On the 20th of April, 1863, the President and company left Great Salt
Lake City and arrived at American Fork, when the following
instructions commenced—
We shall never see the time when we shall not need to be taught, nor
when there will not be an object to be gained. I never expect to see
the time that there will not be a superior power and a superior
knowledge, and, consequently, incitements to further progress and
further improvement.
To look for salvation fifty years hence and do nothing for salvation
at the present time is preposterous. God has placed the means of
salvation within our reach, and the volition of the creature is at his
own disposal. When his sons and daughters avail themselves of the
means he has supplied for their salvation, doing good for themselves,
it is gratifying to him.
We may rejoice greatly in the possession of the spirit of truth and in
the power of God, which elevates the soul to the contemplation of
heavenly things, but it does not teach men how to raise corn. The Lord
could impart this information in a special revelation, the same as he
instructed Adam and Eve how to cover their nakedness. He showed them
how to make aprons of leaves and then coats of skins, and instructed
Adam in extracting the metals from their ores, the same as one man
instructs another. People often wish they had the power of God upon
them. This is a good wish, and the power of God is a power that would
aid men to accomplish much more than they now do, if they possessed
along with it a liberal supply of sound information and good sense.
The power of God and true knowledge are component parts of godliness,
and all the providences of God dealt out to us are for the furtherance
of his kingdom upon the earth. We should be willing to acknowledge his
hand in all things and be his faithful sons and daughters, always
ready and willing to do what he bids us.
"Mormonism" is as dear as ever to me. In all the prophecies delivered
by Joseph Smith, I do not think there has been one failure; and all
that has been foretold by ancient Prophets concerning the last days
has been fulfilled so far; not one jot or tittle has failed or will
fail. The Lord is kind to this people, and if we could understand
things as they really are and be as willing to help ourselves as the
Lord is to help us, we should advance much more rapidly in the
knowledge of God than we do. Every providence and dispensation of God
to his earthly children tends directly to life and salvation, while
the influences and powers exerted by the enemy upon mankind and every
suggestion of our corrupt natures tends to death. If there exists
within us one feeling, one desire that is not devoted to the
Gospel of the Son of God and to the building up of his kingdom on the
earth, that feeling or desire so far tends to death.
Knowledge increases among this people; they know more of the things of
the kingdom of God today than they did in the days of Joseph Smith.
There was confidence due from his brethren to Joseph which he did not
receive. In his death they learned a profitable lesson, and afterwards
felt that if he could only be restored to them how obedient they would
be to his counsels. The influence and confidence that were denied to
him have since, to a great degree, been centered where they see it
belongs. Still the old leaven more or less reigns within us; our
traditions lead us to reflect upon death as we formerly did, and to
suppose that this life is only designed to prepare us to meet the last
moments of the dissolution of the body. This life is now the only life
to us; and if we do not appreciate it properly it is impossible to
prepare for a higher and more exalted life. We live today to prepare
for life tomorrow; and if we are prepared to live, death is divested
of its terrors, for we die only to live in another condition. In fact,
if we only appreciate this life, we will never die. Our bodies may
sleep in the grave for a short time—the earthly particles of this
tabernacle will return to their mother earth—but that ever-living
power within us will never sleep, and we shall receive our bodies
again.
The purpose of our life should be to build up the Zion of our God, to
gather the house of Israel, bring in the fulness of the Gentiles,
restore and bless the earth with our ability and make it as the Garden
of Eden, store up treasures of knowledge and wisdom in our own
understandings, purify our own hearts and prepare a people to meet the
Lord when he comes.
The world is wrong and we have to right it under the direction of
Heaven. For this purpose are we located upon the land of Zion, and the
land of Zion is North and South America—the land where our heavenly
Father made his appearance and planted the Garden of Eden. This land
is choice above all other lands upon the face of the earth. We occupy
these mountains as a safe retreat from the power of our enemies. When
we first came here we did not know that we could raise grain of any
kind. Probably some parts of South America are as good for raising
wheat as this is; and in no part of North America can they raise
better wheat than is raised here. God has blessed the soil for our
sakes, and we live and prosper contrary to the expectations of our
persecutors. Those who are aliens from the commonwealth of Israel may
try to live here, but without our aid they cannot raise a subsistence.
The country where Joseph Smith, Jun., found the plates was then as
good a country for grain and fruit as could be found upon the whole
land, but when the Latter-day Saints were obliged to leave that region
the ground began to cease yielding the accustomed amount, and the
yield of wheat decreased probably one half. The Lord blesses the land,
the air, and the water where the Saints are permitted to live.
The blessings of the Lord are great upon this people. They are
increasing in flocks and herds and are gathering around them property
in abundance on the right hand and on the left; let them be careful
that they do not place their affections upon the things of this world
and forget the Lord their God. The earthly means which we have been
enabled to gather around us is not ours, it is the Lord's, and he has
placed it in our hands for the building up of his kingdom and to extend our ability and resources for reaching after the poor in
other lands.
We are here personages of tabernacle, designed to be prepared to dwell
with the Gods; but we are far from that knowledge we might have
possessed had our forefathers enjoyed the Priesthood we have and had
we been brought up in it from our youth. Seeing that we possess the
holy Priesthood, we should introduce a code of traditions among our
children which they will not need to unlearn, as we have had to do. We
have received the spirit of life, light and intelligence that comes
from God out of heaven, and thus we have become his Saints; and we
have gathered to these mountains to learn how to live and what the
Lord designs to do with us. We came to these mountains because we had
no other place to go to. We had to leave our homes and possessions on
the fertile lands of Illinois to make our dwelling places in these
desert wilds, on barren, sterile plains, amid lofty, rugged mountains.
None dare come here to live until we came here, and we now find it to
be one of the best countries in the world for us.
The world of mankind have taken a course to alienate the feelings of
each other; they have destroyed the little fellowship and confidence
that were formerly placed in man towards his fellow man. I now allude,
in particular, to the Christian world. They have taken a course to
break up and rend to pieces every trait of friendship. With few
exceptions, none dare trust his neighbor, and we have to restore that
confidence which has been lost; we have to restore wholesome
government and administer wholesome laws to bind the feelings of the
people together. The Lord has instituted laws sufficient for the
government of his people and has given us rulers and judges that are
of our selves, and it is our business to accomplish this work of
reformation, beginning with ourselves.
I try to better my life, and I believe that my brethren do. I can see
a visible improvement in those with whom I am most intimately
acquainted. Though we are in the world, yet we should be as perfect as
mortals are required to be. We are not required in our sphere to be as
perfect as Gods and angels are in their spheres, yet man is the king
of kings and lord of lords in embryo. Could I in the flesh become as
perfect as God in the spirit, I could not stay on the earth with my
friends to hold close communion with them and speak with them face to
face as men speak to each other. Earth, home, family, and friends have
endearments which tie us here until we have accomplished our work in
this probation and become ripe for that great change which awaits us
all. I would like to stay on this earth in the flesh and fight the
Devils until the last one is subdued; and when the earth and its
fulness are wholly devoted to the Savior of mankind I will be
perfectly satisfied and willing to go into my grave or be changed in a
moment, in the twinkling of an eye, as the Lord will.
As weak and frail as we are, the Latter-day Saints are my delight;
their society is sweet to me; I crave no other; they are the only
people I wish to see and associate with. Unless in the line of my
duty, I do not wish ever to associate with any people who do not
believe in the Gospel of the Son of God. I have no desire to again
behold the face of an unbeliever; especially of those who have had the
privilege of receiving the Gospel and have rejected it. I hope I shall
live to see this people serve the Lord with an undivided heart and
affection all their days, devoting every day to God and his Work. They have assembled from different parts of the earth to these
valleys expressly to serve God and live their religion. The nations of
the earth, without exception, have wandered far from the fountain of
knowledge and the intelligence the Lord gives to his covenant people.
It seems as though it might take the age of an earth like this to
bring back the children of God to where they may know their Father and
understand that they are his offspring.
In consideration of these things, is it not strange that we should
lust after the gay, foolish, vain things of this world? That we should
be proud, haughty, arrogant, selfish, covetous and contentious? Should
not every person professing to be a Saint so live that the Spirit of
God will dwell within them like a burning fire? And when chastisement
is necessary, let it always be administered in the spirit of meekness,
whether to a wife, a child, a brother, or a sister, &c. God wishes
every one of his sons and daughters to purify their hearts to be
prepared to dwell with him. We should never permit ourselves, in the
beginning of a new day, to converse with a wife, a child, or a
neighbor, unless the Spirit of God is with us, retaining it for our
companion through the labors and business of the day until we retire
to rest at night. Jesus says, "But I say unto you, Love your enemies,
bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for
them which despitefully use you, and persecute you," &c. Because we are
commanded to love our enemies, shall we forsake the society of the
Saints and leave for California and other places to mingle with them,
and swear, curse, gamble and do all manner of iniquity with them? No;
this is not the way to love your enemies. I would not exhort you to
hate your enemies, but I do wish that you would let them alone
severely. If we do anything we will pray for them, instead of giving
them for naught our time, our energies, our gold and silver, our grain
and the good things the Lord has given us for our individual and
mutual benefit. Pray for them; but let them alone, unless they are
willing to hear the truth.
I wish this people to pay particular attention to the education of
their children. If we can do no more, we should give them the
facilities of a common education, that when our sons are sent into the
world as ministers of salvation and as representatives of the kingdom
of God in the mountains, they can mingle with the best society and
intelligibly and sensibly present the principles of truth to mankind,
for all truth is the offspring of heaven and is incorporated in the
religion which we have embraced. We are progressing in this branch of
mental improvement. Some of our brethren have been indomitable in
their perseverance to divert the minds of our youth from an excess of
frivolous and light amusements to the more useful and profitable
habits of study and learning. I might here mention Elder David O.
Calder, who has successfully been teaching, in Great Salt Lake City,
the "Tonic Sol Fa" method of singing. He teaches three distinct
classes, altogether numbering five hundred scholars, twice a week.
Every accomplishment, every polished grace, every useful attainment in
mathematics, music, and in all science and art belong to the Saints,
and they should avail themselves as expeditiously as possible of the
wealth of knowledge the sciences offer to every diligent and
persevering scholar.
I am very much opposed to the practice of sending our boys out on the
range to herd stock. In doing this they pass the greater
portion of their time from under the influence of their parents and
teachers, and are kept in ignorance of the rudiments of learning and
of the principles of moral rectitude, and are exposed to the
pestilential influences of evil, and to the temptations of those who
are older and more experienced in the nefarious practice of stealing
and running off horses and cattle. They learn to gamble, to steal, to
blaspheme the name of God, to lie, to chew and smoke tobacco, and
drink whiskey, while they are in the bush herding our stock. Some of
the sons of our citizens have come to a premature grave because they
would steal, and, if the truth were known, this fatal practice can, in
almost every case, be traced to have found its origin in them when
they were herd boys. They then learned to skillfully throw the lasso,
they became helps to older thieves for a trifling bribe, until finally
they by degrees became lost to all self-respect, refused to labor for
an honest livelihood, having imbibed the idea that they could live
easier by stealing, became a pest to society, and prematurely met a
felon's fate. We are the guardians of our children; their training and
education are committed to our care, and if we do not ourselves pursue
a course which will save them from the influence of evil, when we are
weighed in the balance we shall be found wanting, and the sin will be
laid at our doors.
Let good schools be established throughout all the settlements of the
Saints in Utah. Let good teachers, who are Latter-day Saints in
principle and at heart, be employed to educate our children. A good
school teacher is one of the most essential members in society; he
relieves parents, in part, of a great responsibility and labor; we
should, therefore, make the business of school teaching a permanent
institution, and the remuneration should be in amount and in kind
equal to the receipts of our best mechanics; it should also be
promptly and willingly paid, and school commissioners and trustees
should see to it that teachers are properly qualified and do earn
their pay. Could I have my wish, I would introduce into our system of
education every real improvement, for all the great discoveries and
appliances in the arts and sciences are expressly designed by the Lord
for the benefit of Zion in the last days, and would be for the benefit
of all mankind it they would cease to be wicked, and learn to
acknowledge the hand of God in all things.
The Saints of God should be self-sustaining. While they are laboring
to gain the mastery over themselves, to subdue every passion and
feeling of their nature to the law of Christ; while they are striving
to possess the Holy Ghost to guide them every moment of their lives,
they should not lose sight of their temporal deliverance from the
thralldom which has been thrown around them by the traditions of their
fathers and the false education they have received in the nations
where they were born and reared. In Utah territory they are well
located for variety of climate suitable to the production of materials
necessary to gratify every reasonable want. So far as we have learned
the resources of the country, we are satisfied that we need not depend
upon our neighbors abroad for any single necessity of life, for in the
elements around us exists every ingredient of food and raiment; we can
be fed with the daintiest luxuries, and can be clothed almost equal to
the lilies of the field. Cotton and fruits of tropical climes can be
grown to perfection and in abundance in the southern portions of Utah,
while cereal crops, flax, wool, silk, and a great variety of fruit can be produced in perfection in the northern. Our object is not
to find and possess great stores of the precious metals. Iron and coal
would be far more valuable to us than mines of silver and gold.
To increase clothing in the ratio of the growth of our community and
its wants makes it very necessary that we import and make machinery to
work up the raw material in great quantities. In the meantime let our
wives and daughters employ themselves industriously at their wheels at
home, that our wants may be partially supplied until more machinery
shall be made and set up in different districts of our territory.
Anciently garments were made of linen and of wool, and the Israelites
were forbidden to mix wool and linen together; and we read in the book
of Genesis that Pharaoh arrayed Joseph in "vestures of silk." It is of
more modern date that cotton has become so extensively used throughout
the world as an article of clothing and adorning the body. This
southern country is well adapted to the production of cotton; we
should raise it and manufacture it in sufficient quantities to meet
the wants of our increasing population.
This community has not yet concluded to entirely dispense with the use
of tobacco, and great quantities have been imported into our
territory. The silver and gold which we have paid out for this article
alone, since we first came into Utah, would have built several
extensive cotton and woolen factories, and filled them with
machinery. I know of no better climate and soil than are here for the
successful culture of tobacco. Instead of buying it in a foreign
market and importing it over a thousand miles, why not raise it in our
own country or do without it? True principles of domestic and
political economy would suggest the production at home of every
article of home consumption, for herein lies the basis of wealth and
independence for any people.
Importing sugar has been a great drain upon our floating currency. I
am satisfied that it is altogether unnecessary to purchase sugar in a
foreign market. The sorghum is a profitable crop, in Great Salt Lake
and the adjoining counties, for the manufacture of molasses; in this
section it can be profitably raised for the manufacture of sugar. I
have tasted samples of sugar produced from the sorghum raised in the
south of Utah, and a better quality of raw sugar I never saw. Let some
enterprising persons prosecute this branch of home production, and
thus effectually stop another outlet for our money. Sugar ranks high
among the staples of life, and should be produced in great abundance.
Tea is in great demand in Utah, and anything under that name sells
readily at an extravagant price. This article opens a wide drain for
the escape of much of our circulating medium. The tea of commerce is
extensively adulterated, not only by the Chinese, but also by numerous
others through whose hands it passes before it reaches the consumer.
Tea can be produced in this territory in sufficient quantities for
home consumption, and if we raise it ourselves we know that we have
the pure article. If we do not raise it, I would suggest that we do
without it.
Dyestuffs have opened another drain through which considerable of our
money has passed off. Wherever Indian corn will flourish madder can be
produced in great quantities, yet we have been paying out our money to
strangers for this article. Indigo can be successfully and profitably
raised in this region. An article in the Deseret News on the culture
of indigo, and manufacturing it for coloring, would be interesting,
espe cially to the people of our southern settlements.
Whatsoever administers to the sustenance, comfort and health of
mankind forms the basis of the commerce of the world. Gold and silver
in coin are only valuable as mediums in trade to facilitate exchange.
They can be made useful to us and add to our comfort when made into
cups, plates, &c., in our household economy.
Let groves of olive trees be planted, and vineyards of the most
approved varieties of grapes, that there may be wine and oil in the
land; and let sweet potatoes be raised in abundance, and all trees and
roots that bear fruit in the ground and above the ground that can be
used as food for man and beast, that plenty may flow in the land like
a river, and contentment be enthroned in every household, while
industry, frugality, and peace prevail everywhere.
I will offer a few more reflections upon cotton. The first cotton that
was raised in this country cost the company that made the experiment
$3.65 a pound. The year following it cost them $1.82 a pound. We
became satisfied that cotton could be raised here in sufficient
quantities to supply our wants and to pay the cultivator. Thousands of
the Saints have since then settled in this region, and are engaged in
developing its resources. Much has been said with regard to raising
and saving cotton. There is no use in raising wheat to let it be
destroyed, nor in raising cotton to let it be wasted. When we visited
the southern settlements last year the question was asked, "What can
we do with our cotton when we have raised it? We have no cards to card
it, no machinery to spin and weave it into cloth," and the belief
seemed to be gaining ground that there was no use or profit in raising
it. We told the brethren that if they would save their cotton it would
in a short time become useful to them. How much they saved or how much
they permitted to be wasted I know not. I supposed, by the appearance
of the cotton crop in the different settlements, that a great many
tons would be ready for market this spring, and be transported to our
northern settlements. While conversing upon the subject with a few of
the brethren in Great Salt Lake City, brother Wm. S. Godbe said he
would buy cotton of the brethren in the south if they would sell. He
had some goods passing through this section en route for Great Salt
Lake City, and he exchanged a portion of them for cotton. You remember
that last summer and fall there was no want of cotton in the eastern
country. In the month of January or February according to our
dispatches, raw cotton was sold in New York as high as $1.05 a pound.
We thought that was a high price for cotton. On the first of March raw
cotton was sold in the same city for $0.93 a pound. At this price we
thought it would be a safe investment to buy your cotton and send it
to the States, and expected you would have some fifty or a hundred
tons to throw into the market. Brother Godbe could only get some
fifteen thousand pounds. Since that time the price of cotton in the
east is reduced to $0.45 a pound, and that is a pretty good price.
Can we make anything by raising cotton and transporting it to the
States to be sold at forty-five cents a pound? I think we can. Let
some of the brethren try the experiment by raising thirty-five hundred
pounds of cotton this season, putting it into a light wagon, hitching
on three yoke of cattle, and hauling it to the States, and having it
there worked up on shares. If they would manufacture it on halves that
would give—making a rough estimate—seventeen hundred and fifty
pounds of yarn, which is worth a dollar and twenty-five cents a pound
in St. Louis: this would give a handsome profit to the producer. I
should think the factories in the east would willingly work up cotton
from Utah in this way, as cotton is scarce with them: and they might
find it to their advantage to work it up for a less share than
one-half. If you have it made into cloth, I would not be surprised if
the manufacturer should give you three and take one; but suppose we
say that you get one-half in cloth, that would give you some fifty-one
hundred yards, which, as it is now selling in Great Salt Lake City,
would be equal to about the same number of bushels of oats. By
importing one load of cotton to the east a man can make cloth enough
to clothe his family many years.
This system of exporting cotton may do very well, until we have
multiplied machinery sufficient to work up our cotton at home. The
little machinery we have working at Parowan is now making an improved
quality of yarn; and they are improving the machinery so fast that I
am encouraged, and I believe that we shall be successful in making
good cloth. Brother Hanks, who is now superintending that little
factory, left some yarn with me, and my family have begun to color and
weave it. The yarn is better than we can get from the east, taking one
bunch with another.
Brother Horace S. Eldredge expects this season to import machinery for
a small cotton factory, and to bring with him a man of experience to
set it up. This will create a market in this territory for our cotton.
I wish the brethren of the cotton country to import machinery and make
their cotton into cloth, and we will put up machinery in Great Salt
Lake City, buy our cotton from you, and haul it to the city. In the
meantime, let every appliance for home spinning and weaving be
improved upon; let hand cards be used, and spinning-wheels, and let
each family make the cloth they wear, for if they do not, they will
have to go without it. Is it not apparent to all since the
commencement of the war, that we must become self-sustaining? This we
have told the people for years.
Let us apply our hearts to our God and our religion, that we may soon
be prepared to be more fully organized as the children of God our
Father; that we may be qualified to go back to Jackson County, instead
of calling for five hundred teams to go to the Missouri River for the
poor. Were we to call for teams to go back to Jackson County, five
thousand would be on hand. This, however, cannot be until the people
are better organized in a temporal point of view, that all their
temporal actions may point to the building up of the kingdom of God,
when no man will say that ought he possesses is his own, but hold it
only for the interest and good of the whole community of the Saints.
With regard to the country southeast of us, let no man move there
until he gets word from me. The First Presidency will give you the
word to move when it is time. We want the brethren to enlarge their
borders here, and extend their settlements up the rivers Rio Virgin
and Santa Clara; and by-and-by they will reach the Severe, from which
point we have a good route through Sanpete to Great Salt Lake City.
Let me now say to my brethren, the Elders of Israel, it is always
proper to kindly and affectionately ask the people to perform what you
wish performed, instead of ordering them to do it. This principle is
always good for parents and teachers to observe.
Build good commodious dwelling houses, plant good gardens, and
surround yourselves with every comfort, and learn to beautify the
earth, and prepare it for the coming of the Son of Man. May God bless
you: Amen.