attractive to a farming element that has grown up in the enjoyment of higher civilization.
Great increase in production may also be brought about by the more intensive cultivation of the soil. Agricultural writers point out, therefore, the great future possibilities and the great inducements that may be counted on to take men from the distributive and speculative centers of our com- mercial life back to farming. There are, however, some very distinct ob- stacles in the way of a return to the land. There are two sources by which it may be obtained: first, through our system of Government gifts by means of homesteads and pre-emptions. Lands are rising in value. The war and even pre-war conditions have shown the great financial oppor- tunities of farm life. Those who have struggled through many years of want, and scarcity will appreciate and enjoy the rising values of farm produce. They will cling more tenaciously to their lands, and lands will not in time be so easily acquired.
Equipment.— The equipment of a modern farm is not by any means what it was twenty years ago. Whether a man uses horses or engines of
1060 IMPROVEMENT ERA
modern make, the equipment becomes extremely expensive. Farm machinery is soaring in value, and the cost of equipping a modern farm runs into the thousands. Then men must wait for returns — sometimes one, two, )r even three years.
Live Stock. — Live stock is becoming scarcer and more expensive; it is estimated that since the war began there has been a decrease of the live stock in Europe of something over 115,000,000 head, and this loss consists, for the most part, in breeding stock. If these countries regain their past na- tional prosperity in agriculture and livestock, the governments must come to the assistance of the farmers. That will, of course, mean increased tax- ation and the threatened break-up of social life that is sure to follow any breakdowns among the governments of Europe. In this country it will be more difficult for the government to finance individual farms.
After War Conditions. — Some very important changes are taking place during the present war that must have far-reaching consequences when peace comes: those who have any familiarity vith living conditions among the mil- lions of toilers in Europe can readily underrtand how greatly their diet has been improved by the governments which drafted them into war. It is esti- mated by some that the soldier is eating at least five times as much meat as he ate in private life. Some figure that the increase has been ten-fold. As the war lasts into years, the meat-eating habit will grow upon the soldier; his improved diet he will not easily surrender when peace comes, and it must depend on his wage-earning capacity. He has learned during this war that the government may do many things to ameliorate the stringent condi- tions of peace life. With meat growing scarcer and the ineat-eating habit increasing, it is not difficult to foresee grave dangers to financial and social order with the return of peace.
Live Stock. — As a restriction upon any rapid increase in agriculture, we are confronted by the fact that our horsepower has also decreased rap- idly since the war began. Tractors, it is true, may take the place of this old friend of the farm, but that means also an enorn.ous increase in gasoline, which is likely to be almost entirely consumed by trucks and pleasure autos. The department of Washington has given out statistics upon our decrease in horsepower throughout the United States. I quote as follows from the New York Herald, Sunday, September 14, 1917:
"Figures recently published bv the Department of Commerce at Washington show that exports of horses in the last fiscal year aggre- gated 278,674, as compared with 357,553 in 1916, and 289,340 in 1915. Exports of mules during the same period were 65,788 in 1915, 111,915 in 1916, and 136,689 in 1917. Here is a total of 928,567 horses and 314,3.2 mules sent abroad in the three years ending last June, or a total of 1,239,959 horses and mules.
"The period covered by the official figures goes back to 'the day1 of Germany's amazing attempt to repeat Bismarck's successful coup de main of 1870, with the world instead of France alone as the ob- jective. These revised government statistics thus fairly represent all horses and mules sent to the war zone up to last July, since which time the shipments are understood to have been comparatively light. "The value of American war horses exported now exceeds a quar- ter of a billion dollars. The government estimate is $197,103,009 for horses and $63,497,309 for mules, making a total of $260,590,318. This is an average of about $212 for horses and $201 for mules."
There is now also a very pronounced movement in favor of eating horse-flcJi. The use of horses for food in European countries has become
PROBLEMS OF THE AGE 1061
quite general. It enters particularly strongly in the production of a great variety of sausages, and millions of pounds of horses are every year con- sumed in European countries. In the United States there are probably five million men who, during their lives in various nations of Europe, have ac- quired the habit of eating horse-flesh. They declare that such meat has not only a pleasing taste, but that it is also wholesome and is indeed preferred by some even to beef or pork. These European immigrants would fre- quently return to the diet of horse meat to which they were accustomed in their native lands. Their wives and children will also eat it, and there is going on today in the United States an agitation for the repeal of those laws which exclude horse flesh as an article of food.
Land Values and Mortgages. — I give below some figures showing the enormous liabilities which farmers through the United States have incurred by means of loans. In many instances they represent purchases and im- provements, but no doubt in a large number of cases loans represent the pressing needs of the farmers for running expenses, together with some extravagances, of which they are no doubt guilty. The margin on an aver- age between expenses and profits has not been very great. The success, how- ever, of the farmers in elevating past conditions show that the industry of agriculture is becoming more profitable. I quote from The Outlook of September 26, 1917:
Value of American farms, $40,000,000,000.
Value of annual farm output in food and other raw materials, $10,000,000,000.
Public investment in long-time loans (mortgages) on the $40,- 000,000,000 worth of farm property, $3,500,000,000.
Seasonal short-time credit granted by banks to farmers on the security of the $10,000,000,000 harvest, $2,000,000,000.
Total agricultural credit, $5,500,000,000.
* * * * *
Two hundred and twenty life insurance companies own $700,- 000,000 farm mortgages.
Eighteen thousand banks (State banks, trust companies and sav- ings banks) own $750,000,000.
Private investors, estates, trustees, colleges, and other institutions, both American and foreign, have $2,000,000,000 invested in these loans on farm lands. Of this $2,000,000,000 about $500,000,000 has been sold through the medium of the banks, while the remaining $1,500,000,000 has been arranged either through the agency of farm mortgage banking
houses or directly between lender and borrower.
*****
Investment houses that have been in business for half a century, lending money to farmers on the security of land under cultivation, report that they have never lost a dollar of principal or interest for any customer.
The insurance company having the largest investment in farm mortgages ($100,000,000) states that it has never been able to discover a more desirable channel in which to invest its funds- Universities and other institutions that for many years have been placing all or part of their endowment funds in farm mortgages report that they have suffered no losses, and know of no safer way to obtain their income.
The banks of one of the smaller Eastern states, that have invested nearly fifty millions of their depositors' funds in Western mortgages, have made but one loss in thousands of transitions extending over many years.
A number of Canadian companies in business for forty years have
1062 IMPROVEMENT ERA
never failed to pay interest and principal to their clients. No Cana- dian mortgage company has ever defaulted on a payment due to a farm mortgage investor.
The best test of the soundness of farm mortgages as investments is that hundreds of millions of dollars of them are held by our most conservative institutions — savings banks, trust companies, and life in- surance companies.
*****
The period of wildcat and careless farm mortgage flotation has the same relation to the farm mortgage business today that the earlier period of wildcat state banking has to present-day banking. Those days are long since gone. There is no more possibility of the farm mortgage business being undermined by unsound management than there is of our banking system falling to pieces. Since the collapse of those inflated companies a quarter of a century ago, no field of investment in America has had so clean a record. But even through the days of the farm mortgage company craze there were the houses that continued to do business on conservative lines and are doing business today with the enviable record of never having lost a dollar for an investor. In what other field of investment could such a record be found?
XXXIII.—Fast Offerings
Law of Sacrifice. — The law of sacrifice is one of the most universal of God's laws. When ancient Israel put upon the altar the firstlings and the best of their flocks and herds and saw the flesh consumed in smoke, they would not be human if they did not feel some taint of selfishness and a disposition to keep the best for their own use. In the days of their devotion to God they were strictly honest in this divine requirement. In the days of their transgressions, sacrifices were performed in a perfunctorv manner and without any scrupulous efforts to perform exactly the requirements of God.
Emerson, in his "Law of Compensation," undertakes to show how well balanced our gains and losses, our prosperity and reverses, our benefits and adversities are. What a man gains in money he may lose in health. What he gains in the financial world he may lose in self-respect. What he gains in intrigue he may lose in friendship. All in all, among the inhabitants of the earth, the unequal gaining qualities are not so great as might be sup- posed.
Fasting. — God requires of his people, for example, the observance of a fast day once a month. For each person in the home a certain amount is required as a fast offering, and when this law is properly observed it nets a very considerable income for the support of the poor. True, people get hungry, but it is in that state of physical want that their humility and sym- pathies are reached. It is in that state of physical want that they are com- pelled to stop and think of those who are in actual need of food.
The satisfied man is not always a very grateful man. Neither is he a sympathetic or generous hearted man. It would be calamitous to the human family if people experienced only the feelings of satisfaction. In this active, feverish age, men are asked to stop and think, weigh and consider. Once a month fast day gives them a most excellent opportunity.
Prayer. — God, in his requirements, as set forth in the Doctrine and Cov- enants, has prescribed that along with fasting there should be observed the practice of prayer. The two are naturally associated. Men may, when in a state of hunger, think of their hunger, but they do not give themselves up
PROBLEMS OF THE AGE 1063
to the sins of self-6atisfaction. Their physical condition reminds them that whatever the obligations of life may be, there is a duty toward the poor and toward God.
The Lord, in establishing the principle of fast offering, says that the Saints should fast that their joy may be full. It is the fulfilment of a duty in a quest for joy. The reaction from a day of fasting is one of apprecia- tion and gratitude, and a sense of appreciation carries with it a very large measure of joy. Men and women, therefore, are blessed in their lives and their spirits and their contentment when they fulfil a duty from which they may, if they will, receive some special blessing.
One of the troubles that people in this world suffer from is the dispo- sition to be forgetful. They do not think of the poor, and when they do not think of people much they care little for them. Then the rich oppress the poor. Such would hardly be the case were they fasting and praying for those who need their offering. Christ said, "The poor ye have with you alwavs." They are a part of every community, of every state, of every nation. The manner of seeking alms for their support is very often annoy- ing, nor is it always generously given.
Compensations. — There are two compensations to fasting. One is its bodily advantages; as a health-promoting practice, too much cannot be said of it. On the other hand, it supplies an abundant need for those who are poor. Let us say that in the United States there are a hundred million people, that the fast offerings once a month average only 10 cents per person throughout the whole country. That would mean $10,000,000 a month or $120,000,000 a year. That is an enormous sum and would go far towards alleviating the sufferings of those who were too poor to meet the needs of their daily lives.
The organization of the Church is such that when the fast offerings in one ward or district are not all required by the members of that ward they may be transferred directly to the Presiding Bishop of the Church, who distributes them to those wards which need them more and have more poor people in their midst. The General Bishop of the Church has an office which might be properly called a clearing house for fast day contributions, to the poor.
What Fast Offerings Would Mean to the United States. — If the contribu- tions were 15 cents a month per capita, they would mean $15,000,000 a month, or $180,000,000 a year. It is a vast amount, but it would be both given and saved, and no hardship whatever would be felt.
On fast day the meeting is given over to the audiences to bear testi- monies, give expression to their gratitude and thankfulness to God for the favors they enjoy. A spirit of dependence prevails. The congregation feel the necessity of one another's love and support. The hunger which they experience teaches them that God is the giver of life, that after all, to him we owe our "daily bread."
Poverty General. — There are those whom the Doctrine and Covenants classes "unworthy poor" — those who through idleness, delay and neglect are themselves responsible for the unfortunate financial circumstances in which they find themselves. There are millions of the human family with inferior earning capacity, and it is not a very easy matter to determine who are the deserving and who are the undeserving; but poverty is a condition that should be ameliorated as far as possible by those who are in a position to do so. It would be better to give some to the unworthy than to neglect in fine discriminations those who are deserving. It should here be stated, however, that poverty is not necessarily an evil. It exists the world over, and some cases are due no doubt to unfavorable circumstances and condi- tions over which people have no control. In a last analysis something may
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be said in favor of the disciplinary value of those who are not possessed with much of this world's goods. When men and women border on want they naturally feel a dependence that otherwise they do not experience. Pov- erty may then be said, in some instances, to be a positive blessing, since it prevents men and women from the indulgences of those evils which money too frequently encourages. It is said that among 2,500,000 rejects for the army in the recent drafts a large majority of them came from the families of the rich and well-to-do. They have been running their race rapidly and are unfitted therefore for military service. A recent suggestion has come from the physicians of the country that notwithstanding their physical de- ficiencies, they be drafted and taken into the training camps in order that their manhood and physical ad\ancement may be greatly helped. This, however, would bring upon our country a large expense for many that are not needed and for the undeserving.
In the early periods of the Church men were required to consecrate the property which they did not really need. This law of consecration brought the people into a living condition of common brotherhood.
Frugality, superior intelligence, and industry, would soon, however, create differences. The law respecting the poor was given by revelation to the Prophet Joseph Smith.
Revelation. — And thus, with the sword, and by bloodshed, the inhab- itants of the earth shall mourn; and with famine, and plague, and earth- quakes, and the thunder of heaven, and the fierce and vivid lightning also, shall the inhabitants of the earth be made to feel the wrath, and indigna- tion and chastening hand of an Almighty God, until the consumption de- creed, hath made a full end of all nations" (Doc. and Cov. 87:6; 1:11-15).
Why Smoke?
To help solve the problem of smoking among Boy Scouts, a writer in Scouting declares that the scoutmaster must explain to the boys certain facts:
He must recognize the statements of our best medical authorities that no good comes from smoking. * * * He must admit that smoking is expensive, and therefore unpatriotic, and that the money spent for tobacco might better be invested in War Savings Stamps, and that if the railroads handled less tobacco, they would have just as much more space for more necessary commodities. He must explain that though the Y. M. C. A. sells tobacco to the soldiers, smoking is never necessary for any person under any situation; [Why should the Y. M. C. A., or any Latter-day Saint sell tobacco?— Ed.] that President Wilson, bearing the greatest mental burden of anyone in the country, does not smoke, and that Abraham Lincoln did not smoke; that many of the Y. M. C. A. secretaries, chaplains, and army officers disapprove of the widespread habit of smoking in the army. And finally, he must appeal to the boys, as scouts, to be better than the average person; to set before themselves the highest standards of patriotism and of manhood, and not to begin to smoke, or if they have already begun, to stop before it becomes a fixed habit. The scouts should be inspired bv the ideal ot making the lofty patriotism and high character of their troop one of the good turns which they are performing for their community.
Healing and the Emmanuel Movement
By Joseph A. West
In the August number of the Era, I dwelt on the power of mental influence in healing, as practiced by the various healing fraternities. In this short chapter I deal mostly with the Em- manuel Movement, a prominent sect using mental influence in healing. I trust that in the closing paragraphs I have made thoroughly plain my purpose in these writings, in that I have shown the vital difference between mental influence, as de- pended largely upon by various healing organizations, and the healing of the sick through the ministrations of the priesthood of the living God.
The Emmanuel Movement is of comparative recent date and had its origin with Dr. Ellwood Worcester, D. D., Ph. D., from whose excellent work entitled The Christian Church as a Healing Power, I shall quote, for I have long since learned that no one can better represent a movement than the person from whom, or through whom, it had its origin or inception. How different would be the opinion of the world today regarding "Mormonism," if this course had been pursued with regard to it!
In some respects the Emmanuel Movement is quite differ- ent from some of the other healing fraternities of the day, al- though the underlying principle, as stated above, is the same with them all. Of the difference between it and Christian Science, Dr. Worcester says:
"The two movements, so far from having any common motive, stand opposite at almost every point. In the first place, Christian Science, in common with otherv irrational healing cults of our time, has openly and clearly broken with academic medicine, whereas the Emmanuel Movement is the first effort to stem the tide of disfavor and distrust with which a large section of American society regard the science of medicine. The Emmanuel Movement could not maintain itself a single day without the cooperation of the medical profession. In the second place, Christian •Science is a distinct cult or system, with a revelation, a sacred book, a theology, a form of worship, a therapeutic procedure all its own: the Emmanuel Movement claims no new revelation, no sacred books, no thera- neutic procedure excpt such as is common to all scintific workers, no wor- ship peculiar to itself, no theology except the theology of the New Testa- ment as modern critical scholarship has disclosed it. In the third place Christian Science makes no distinction between the cases which it under- takes to cure. The Emmanuel Movement, on the other hand, makes a very rigid distinction between functional and organic cases, and sets aside the latter for medical physiological, surgical treatment, though even in these it recognizes the influence of mental and spiritual processes as at least help-
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ful in character. * * * They have only one thing in common — both attempt to apply an idealistic belief to the problems of life. One idealism is crude and vague, the other is critical and coherent; the one wilfully shuts its eyes to convenient facts, the other seeks to explain all the facts."
No person is received for treatment by the Emmanuelists, either in this country or England, without the approval of some physician of recognized standing. In fact there is a Medical Advisory Board which gives counsel and direction regarding the manner in which the work is to be done. Of the medical frater- nity the doctor has this to say :
"In our view, the discoveries of medical science are as much a revela- tion of the divine order as the Ten Commandments or the Sermon on the Mount, and these discoveries must be utilized for God's Kingdom."
The aims of the Emmanuel Movement are thus set forth:
"It is to bring into effective cooperation the physician, the psychologi- cally trained clergyman, and the trained social worker in the alleviation and arrest of certain disorders of the nervous system which are now gen- erally regarded as involving some weakness or defect of character of more or less complete mental disassociation. * * * We confine our efforts to the so-called "functional" disorders, because we believe this is the legit- imate sphere of our work. * * * We also confine ourselves strictly to the religious and psychological side of the problem, and while our treat- ment on the ethical and religious side is fe,oing on, the physician in charge of the case administers contemporaneously whatever medical remedies he may see fit. If nervous sufferers, victims of alcohol and other drugs, the unhappy, the sorrowful, would-be suicide, and other children of melancholy felt that religion meant nothing to them there would be no place for work like ours, and the motive for undertaking it would be wanting."
Answering the theological critic who "objects to the thera- peutic use of Christianity, on the ground that such use is a de- gradation of the lofty purposes which religion was designed to subserve," the doctor says:
"The Christian religion was never more in its element, never shines with a greater glory, than when it is seen entering the dark places of our expe- rience to cast out the demons of fear, worry, passion, despair, remorse, overstrained grief, and disgust of life, and to make the soul and body a fit temple for the Holy Spirit. * * * Our emotions play a very impor- tant role in life. They quicken the pulse, affect the circulation of blood, retard or promote the secretion of the glands, cause serious disturbances of the process of digestion and elimination, and, finally and most wonderfully of all, even work changes in the electrical resistance of the body. In the psychical region, it is the emotions that make or mar our world. The emotion of fear disintegrates, disharmonizes the inner life, while its op- posite— faith — unifies, literally makes whole. The joyful mood is the mood of health. Freedom from undue anxiety, a confident attitude towards God and the universe, a peaceful, cheerful temper, enable mind and body to function right. Whatever produces these mental states may be said to be curative in character."
Many who have tried it know the soothing as well as the powerful influence of prayer. Psychologists and medical men are agreed that prayers for the sick, especially if the sick
HEALING AND THE EMMANUEL MOVEMENT 106?
know that they are being prayed for, very often have a curative power. They explain it as the principle of suggestion, which "works inhibitory changes in the central nervous system."
We have the testimony of men in different ages and of dif- ferent religious faiths that through prayer has come to them a real increase of strength and grace evidencing to them and to us that God is no respecter of persons. That prayer brings us in close touch, so to speak, with God, and that the mind, and through the mind the body, are actually and really affected thereby, so that the individual often becomes conscious of being in actual communication with a higher, mightier, and holier Power, especially is this the case when prayer is inspired by true faith. For true faith is a shield against all the moral mal- adies of the soul, and also makes men inaccessible to those cow- ardly emotions of nervous people, which are the source of so many of the physical ailments of the race.
Medical science has not stopped to fully estimate the inti- mate connection between moral sin and physical disease. In many cases what is called illness is due to moral obliquity, and the compunctions of conscience racking the nervous fabric of the soul. To remedy this the gospel plays a most conspicuous part, whether it be taught in its perfection, or in part, its re- sults are proportionately the same. Its tendency is to reconcile the erring one to his Maker, and thus bring peace to the troubled heart; which peace means happiness, and happiness is a pro- moter of health.
We find, therefore, that what is being done by the Emman- uel Movement, and the many other healing movements within the Christian church, is done upon natural principles, and main- ly attributable to the influence that they are able to bring to bear upon the patient through the curative operations of the mind. It is upon this principle, too, that so many cases of heal- ing are performed outside of the Church of Jesus Christ of Lat- ter-day Saints, and among those who are agnostic to every prin- ciple of Christianity.
In striking contrast to the methods pursued by the many healing fraternities of the world in our time, the healing power of the priesthood of our Redeemer and his disciples of the Chri - tian Era and of the Church of Jesus Christ of today stands out most conspicuously. With them there was and is no distinction made between the physical ailments of mankind. All who come for the healing power of the priesthood, and can exercise the requisite faith, or have it exercised for them, obtain a bless- ing proportionate to the measure of faith exercised.
Not only nervous disease have been cured but all kind? of organic and functional diseases as well. The deaf, the dumb,
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the blind and those maimed and mutilated almost beyond recog- nition, have been restored to the full, free use of all their fac- ulties and powers, and even the dead have been restored to life both in this dispensation and in that of Christ and his apostles. All these things have been fully attested in the lives and experi- ences of the disciples of Christ both then and now.
These things are not spoken of boastfully but humbly and with thanksgiving and praise to God who thus recognizes and honors the acts of his holy priesthood to whom he gives the commandment to anoint the sick with oil, and promises that "the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up."
Not that every one thus administered to shall recover, for it is an unalterable decree that all shall die, but only those unto whom God shall see fit to extend his healing mercies.
Healing is not made to depend upon the curative processes of the mind, after long and skilful training; nor upon the strong personality of those who administer; but entirely upon the cura- tive and regenerating power of God,given to his servants through obedience to the unchangeable laws and ordinances of the gos- pel. Fundamentally these are: faith in God and in Jesus Christ his Son, and in the Holy Ghost, and in all their teachings; re- pentance from sin by the complete abandonment thereof; bap- tism by immersion for the remission of sins by one having divine authority to act in the sacred name of the Father and his Son and the Holy Ghost, and the laying on of the hands of those similarly commissioned for the gift of the Holy Ghost
As this spirit will not dwell in unholy tabernacles as de- clared by Paul, and its powers cannot be exercised only upon the principles of righteousness, as set forth by the prophet Joseph Smith, men thus initiated into the Church and receiving the holy priesthood, must live righteous lives to be so divinely favored, as either to be healed or to be made instrumentalities through whom the sick are healed, and all manner of physical ailments are removed. When this is done, then will be verily fulfilled the promise that Jesus made to his disciples, when he said: "The works that I do, ye shall do aleo; and greater works than these shall ye do, because I go unto my Father."
While, as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter- day Saints, we enjoy these inestimable blessings, let us not fail to recognize and give due credit for all the good we see in the world; always hoping and praying that our Christian friends may be led to see the greater light as God has given us to see it, and thereby enter upon the more perfect way of temporal and eternal life to the glory of God, our common, all wise, eternal, and omnipotent Father. Brigham City, Utah.
With Saw and Saw-Horse
By F. H. Sweet
"S-s-sh-wish ! s-s-sh-er-wish ! " gnawed the saw teeth through the remaining half of the oak stick, and presently the divided half joined the two pieces already on the ground. One of the four-foot sticks sawed three times made it of stove-wood size.
As the wood-sawyer placed another stick on the sawhorse and sunk the teeth of the saw in with a long downward stroke, a woman appeared in the kitchen doorway beyond the wood- pile. She watched the workman critically until four more stove- wood sizes dropped upon the others. Then she came out, fol- lowed by a young woman.
"You saw it very nicely," she approved. "Did Bobby Evans send you?"
"No," adding, "Bobby Evans? Who is he, Dr. Joe's son?"
"Yes. The doctor took small pox from one of his patients, and died. He was too tender-hearted to insist on his sick people paying, so left nothing. Bobby's supposed to be trying to help his mother, but is lazy and shirks jobs, after he takes them. He asked to cut the wood, and I promised it to him."
"But that was over a week ago, mother," reminded the girl. "You've sent word to him twice since then, and yesterday he was sneaking down the alley when I saw and called him. But he dodged from sight. You needn't count on Bob for anything."
" I'm afraid not," regretted her mother. "Still, I don't like to promise a job and not keep it, unless I'm sure. I'll slip across the street to their home and ask Bobby's mother, then come right back. I do need the wood cut at once, for we're all out, and my husband is in bed with a broken leg. But how came you to start in," curiously, "if no one hired or asked you?"
"Well, partly because I heard yesterday that your husband was in bed with a broken leg," answered the man. "When I passed along the sidewalk with my outfit just now and noticed this pile of cordwood, I remembered the leg and came in."
"But you don't know my husband," wonderingly — "what are you laughing at, Florence?"
The man had looked toward Florence, too, inquiringly. But at the mother's words his own face had taken on a sort of half grin, which the woman stared at a moment, then exclaimed:
"I ought to know that grin. Aren't you John Lambert's son — Billy? Did you know him, Florence? Is that what you're laughing at?"
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"Yes, and I've been waiting to see if he would know me," laughed the girl. "One couldn't be dragged on her sled so much as he did me and not recognize her horse. But I've changed a lot more than he has, of course."
The man placed his saw against the sawhorse and advanced with outstretched hand.
"So you're Florry," he exclaimed. "No, I didn't know you, not even when your mother said 'Florence.' I never thought of you by the full name. You were just a little fat lump of fun and cute sayings, and I a big overgrown 17 year-old who had the good sense to appreciate you."
"Good nature not to repulse me," nodded the girl, her hand in his. "After you picked me out of the snow that day, and fixed me nicely on your sled, and pulled me all the way to the kinder- garten door of the school, I'm afraid I became very devoted, and expected and exacted everything from you. And you fulfilled all my expectations, dragging me to school regularly every day through the winter, and helping me in the summer. Don't you remember? I guess I was fat and given to tumbling on the least provocation. But it was funny. I was 5 and you 17, and they called you my knight because you wouldn't go with any of the big girls. Some said you were too bashful. But I know better. When the teacher was going to whip me because I persisted in laughing out loud, you walked up to him and said if he did you'd whip him. Remember? And when two of the prettiest big girls were scared to leave the school on account of some drunken men fighting in the street, you went and took them by the arms and led them right past. They thought you were awful brave, and showed they were willing for you to go round with them more. But you never did."
"Maybe it was on account of you," he smiled.
"No, it wasn't," positively. "It was just that you didn't care for girls^-or no, I guess it was because you had a great big am- bition. You were going off to make your own way, and make it big. You talked it over with me, though I was only a little tot, and I don't think you did with any ond else. Generally you were pretty quiet when out with people, though you weren't bashful. You held your head too high and had too straight a look for that. I was only seven when you went away, right after your mother died. But I've never forgotten the wonderful stories you told me. For years I think I sort of mixed you with Dick Whittington going to London."
"I remember you were a good listener, Florry — Miss Flor- ence, I mean. And I know I was a sad brag. It's so easy to brag when young and starting out to conquer. The humbleness comes with the return, when the big things are left behind."
WITH SAW AND SAW-HORSE 1071
"You were not — successful, then?" a troubled look coming to her face, and her eyes dropping involuntarily to the saw and sawhorse. "I'm so sorry. I don't believe there ever was a boy who went forth better fitted and more confident and brave."
"Very few reach the real heights of their dreaming* I'm afraid, Florry," he answered. "It's good to have the dreaming, however, for it makes the effort more single hearted and pure and is a help over some of the quicksands. But here comes news of Bobby."
The girl's mother was entering the side gate, and came straight across to the woodpile.
"Bobby's taken a job at catching bait for some fishing visit- ors," she said, as she joined them. "It don't pay him much, but it's congenial work and will last through the month the visitors are here. So all Bobby's other jobs are off, I suppose. His mother's getting real worried about the boy. I'll be glad for you to finish the wood, if you will, Mr. Lambert."
"Billy, please. In all the sixteen years I've been away I didn't hear 'Billy' once. I was getting homesick for it, I think; and when the doctor orderd me from work I couldn't think of anywhere better than here, though I have no kin left."
"You've been sick?" asked Florence quickly.
"No, except for lack of some such exercise as this, and more air. My boarding place was only a block from the office, and I had sixteen years of it, without a vacation or break. I went there a pretty husky young fellow, but no strength can withstand such a life forever. I didn't break down, though the doctor ordered me away. I've been here ten days, sawing and chopping, and already feel myself beyond any commiseration a semi-invalid. As to poor Bobby, I must look him up and see if I can't sort of chum him into better behavior. I can tell him some rather wonderful stories about his father. Joe was my school-mate and chum, you may remember, and a finer boy and man would be hard to find. So much good can't have gone wholly to waste in the boy. Bobby's been allowed to run wild and have his way, I fancy, with his good points lying dormant."
"Well, I hope you can do something with him, for the sake of his mother. She and your mother and I used to be school- mates, too. Now I must hurry back to my cooking. You'll stay to dinner, Billy, when you can tell something about your city experiences. I'm real sorry they didn't turn out well, though I know 'twas the city's fault, not yours. But I do think you might have called to see us before this. Bobby's mother said she'd heard of you being in town two weeks, sawing wood down among the very poor people of the east side. I'm afraid that was a mistake, for some of 'em have a bad name for paying.
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Now I doubt if you collected half your money, Billy, did you?"
"Why— er, no, I didn't," confessed Billy.
"Well, 'twas a mistake," she repeated. "What you should do is to go to the north side, among the richer class, who have work and money and can stand higher charges. Even along here we beat down the scant living wages — have to, in fact, to leave enough to sort of live on ourselves. You'll stay to dinner?"
"Yes, indeed. And I did call on you the very day after I got here, at the old place. They said you'd moved over this way somewhere, and — oh, well," smiling as though at a joke, "I was carrying my outfit, and soon began to notice that the few acquaintances I had found began to shun me. As an experiment I put myself in the way of others, and with hardly an exception they did the same. But it caused me to stop making calls."
"Another mistake," calmly. "You should have kept on till you found us. I rather honor you for the independence of carrying your saw and sawhorse openly along the street. A good many wouldn't. And I can understand the rest, too. My hus- band met with reverses," a shadow coming to her face, "and we had to sell. He isn't a very good business man, and trusted his friends too much. They took advantage of him. They even fixed it so as to have a big mortgage on his house. Then, with the money gone, they ceased being friends and became mere creditors, and rather hard ones. So we understand, and you needn't be afraid of Florence or myself avoiding you on the street because you carry a saw and sawhorse. Now about the work. I've been depending a good deal on Bobby Evans, and have let our garden get to be a sight. After the wood's cut, if you're willing, I'll be glad to have you clean up the garden, mow the lawn, white-wash tr- henhouse, and do some other things. I'll pay what's fair."
"Why, yes, I guess I can promise to do it all," agreed Billy, a warm look in his eyes. "It fills in with the doctor's prescrip- tion of outdoor exercise."
It took nearly three weeks for Billy to finish up the wood and all the neglected jobs about the place, even though Flor- ence helped a good deal in the garden and the poultry yards. At first Florence's mother had glanced at them a little doubtfully as they worked together. But presently her face cleared. Billy had been a clean bov, and his clear, straight gaze showed that he was a clean man. The wood sawing outfit was a mere detail of the outside. After that she let matters take their course. Billy had his dinner at the house every day.
When all the work was finished, she sought to pay him. But Billy shook his head.
"The exercise is the pay," he smiled. "People 'round here
WITH SAW AND SAW-HORSE 1073
jumped at conclusions before I thought to explain, and then I let it go, as an experiment. The doctors advised golf, or buying a yacht, or a slow trip around the world. But they didn't appeal to me, alone. Then I thought of a saw and sawhorse, and look- ing over fences for wood to be cut. That would give me exercise and rambling over my old home town. But it has brought far more than that, my little playfellow of long ago to be a life com- panion."
"Then you're not poor?" wonderingly.
"Not in that sense. Financially, I won success, a very great ruccess, I suppose. But I have found money a mere incident of the life I used to dream. Florence and I will use our money in trying to realize something of that dream for ourselves and others." Waynsboro, Vermont
You Who Stand at Armageddon
"And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon. And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done." — Rev. 16:16, 17.
You who stand at Armageddon,
Stalwart men with unsheathed sword, You are they whose strength and valor,
Wage the battles of the Lord. You are they who bear the standard
Which your sires so nobly bore, Yours the aim for which they struggled,
Liberty for evermore!
You who stand at Armageddon,
Battling against a horde That cares not for life nor virtue,
Mockers of a righteous Lord: You are they who wear the image,
Of the mold divine within — Enemy to naught but Avarice!
Foe of none but beastial sin!
You who fight at Armageddon,
Naught shall stay you, you shall go Forward on your march to vanquish
Hell's despotic reign of woe. When the throne of blood is banished
From the earth to come no more, When shall ring the voice of Freedom,
Loud and clear from shore to shore, When shall wave a glorious ensign,
By the hand of Peace unfurled, — We shall hail you great, immortal
Saviors of a ransomed world.
Grace Ingles Frost.
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BRIGADIER-GENERAL RICHARD W. YOUNG
Utah's Brigadier Generals
By Junius F. Wells
Since the entrance of our Nation into the great World War there have been five of Utah's soldiers promoted to the rank of Brigadier-General: Colonel E. A. Wedgewood, who failed on physical examination and was retired from the service; Colonel Frank T. Hines, now in the transport service on the Atlantic sea- board and a recent visitor in Europe with Secretary of War Baker; Major William E. Cole, recently promoted, born in 1374, in Willard, Utah, and a graduate of West Point, in 1898; Colonel Richard W. Young, and Colonel Briant H. Wells.
It is with feelings of particular pride that we congratulate these officers, especially the latter two, whose names are so fa- miliar and whose records of military service in the State and Nation have reflected so much honor upon that part of our peo- ple who are especially interested in the Era.
The service record of General Young has been briefly stated in the following summary prepared by his son, State Senator R. W. Young, Jr., and exhibits a wonderfully active life in the military and civil offices where he has served. Apart from this, his career has been most honorable and useful as a worker in the Y. M. M. I. A., and as President of the Ensign stake of Zion, and as a writer for the local newspapers and periodicals:
Richard Whitehead Young
Born Salt Lake City, April 19, 1858; son of Joseph Angel and Margaret Whitehead Young; U. of U. 1874-7; graduated U. S. Military Academy 1882; degree of Bachelor of Law, Co- lumbia University 1884; Second Lieutenant in the Fifth U. S. Artillery 1882-9; Captain Acting Judge Advocate in the United States Army on General Hancock's Staff 1884-6; resigned from army 1889; Brigadier General Utah National Guard 1894. Cap- tain and Major commanding Utah Light Artillery, Spanish American War and Philippine Insurrection 1898-9; awarded medal of honor for distinguished services and later breveted as Lieutenant-Colonel, Colonel and Brigadier General; admitted to bar in New York 1884; in law practice Salt Lake City since 1889; member Salt Lake City Council 1890-1; Board of Educa- tion 1890-4, 1898 ; member of Board of Visitors, West Point, by presidential appointment 1902; Supreme Provost Judge, Asso-
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ciate Justice and President of the Criminal Branch of the Su- preme Court of the Philippine Islands, author of the Criminal Code for the Philippine Islands; twice Democratic candidate for the Supreme Court, State of Utah; Regent University of Utah, 1905-17; trustee Brigham Young University and Brig- ham Young College; President International Army Congress, 1912-14; Colonel 145th Field Artillery, U. S. Army, stationed at Camp Kearny; appointed to the Efficiency Board at Ft. Sill. Promoted to Brigadier General, April 12, 1918, commanding 65th Brigade, 40th Division, American Expeditionary Forces, now in France. His last visit to Salt Lake City terminated July 23, 1918.
Briant Harris Wells
The youngest son of Daniel H. Wells and Martha Harris was born in Salt Lake City in the old homestead where Zion's Savings Bank now stands, on the 5th of December, 1872. He had his schooling in the district ward schools and at the Deseret University, until he eecured the appointment as a cadet to West Point Military Academy, in 1889.
It happened that I accompanied him East and put him in Colonel Braden's preparatory school at Cornwall-on-the-Hudson where he was coached for two months before coming up for the entrance examination at West Point. I recall saying to Colonel Bra den:
This boy is sound as the heart of an oak physically, and we want you- to cram his head full of the particular knowledge that will insure his pass- ing the examination and getting into West Point. If he gets in, I have no doubt of his future. I will tell you why: When he was little, he played marbles, and he knew how. He held his taw so as to put the strength of his wrist as well as his thumb back of it. He knuckled down fair, and didn't fudge. He usually started out in the morning with six, and came home at night with a hat full.
I told "Bry" when he got in at West Point and was making good with his studies that he should remember some things that his father would want him always to regard — that he had en- tered upon his life's mission and work — to stick to it and make the most of it. That he should first of all be true to Briant H. Wells — look him in the eyes occasionally, and take account; that he should always be true to the Wells family, and never suppose, even if he became commander-in-chief of the Nation's armie", that he would be bigger or greater than the family — that no member of it ever would be, and none of Daniel H. Wells' de- scendants would ever rob him of the peculiar distinction that fate had given him as -the head of his lineage, a patriarch and savior of his race and kindred. Then I told him that it was a mighty good thing to be an official citizen of the United States,
BRIGADIER-GENERAL BRIANT H. WELLS
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a representative for life of our Nation; to be proud of it, and true to it, and to give the best service to it that he was capable of, as long as he should live.
It is with infinite pride and pleasure that I now record my belief that he has observed these admonitions all the way through, and because of it has come to be as true a man and soldier as there is in all the American Army, and is now occu- pying a post of great honor and responsibility at the front, with the armies of the Allies in France.
General Wells graduated as second lieutenant from West Point, in 1894, and was assigned to the Second Infantry, sta- tioned at Omaha, Nebraska. He served in that regiment and in the Eighteenth Infantry and later in the Twenty-ninth, at sev- eral military posts in various parts of the country. For a time he was adjutant at Fort Douglas. In the Spanish War he went to Cuba, and was wounded in the battle of San Juan Hill, and furloughed home. He was instructor of the Utah National Guard before he went to the Philippines. Three times his duty called him there, and he also served at Panama. He was rapid- ly promoted in the earlier period, to First Lieutenant, 1898, and gaining his Captaincy in seven years from graduation at West Point. At the establishment of the officers' training camp, in 1916, at Plattsburg, N. Y., he was promoted to Major and given command of half the regiment there. From there he went to the Mexican border as Chief of Staff, with General Plummer, and was thence ordered to Washington as a member of the Gen- eral Staff. When war was declared, and the new army was be- ing formed, he was promoted to Colonel, and given command of the 138th Infantry, at Camp Lee, Petersburg, Virginia, where he remained until January, 1918.
Upon the return from France of General Bliss, then Chief of the General Staff, Colonel Wells was called to Washington and informed by General Bliss of the latter's appointment as the American member of the Supreme War Council of the Al- lies. General Bliss told him he was detached from his regiment, and was to accompany him to France upon his return, for ser- vice at the Supreme Council. This has been since January and is his present general assignment.
Since the elevation of General Foch to the supreme com- mand as Generalissimo of all the armies of the Allies, Colonel Wells has been the liaison-officer, at his headquarters, repre- senting General Bliss. The nature of this assignment is care- fully stated in the following clipping from the New York Times, written by Richard Barry:
In the War College at Washington is a little book marked "Private and Confidential." On the first page appears the line, "Instructions for Liaison
UTAH'S BRIGADIER GENERALS 1079
Officers." It never leaves the confines of the college, where officers prepar- ing for staff duty are expected to master its contents. I was permitted to see it, but not to reproduce the minutiae of its contents, which might be of dis- tinct value to the enemy.
From Colonel Murray of the War College, instructor in liaison work; from Colonel Cordier, the American Liaison Officer attached to the Gen- eral Staff at the War Department, and from other sources was obtained a general view of the function of the liaison officer — facts which it is proper to publish at this time and which seem particularly interesting in view of the international character of the present military organization.
The case, it appears, is far different from that imagined by the lady in the lounge of the Savoy, who, observing a covey of English, French, and Belgian officers flocking about a group of social butterflies, observed: "Ah! What a charming detail it is to be a liaison officer!" Rather, from what the writer of this article can gather in a comparatively brief survey, the liaison officer is next to the actual commander in the field, the most im- portant brain serving the cause. And there are more of him in all branches of the service, on all fronts, in all camps, and in all capitals than could be measured of any other special variety. His fast service forms a network of intercommunication and of extracommunication which ties not only our army, but all the armies, together in a fine mesh of exact and instant knowledge.
Instinctively one might think of a liaison officer as being the link of communication between two allied armies, but while that is one of his functions, it is not his most important. His most important function is his supervision over and responsibikty for the various methods and systems of communication existing within an army. He is a supertelephone inspector, a super-wireless inspector, the overlord of the carrier pigeons, the boss of the runners, the generalissimo of the motor cycle corps, the boss of the ground telephone, the last court of appeal for the signal corps, and in this latter activity he becomes automatically the all but final seat of responsi- bility for the airplane service in all activities except those pertaining to actual combat.
So much for the liaison officer responsible for intercommunication with- in an army. He has other functions, less dangerous, but no less responsible.
t £ ♦ ♦
The obvious nature of his duties is that of linking up the various armies, French with American, American with French, British with French and with American, Italian with French, with British, and with American, etc.
For instance, when Marshal Foch wishes to communicate with General Pershing (that is, for the run of the day's work, though not for a supreme war council, of course) he does not speak to Pershing directly nor send word to him directly. Instead, he communicates with the American liaison officer attached to his headquarters. The functions of this officer become much more than those of a messenger (he is of regimental or brigade rank), for the Generalissimo consults with him exactly as if he were the American commander in person. If he finally has an order to give he gives it to the liaison officer, who in turn communicates it to his chief. In a peculiar and in a militarily limited sense the liaison officers are the ambassadors of their immediate commanders. Foch has one at Pershing's headquarters, as he has one at Haig's and one at Diaz's, and vice versa. Needless to say, officers chosen for this duty are required to have wide knowledge and experience, together with discretion and authority fitting them for general rank.
That Colonel Wells has proved his ability and worthiness in this position of high honor, responsibility, and trust, is evi-
1080 IMPROVEMENT ERA
denced by the fact that in August he was promoted to Briga- dier General, and was continued at General Foch's headquarters, the representative of General Bliss, of the Supreme War Coun- cil, which determines the strategy of the war, and provides the armies of execution.
Since the above was written General Wells has been ap- pointed Chief of Staff of the Fifth Army Corps, 182,000 men, commanded by Major-General Bundy — a part of the First Field army under General Pershing, now in action in the Lorraine sector.
The accompanying portraits of Generals Young and Wells were taken recently, in their colonel's uniforms, before they were made Brigadier Generals.
Teachers' Training Classes
The first two lessons provided for the teachers' training classes of the auxiliary organizations throughout the Church that are to be established in each ward on some convenient day or evening, follow.
These classes are designed to embrace the teachers of all the auxiliary organizations of the Church. The lesson to come in book fonn, will cover one year's work on the art of teaching, at the rate of two lessons per month.
The first lessons are presented in the Era with the purpose of interesting the teachers and officers of the Y. M. M. I. A. in these auxiliary training classes, in their particular wards, when organized, and they are urged to take an active interest in see- ing that such classes are organized in their wards.
It is designed by the joint General Boards to issue, shortly, a manual now nearly completed, containing all the lessons set- ting forth the key thoughts of the course, the subject matter, and the methods to be adopted in teaching. Such teacher's training classes are sorely needed, and will be of incalculable value to all who have to teach young people in the auxiliary organiza- tions of the Church. We trust that no Young Men's Mutual Improvement Association teacher will miss the opportunity of attending these classes; and further, that the officers will urge the organization of such classes in their wards, in connection with the Sunday School, and other auxiliaries. The general reader will also be interested in the scheme, and in the good reading of the introduction and first two lessons that follow:
TEACHERS' TRAINING CLASSES 1081
A Word About Our Work
True teaching is the finest of the fine arts. It deals with the rarest of materials— the human mind and soul. It aims at the highest of results— the perfecting of the mental and spiritual powers of man. Its effects are immeasurable and eternal.
Other arts reflect life; teaching develops life itself. Other arts are wonderful in their scope and influence; but they can hardly be so pro- foundly vital, nor so lasting in their consequences. The painter touches the canva9 with colors, and produces an inspiring picture; but the colors fade with the years, and the picture finally must pass away. The sculptor chips with deft fingers the faultless marble and makes it all but speak his thoughts; but the stone in time will crumble and the image perish. The musician pours out his heart in melody that thrills the listener; but the song dies away with the echoes into a sweet memory.
Not so with the teacher. He works neither with color, nor marble, nor yet with tones; but with living beings. He plays upon the harp-strings of the human heart and sets its feelings vibrating either in painful discord, or with pleasing harmony. He cultivates the growing mind, training it to think clearly and keenly. He molds the plastic soul and leaves his im- print for good or ill on his pupils' lives forever.
This last mentioned phase of teaching is of especial concern to the teachers of the gospel. It is their work to shape and inspire the soul of the divine spirit within the learner. Their business is to lead him to express himself. Their duty is to guide the faltering footsteps of the human being into "the paths of righteousness for His name's sake;" and above all, to create in his heart such a living love of truth as will make him constantly strive to radiate it through sensible, spiritual service for the uplift of humanity.
This was the work of Christ, the Master Teacher. His life was spent as a divine artist, striving to make men perfect as our Father in heaven is perfect. The success of his teaching is to be measured only by the boundless scope of its influence, which has more than encompassed the earth and echoed down the centuries in the lives of the billions of souls that have been renewed and strengthened and perfected by the magic power of his words and his own perfect life.
If any teacher would grow in skill to interpret and vitalize the princi- ples of the gospel, he must follow in the footsteps of the Master. To know his methods thoroughly is to understand clearly all of the funda- mental principles of progressive pedagogy. This being true, we might here dismiss our subject with this divine injunction from the Savior himself: "I am the light and life. Follow me."
But this is hardly sufficient for our present purpose. Even the clear words and the plain practices of the Master must be interpreted and trans- lated though practical illustrations into the life of today, in order that we may appreciate their present significance and give them living applica- tion in our every day work.
For this reason we purpose first of all, to make a brief survey of the methods of the Master as a foundational basis for the course; and follow- ing this to develop in somewhat systematic order certain fundamental principles that are directly or indirectly connected with the essentials of true teaching as revealed in His work.
Lesson 1. The Methods of the Master
Much of the success of the Savior as a teacher was due to his divine personality. He was a born leader of men. As the Son of God, he pos-
1082 IMPROVEMENT ERA
sessed the attributes of divinity, which gave his words an inherent im- pressiveness and made men listen to them with respect. He spoke "as one having authority, and not as the Scribes."
But this was not all. Even Divinity itself must obey fundamental laws to succeed in any calling The teaching work of the Savior is no excep- tion to the rule. It was based on the same foundation stones on which all teaching must be founded to be successful.
In studying the elements that made the work of the T.iasier so remark- ably effective, five things at least stand out clearly:
1. He had a love for God and God's children.
2. He had a burning belief in his own mission to serve and to save mankind.
3. He had a clear and sympathetic understanding of the inner hearts of humankind.
4. He had so keen a sense of relative values that he could readily separate the chaff from the wheat of religion.
5. He demonstrated daily his faith by living it consistently and cour- ageously.
With these essential qualities what other could he be than a divinely successful Teacher?
Love of God's work and of the children of God is the first requisite to success in this labor of love. Otherwise, though one speaks "with the tongue of men and of angels," one is but "sounding brass and tinkling cymbal." No message can ring true unless it comes from a heart that thrills with truth. Children are quick to detect the false notes of insin- cerity. They are likewise keen to respond to genuine love and sympathy. And older people are but children grown. To be truly helpful to others, we must be truly interested in their welfare.
To love sincerely the children of God is to love God Himself. In the sweet story of "Abou Ben Adhem," is an instance that points this thought. When that good man awoke and found in his room an angel writing in a book of gold the names of those that loved the Lord, he asked:
"And is mine one?"
"Nay, not so," replied the angel.
Abou spake more low; but cherrily still,
And said, "I pray thee, then, write me as
One who loves his fellowmen."
The angel wrote and vanished.
The next night it came again, with great awakening light,
And showed the names of those whom love of God had blest
And lo: Ben Adhem's name led all the rest."
If one thing more than another marks the life of the Savior, it is his intense yet sane love for his fellow-men. In every act of his life, he reveals his great-hearted solicitude for them. Particularly towards the weak and lowly were his sympathies shown He bore their burdens, shared their sorrows, healed them of sickness, forgave them of their sins; and all the while, with loving words of kindness, He taught them most impressively the way of life and salvation. It is such a spirit as this that makes the true teacher. To have any profound influence on those we would lead to higher levels, we must be one with them in heart and soul; we must love all of God's children.
A burning belief in the gospel of Christ is the second essential that makes for success in our work. Lacking such enthusiasm our teaching can hardly carry over convincingly into the hearts of our pupils. Every lesson in some measure must reflect the spirit of the day of Pentecost.
TEACHERS' TRAINING CLASSES 1083
Religion is not so much a matter of fact as of feeling. It cannot be measured by any coldly intellectual process. There is in it "a light which never was on land or sea." This light of the Spirit of the Holy Ghost warms and quickens our inner souls, and opens our hearts for God's Spirit to enter. Many of these sweetest emotions of life cannot be ex- plained in words; they are something like the tender afterglow of sunset— too delicate for even an artist's touch to express. Such is the silent satis- faction that follows sincere prayer, or the comfort that comes when one does a deed of loving kindness.
The testimony of the gospel enters our hearts in much the same quiet way. It is a spiritual assurance that satisfies the individual soul. That testimony can be radiated to others not through mere words, but through a medium of spiritual communication. This truth is suggested in the words of the Savior where He said, "My sheep know my voice, and a stranger's they will not follow."
With a living testimony of truth in his soul, the teacher, like a magnet, radiates a silent yet powerful influence into the souls of all who come in contact with his teachings. They are infused with the spirit he carries.
Ability to separate the chaff from the wheat of truth is another essential of success in teething. The Master possessed the power to a remarkable degree. He wasted no time on the chaff of religion. His wrath often broke into righteous indignation over this sort of thing. He was constantly rebuking the Pharisees for their littleness — their excessive attention to empty formalities. "Woe unto you Pharisees!" He said on one occasion, "for ye tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs and pass over judgment and the love of God." At another time He rebuked this tendency as one of "straining at gnats and swallowing camels."
Some attention to the outward forms of religion is right and proper. One cannot raise wheat without raising chaff. At the same time wheat is not raised for the chaff. Order and system in any organization call for certain respectful ceremonies; but the ceremony is not the main thing. If is the life-giving elements of religion that mean most in our lives.
Last, but by no means least, He demonstrated His faith by His works. Herein lies the cruical test of efficiency in any teacher's preparation to teach the gospel. How far do you believe the gospel's true? Just so far as you reflect the spirit of the gospel in your daily life. "Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me," are the words of the Master on this point.
Are you willing to serve, to sacrifice the worldly things to do the work of the Master? Will ye take cheerfully the world's buffets and scorns for the sake of truth?
It takes spiritual courage and willingness to sacrifice in order to go "over the top" in the service of the Master. Are you ready to respond to his command, "Follow me?" If you are, you are ready to become a living teacher of the living truth.
Lesson Study
1. Justify the assertion: True teaching is the finest of the fine arts.
2. What phase of teaching belongs particularly to the gospel teacher?
3. What was the main guiding thought in the life of the Master?
4. Why is a study of his methods of vital value in our work?
5. On what essential principles of true pedagogy was the work of Jesus as a teacher based? Give five of the most important.
6. Give an instance from the life of Christ that showed clearly his love of humanity and for God.
1084 IMPROVEMENT ERA
7. Give also an instance from the life of Christ that shows that he was a practical psychologist — with ability to read the mind and hearts of men.
8. Show by illustration his skill to separate the wheat from the chaff of religion.
9. Show by illustration the courage and the consistency of the Master in living his own teachings.
Lesson 2. The First Principle of Gospel Pedagogy
"For whosoever would save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's the same shall save it." (Mark 8:35.)
This divine paradox expresses, in one form, the central principle of the Master's educational doctrine. Translated in terms of the progressive pedagogy of today, it means merely this ; To perfect our powers, we must exercise them in true service for others. Spiritual development, in other words, can come only through spiritualized self-expression.
Without such expression there can be no gospel education. The human being develops mentally and spiritually only as he is given opportunity to transform the truth he feels into words of truth and right action. No thought is ever really impressed until it has been adequately expressed.
This great principle of pedagogy is exemplified in all of the teachings of the Master. He was the first champion, indeed, of the idea of education through expression. Even before the foundations of the world were laid, so we are told in Holy Writ, He led the hosts of heaven in the struggle to establish this basic principle of growth and salvation. Christ contended that it was the divine right of man to express himself — that he should be given his free agency — the opportunity to develop his own powers through freedom of thought and action.
His will prevailed; but his opponents have never ceased to battle for their unholy cause. In a thousand subtle ways they have kept up the effort to cancel and overcome the rights of liberty divinely won for man.
Even in our systems of educations their autocratic hand is frequently shown. As a result our schools are often institutions of repression and suppression rather than of expression. Too many teachers dominate rather than direct the minds of their pupils. Children constantly being driven, not led to learn. This was not the method of the Master. His teaching was ever characterized by the spirit of true democracy. He was always one with his pupils. He did not force the minds of those that came to be taught of him, but he faced them rather towards the truth he would im- press, and left them free to work out the problems in their own way. By stimulating precep: and shining example, he taught them the eternal principles of the gospel, but he let them prove the wisdom of his words and of his ways by their own Spiritual self-expression.
Without such expression there can be no growth. The individual, like the tree, grows only as it expresses itself. Education implies expression. The word comes from the old Latin term educo, which means to lead. Edu- cation means to lead out, not to crush out the child's natural tendencies to think and act for himself. Gospel education means t*> open the way for the pupil to learn the truths of the gospel by expressing them In both word and deed — by translating them into terms of true social service.
The most, the best, that any teacher can do for the learner is to clear the proper channels of expression and direct the thoughts and feelings of the pupils to flow therein. The following parable, used in another connec- tion by the author, serves also well here to make this point plain:
In a certain place there was once a little spring which bubbled forth in a mountain dell and tried to make its way into the valley that lay below. But the waters were checked with sticks and stones and weeds and the
TEACHERS- TRAINING CLASSES 1085
tracks of animals, and the stream turned into a bog. Its waters evaporated or sank into the ground. A rancher, whose home was not far from the spring, came one day with his spade and dug a channel through the bog and led the waters out. They danced down the canyon till they came to his cabin. For many years he used the stream for himself and his cattle. Then came the people of the village. They wished to establish a system of water works so they purchased the spring from the rancher and laid pipes to it. Today that little spring is helping to supply a whole community with water.
What increased the power of the spring to do good? Simply one thing: it was given a channel through which it might express itself? The more perfect the channel was made the more beneficent the work of the spring. In being given an opportunity to serve others it found itself.
The central principle of all teaching is to be found in this story of the mountain spring. Every child, every human being, may be likened unto a living spring, which is trying to express itself — struggling to reach the valley of service. But because of obstacles it often fails to get there. Sometimes it is inhibited by bad habits or checked and turned by weeds of sin. Its energies are dissipated and its life-giving waters arrested.
If we fail to use our spiritual gifts, we lose them. To keep these best things of life we must give them away. A lamp has light only when it is radiating light. Our lives, likewise, may be kept bright only as we keep the gospel light burning within us. To save ourselves, we must give ourselves.
This key-thought of our lesson is most impressively taught by the Master in his parable of the talen s. In that story, the master, leaving his home for a time, gave to one servant five talents, to another two, and to another servant one. After many days the lord returned. The servant who had been given five talents returned to his master ten; he that had two talents, returned four, but he that had received only one talent returned only one, making excuse that because he feared to lose his talent, he hid it in the earth.
And the master rebuked him as being a slothful servant. And he took from him his one talent to give to the servant who had ten, saying: "To him that hath shall be given, and from him that hath not shall be taken away, even that which he hath."
The great central principle of education lies in the heart of this parable. Our business as teachers of the gospel is to find and to follow it in our work.
Lesson Outline
1. State in your own words the first principle of gospel pedagogy as developed in this discussion.
2. What is the true meaning of education?
3. Show by illustration, how the Savior was a true teacher.
4. In what ways have you observed teachers at times dominate rather than direct the minds of their pupils towards truth?
5. In what way alone can the pupil's powers be developed?
6. What principle of pedagogy is in the parable of the mountain spring?
7. What lesson of especial value to the teacher is to be found in the parable of talents?
8. Point out the application of the great principle of education you have gained from this lesson to the special gospel work in which you are engaged.
9. Why is it of special importance today that our teaching reflect the great democratic principle of education for which the Savior stood?
What is Success?
In the very interesting Y. M. I. A. text book for the study of the Junior classes this year, "Lessons on Success" are presented in the general series on "The Development of Character." Here are four good sentiments on the subject that the class teacher as well as the general reader will enjoy. They are the expres- sions of four great teachers given the Improvment Era over their own signatures:
Spiritual success comes from serving God in all things; being just, true and charitable to all men. Material success comes from industry, frugality and careful, wise saving and in- vesment out of every re-
source, every day. At least j/r.
one-tenth of every dollar ^(rg4U>t^ /% d^WfOdd? must be saved and safely in- ' ^ \7 A
vested; more is better.
I used to say that "success in life means doing what you want to do and being paid for it." Putting this in a little dif- ferent language, I should say that the man is successful who is able to devote his life to something in which he believes and which he enjoys, and that is sufficiently appreciated by the community so that he will ^
not have to earn his living by . ,
something else. rO G^-o-c %T~a utAAj ^^f^t^Aj^^
Success means achievement and attainment. It implies action, energy, patience, persistence, perseverance. It is the goal of faith, hope and effort, the hill-top of a weary way, the consummation of a plan, the J ^^
winning of a mental, phys- J? f ~&y*Q/r / +
ical or financial struggle. It tSwC&Q. *' • 1slys*£v&£/ is often the outcome of re- peated failures, from which we learn how to reach it; then it is a crown of radiant glory.
CZ=^p J
To understand the coherence of the past, present and fu- ture, and thereby the meaning of life; to train our faculties for high service in any honest endeavor; to educate the will so that the work we find may
be done well and contented- *^/J] Jf J -}-$ ~~ —
ly; to love and serve our fel- C y v I / (yLCliyfj^0^P^ low man, and to increase in ~~ all these things daily — that is success.
How to Lessen Contributions to Crime
A Study for the M. I. A. Advanced Senior Classes
Lesson IV — Societies and Social Cliques
Secret Societies. — From the earliest history of the world secret societies have existed. (See Pearl of Great Price, chap. 5;25-31; Book of Mormon, Helaman, chap. 6:18-35.) Many are of such a nature as to be a menace to all organized government. Some encourage anarchy, rebellion, treason, murder, and indeed all forms of wickedness. Others may be only of a fraternal nature, and are beneficial to those who have nothing better, but a man cannot serve two masters.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints offers, to its faithful members when needed, fraternal advantages equaling and even snrpassing ir>. value the financial benefits of the fraternal societies, and in addition it gives the perfect plan for correct living here and exaltation hereafter.
The Church stands firmly opposed to its members affiliating with secrei organizations.
"The Four Hundred." — In almost every city from the metropolis down to the suburban village in our own and other countries may be found social sets or cliques that try to create an atmosphere of exclusiveness. It would be taking an extreme view perhaps to say they contribute largely to crime, yet when we consider the shallowness formed in much of what is termed the best society, the extravagance and show, the excesses, late hours, and the general tendency toward laxity in some of the important essentials, must they not be considered inimical to the standard of life required by the gospel of Jesus Christ?
It is an established fact that Latter-day Saints who become affiliated with these sets or cliques become neglectful of Church duties — and soon begin to condone such things as card playing, partaking of coffee or tea, smoking, or taking a little wine, etc., and thus in an insidious and indirect manner are led on to evil.
The Town Group. — It is natural in all communities and under all cir- cumstances for congenial spirits to gravitate towards each other, and we are told that the object of these various associations is to promote good fellowship, comradeship, and social enjoyment, but in the working out of the proposition they often defeat their own object, for it is the popular girls and boys — those who have no need of added enjoyment who are chosen, while the lonely, unpopular ones are left out.
Even among the Latter-day Saints a spirit of snobbishness is found in some communities that eliminates from these social sets, the girls who give efficient service along the lines of household work while welcoming girls who happen to choose stenography, clerking, or teaching as a means of obtaining a living. One's position and not character is made the test of entrance.
Fraternities and Sororities. — This spirit of exclusiveness is found to some extent in the sororities and fraternities of our schools. The argument is advanced that in these school societies a certain standard of excellence must be attained and maintained. While this may be true and is all right in itself this excellence does not depend at all on membership in one of these societies. There are students of just as high scholastic attainments
1088 IMPROVEMENT ERA
and who are just as popular, who from choice remain out of them, as they prefer to encourage the spirit of democracy in the school and feel that the added duties would rather detract from than add to their efficiency. When we consider all that our young people have provided for them in their amusements and recreations, in their home duties, their school duties, and their Church duties, it would seem superfluous to add more.
The expense attached is another important item. The young people must have their dues and their contributions whether their parents can atlord it or not. Not the least to be considered are the habits likely to be formed by these associations. With the boys it leads to a little smoking, card playing, etc., if not to graver faults. The girls hardly ever meet socially that they do not have tea or coffee served and perhaps cards, and it is embrrassing to some of our girls not to join in all these things, while those who have strength of character sufficient to stand by their principles feel rather conspicuous.
The argument is advanced that by forming these little selective groups of congenial companions we derive intellectual improvement in hearing good lectures, or taking up special courses of study along attractive bines. If this be true for the few, why deprive those outside the charmed circle, who may be just as worthy and just as anxious for improvement?
The advanced senior class in the M. I. A. was instituted for just this object that every need or desire along these lines might be met. It is de- sirable that the M. I. A. should be the social center of the community as far as possible, encouraging home parties at which literary topics are taken up, etc.
Those who are especially endowed intellectually, instead of banding together for their own enjoyment or benefit, to the exclusion of others, should exercise that broad altruism that is willing to share with all, and to help all. And in all questions let the teachings of our religion be the deciding factor.
Problems for Discussion.
Show how social cliques tend towards class distinction. Towards ex- clusiveness. Towards laxity in some of the essentials underlying the teach- ings of the M. I. A. and the Church.
Do the extra activities required in these cliques add to or detract from our efficiency as M. I. A. or Church members?
Consider Societies and Social Cliques from an economical viewpoint; from a democratic viewpoint; from an altruistic viewpoint.
Lesson V — Card Playing
As an introduction to this lesson, it may be interesting to note that the origin of playing cards seems to date back to very remote times and is closely connected with the idolatrous practices of the Egyptians, Baby- lonians, and other ancient peoples. It is believed that in the beginning cards were the loose leaves of a book containing the mystic rites of the worship of one of the heathen gods (Mercury). Later they fell into the hands of "soothsayers or unscrupulous fortune tellers;" and still later, "be- came the tools of gamblers." They have always been associated with secrecies, mysterious cults, and with games of chance. (Gathered from Prophetical, Educational, and Playing Cards, by Jacobs.)
Card Playing. — "Life is a bank account with so much divine energy at your disposal. What are you going to do with it?" — Elbert Hubbard.
Wasting of Time. — Do devotees of this game ever count the number of hours consumed in this pastime or consider the useful, upbuilding things which might be accomplished in the time spent?
HOW TO LESSEN CONTRIBUTIONS TO CRIME 1089
"I think it very wonderful to see persons of the best sense passing away a dozen hours together in shuffling and dividing a pack of cards, with no other conversation than what is made up of a few game- phrases, and no other ideas but those of black or red spots ranged to- gether in different figures. Would not a man laugh to have one of this species complaining that life is short?" (Spectator, No. 93. Taken from Festivals, Games, and Amusements, by Smith.)
"The celebrated Mr. Locke is reported to have been once in com- pany who proposed cards, when Mr. Locke declined playing, saying he would amuse himself by looking on. During the time these noblemen were at play, he was observed to busy himself by writing in his table book. At the conclusion of their play, Lord Anglesea's curiosity prompted him to ask Locke what he had been writing. His answer was, 'In order that none of the advantages of your conversation might be lost, I have taken notes of it;' and producing his note book, it was found to be the fact. The inanity of such a collection of dis- jointed jargon, it is said had the desired effect on the three noble philosophers; . . . cards were never again attempted to be sub- stituted for rational conversation, at least in the presence of Mr. Locke." (From Festivals, Games, and Amusements, by Smith.)
President Joseph F. Smith has written a vigorous article in relation to this subject of Card Playing which every Latter-day Saint would do well to read. (See Improvement Era, August, 1913.) In relation to wasting of time he says:
"It is no uncommon thing for women, young and middle aged, to spend whole afternoons, and many of them, evenings as well, in playing cards, thus wasting hours and days of precious time in this useless and unprofitable way. Yet those same people when ap- proached, declare they have no time to attend either Sunday schools or meetings. Their church duties are neglected for lack of time, yet they spend hours, day after day, at cards. They have thereby en- couraged and become possessed of a spirit of indolence, and their minds are filled with vile drunkenness, hallucination, charm, and fascination, that take possession of the habitual card player to the exclusion of all spiritual and religious feeling. Such a spirit detracts from all sacred thought and sentiment."
Excesses. — Not only is the card player guilty of the wasting of precious time but so strong is the fascination which this game holds for him that his better judgment becomes warped and he is led to many extremes. Women often neglect their home duties, and their children, and rather than spoil the "set" at a card party, will attend when the condition of their health should keep them at home. Like the "first glass" the first game of cards seems a very simple and innocent affair, but the second and third are apt to follow and soon the playing of cards becomes such a habit that it is difficult to overcome it.
Quoting again from President Smith:
"While a simple game of cards in itself may be harmless, it is a fact that by immoderate repetition, it ends in an infatuation for chance schemes, in habits of excess, ... in a dulling and stupor of the mind, and incomplete destruction of religious feeling.
"Behold the instances that are common where women leave their children uncared for to go off to play cards; of men spending their earnings at the gaming table — behold the spirit of gambling, chance, of wanting something for nothing, and the dodging of honest work, and the waiting for luck and lottery to bring