There are, at the present time, in Great Britain ten or twelve
thousand Saints, some of whom have been members of the Church for
twenty or twenty-five years. They have contributed of their scanty
means to feed the Elders and to help to emigrate their brethren and
sisters, and in many cases many of them have gone without their meals
and beds to make the Elders comfortable, and now they are without the
means to gather with the Saints here in the mountains.
There are a great many brethren, probably some are here today, who,
in years past, have been assisted to this country by the Perpetual
Emigration Fund, to which fund there is now due from individuals
assisted about nine hundred thousand dollars. I wish to call the
attention of this class of individuals to the condition of the poor
Saints abroad. There are many Saints here who, before gathering home,
have said to their brethren and sisters in the old world—"When we get
to Zion, if God blesses us, we will remember you and do the best we
can to aid you to emigrate." A great many persons have failed to keep
their promise, and their friends back feel that they are forgotten and
neglected. In many instances, no doubt, Elders while on missions have
promised to assist those who have treated them with kindness and
divided their mor sel with them. I want to bring these things to the
consideration of all our brethren. They should remember that our
brethren and sisters in the old countries labor under the disadvantage
of the prejudice against Mormonism. Employers and business men, who
are under the influence of the priests of the day, are unwilling to
extend the same kindness and facilities for labor to the Latter-day
Saints that they do to other persons. Besides these disadvantages,
many of our brethren there have to work for a shilling, eighteen
pence, or two shillings a day, as the case may be, and out of this
have to pay house rent, buy fuel, clothing, and every necessary of
life for their families, and in some cases, perhaps, they have a sick
father or mother to sustain out of their mere pittance, which is
barely enough to keep life in their bodies. Our brethren, who have had
the benefit of the emigration fund, should remember that their first
duty, to God and themselves, is to liquidate these liabilities with
the very first means they acquire after their arrival here; and that
if they go on accumulating cattle, horses, houses, and lands, and
these debts remain unpaid, they are robbing the poor and the needy.
This is a matter about which the brethren should not feel neglectful
or careless. Those who will come forward and honorably discharge their
liabilities to the Perpetual Emigration Fund will be blessed
in their substance and in their efforts. And you must remember that
while you are doing this you are acquiring experience and gaining
information that will make you more successful hereafter.
My desire is that, when the Elders go from this Conference, that they
should light a fire in the breast of every person who has liabilities
of this kind. Let every man in Israel, whom God has blessed, be alive
and awake to this matter, and respond to the call the President has
made for contributions to the Perpetual Emigration Fund.
I understand that over there, there are hundreds of sisters who are
determined to remain single until they reach Zion, and there are men
in our midst, and some of them in debt to the Perpetual Emigration
Fund, who are able to send for a dozen or two of these sisters; they
ought to bring them to this country and place them where they can
marry according to their wishes. May the blessings of heaven be upon
us that we may be able to gather all our brethren and sisters from the
old world.
I appeal to the sons and daughters of Zion to be awake to this
subject. Amen.
- George A. Smith