In relation to matrimony—one of the texts before the
Conference—perhaps there is not so much a lack of disposition on the
part of the ladies as there is on the part of the gentlemen. The
latter sometimes feel themselves unworthy or unprepared, and in many
instances, perhaps, they are so. And if you ask why they are
unprepared to assume these responsibilities as husbands and heads of
families, it is mostly because they have neglected the word of the
Lord which they have heard from this stand. They have not given their
hearts to prayer sufficiently; they have not read the scriptures and
educated their spirits; they have not drunk in the spirit of the
Gospel. Every young man who has been taught by his parents to pray in
secret, to mingle with the family in devotion, to attend meeting and
receive the counsels of the servants of Lord, has grown in the spirit
of the Gospel, and this has given them a disposition which has
impelled them, as soon as they arrive at a suitable age, to move
forward in the duties and responsibilities that they have been called
upon, during this Conference, to assume. And they will meet with a like
response everywhere from the opposite sex who are living their
religion. If there is any lack of disposition on the part of the
ladies it is because they are not living their religion, for the
neglect of one duty leads to the neglect of another, and if our young
men and women fail to make themselves acquainted with the law of God
they are liable to be led away. Young men or women seeking the society
of the wicked are soon befogged and led to destruction. If the young
men of Israel are not alive to their duties, the young ladies may be
left to wander in the society of the ungodly. This happens many times
through the neglect of parents to impress on the minds of their
daughters the value of the kingdom of heaven and the value and
importance of salvation, exaltation and glory. Through the neglect of
parents in properly educating their children many of them are now,
perhaps, unable to discern between saint and sinner, and they would as
soon associate with the wicked and unbelieving as with the righteous.
It is a grievous sight to those who have labored twenty-five or
thirty years traveling over the world to preach the gospel and to
gather the people to see the rising generation without that culture
they so much need to develop within them a love of righteousness,
truth, and every holy principle. There is as great a field for
missionary labor in Utah, as in any part of the world. There is as
great a necessity for preaching here at home in our settlements, even
in some parts of Great Salt Lake City, as there is in any part of the
world. There are those here who neglect the opportunities offered them and they need to be felt after personally.
The subject of education is another of the texts given by our
President for the elders of Israel to preach upon. I have already
touched on it in a few words. I will say that our school teachers
should not only be men qualified to teach the various branches of
education, but they should be men possessing the spirit of the gospel,
and who, in every look and word, and in all their discipline and
intercourse with their pupils are influenced by that spirit. They
should govern and control, not by brute force, but by superior
intellect, sound judgment and the wisdom that the Gospel teaches that
they may win the hearts of their pupils, and so be able to impress
their minds with those principles they present before them.
I cannot speak too highly in favor of those good books that have been
recommended to our schools—the Bible, Book of Mormon, Book of Doctrine
and Covenants, and all other good books; but especially those that
contain the history of the dealings of God with his people from the
beginning of the world to the present time, as well as the teachings
of the prophets and apostles; for the foundation of all true education
is the wisdom and knowledge of God. In the absence of these, though we
obtain a knowledge of every art and science and acquire what is termed
by the world a first class education, we but obtain the froth and lack
the foundation on which to rear a proper education.
In relation to the missionaries south, I will say that I have heard
some say when referring to this subject, "What is the use of the
southern mission? What good can result from our going or sending
there?" I will say to all such querying, grumbling, faultfinding,
growling spirits, just wait a few years, and we will show you the good
of the southern mission. I do not know but time would fail me to bring
argument in favor of it, but I will say just wait and by the help of
God we will show you.
The subject of home production and becoming a self-sustaining people
is another text, and this will probably guide me right back to
"Dixie." I will ask the question, How are we going to become
self-sustaining unless we avail ourselves of the elements around us
and provide ourselves and families with what we need to eat, drink and
wear, and our implements of husbandry and other things of like nature?
We need ironware and machine shops. Our sons need teaching in the
various mechanical arts. Instead of raising them all to be farmers or
mule drivers, we want a goodly portion of machinists, painters,
artists, smiths, school teachers, and all other useful professions. We
shall also need lawyers. I do not mean dishonest contemptible
pettifoggers; but statesmen-lawyers in the true sense of the word who
understand the principles of justice and equity, and who make
themselves acquainted with those general principles of jurisprudence,
that wise statesmen have recognized throughout the civilized world,
that they may not only be competent judges in the land, but be able to
thwart the wicked efforts of this ungodly set of pettifoggers. The
southern country affords us facilities for raising many things that
cannot be successfully raised in the north. We have had one four years of
internecine war that has almost entirely prevented the raising of
cotton—perhaps the most essential of all productions for articles of
clothing. Will we as a people be blind to this fact, and now,
that the first woe is past, lull ourselves to sleep and forget that
there is another coming. Saint George, though the center of our
present operation in cotton raising is only on the borders of the
cotton district. From three hundred to five hundred acres is the most
that we can water from one dam and canal in that district of country,
while lower down, the same labor would encircle a field of six or
eight thousand acres of better land; but a little handful of people
cannot grapple with so great a labor. We have commenced some small
settlements on the Muddy. The settlers there were mostly
substitutes—Bro. Henry Miller calls them destitutes. Most of them got
discouraged and came back, the rest stick and hang like a dog to a
root—but they scarcely know what to do. The question is shall we allow
this little handful to be worn out, or shall we strengthen their
hands, and so keep moving and progressing, and hold what we have and
get more.
I like the idea of sending young men down there. It struck me as a
decided hit when I heard the names read out yesterday. We can do with
a number of young men who have small families or who are about to get
them, and I say God bless them, and speed them and their wives on
their way and by the help of God we will help them.