The subjects which have been touched upon by brother George A. Smith
ought to be of paramount importance to us as a people under our
present circumstances. The gospel of life and salvation, which we have
received, would be of comparatively little avail to us unless we can
prolong our lives and the lives of our children and posterity on the
earth. The greatest boon that God has given us, and that upon which
every other hinges, is life. With life we need health, the power to
carry out designs of our being upon the earth. Without these blessings
everyone must perceive that other blessings which we value very
highly would be of little or no account. God has moved upon His
servant Brigham in a very powerful manner of late to stir up the
peoples minds to the consideration of a great variety of subjects
connected with our temporal well-being; and the more these subjects
are reflected upon the more important do they appear, and the more we
hear about them, the more we are impressed with the necessity of
paying attention to them.
We have heard considerable of late, especially since twelve months
today, on the subject of the Word of Wisdom. Almost every elder who
has spoken from this stand has felt the necessity and importance of
calling the attention of the people to this subject. We are told, and
very plainly too, that hot drinks—tea, coffee, chocolate, cocoa and
all drinks of this kind are not good for man. We are also told that
alcoholic drinks are not good, and that tobacco when either smoked or
chewed is an evil. We are told that swine's flesh is not good, and
that we should dispense with it; and we are told that flesh of any
kind is not suitable to man in the summer time, and ought to be
eaten sparingly in the winter. The question arises in the minds of a
great many people, "What then are we to eat if we drop swine's flesh
and eat very little beef or mutton, and cannot drink tea or coffee,
why, dear me, we shall starve to death." In conversation with one of
the brethren the other day, he remarked "the diet of the poor is
principally bread and meat, and if they dispense with meat, they will
be reduced to very hard fare." I reasoned with him on the subject, and
before we had got through, I believe I convinced him that other
articles of food could be raised more cheaply and in greater variety
than the flesh of animals. But just at the present time we are
destitute, to some extent, of this needed variety; and, hence, the
very apparent necessity that we as a people should turn our attention
to the multiplication of varieties of food in our midst. We should not
confine ourselves to a few articles of diet and be content therewith;
but the people who have the opportunity of so doing should cultivate a
variety of food for the benefit of themselves and families.
It is a fact, which the experience of ages has confirmed, that man of
all creatures, requires the greatest variety of food. His stomach is
fitted to digest a greater variety of food than the stomach of any
other animal. God has created him lord of creation, and all that is
created around us is created for man's use and benefit. It would
therefore be very unwise for intelligent man, inasmuch as God has
given to him the vegetable creation, and has made him lord of the
animal creation and placed him as monarch of the finny tribes, to be
content to sit down and eat as our degraded Indians do.
It is to remedy this that we hear the teachings that are given at the
present time by the servants of God. Man requires food to build up his
body. He requires food that is adapted to the development of bone,
muscle and sinew; but this is not all. He requires food that is
suitable to feed his brain and to supply the waste sustained in
consequence of the use of his mental faculties. There is a necessity,
therefore, for us to take these things into consideration. My opinion
is that it will be most difficult for fathers of families to induce
their wives and children to refrain from the use of tea and coffee, if
they do not supply their tables with other articles in their place,
and unless food, suitable to the requirements of the human system, is
provided, our wives and children will be exposed to constant
temptation to transgress the counsels that are given in regard to our
diet. It is an exceedingly difficult thing for most people to break off
and discontinue cherished and long standing habits. A man who has
never drunk tea, coffee or spirit, or one who has never chewed or
smoked tobacco, is not at all affected by the counsel to discontinue
their use; but they who have been accustomed to them miss them when
they are deprived of them, and they want something to supply their
place. I speak, now, not from my own experience, but from what I have
heard others say on these things. There is a craving felt by parties
when they discontinue the use of these stimulants, and they need
variety. This variety must be supplied, and we must take steps to
supply it.
The culture of fish has been alluded to. Physiologists say that fish
contains more of the elements necessary to strengthen and build up the
brain than almost any other known substance. It would supply a great
want if we had it in abundance. But our supply of this article of food is very limited, and hence we are taught at the present time
to take measures for its increase. I see no reason why we should not
raise our own fish as we do our eggs or chickens. This Territory is
better adapted to the raising of fish, in consequence of our system of
irrigation, than any on the Continent we know anything of, and I
believe that the time is not far distant when our farmers will raise
fish for their own tables as they now raise beef, mutton, pork, fruit
or any other article of diet now in use. It can be done easily by
bestowing a little attention, thought and care on the subject.
We must also cultivate fruit more extensively than we now do; and we
must multiply every variety of diet, and if it is possible discover
new varieties. It is only a few hundred years since the potato was
discovered, and what a blessings it has proven to man. There are other
vegetables, probably, as good and as healthful as it is if we could
only bring them into use. But vegetables are not grown among us as
they should be; there is not that attention paid to them that, it
seems to me, they should receive. My theory is, that if we wish to
raise a healthy, noble looking, intellectual and perfect race of men
and women we must feed our children properly. We must prevent the use
by them of every article that is hurtful or noxious in its nature. We
must not permit them to drink liquor or hot drinks, or hot soups or to
use tobacco or other articles that are injurious. I do not believe
that you could ever make as great and noble race of men, if you feed
them on one article of food alone, as if you gave them a variety of
diet. We have illustrations of this in India, where the chief diet is
rice—of itself a very good article of food. We have other
illustrations in the case of other races. A people who, for instance,
are fed on potatoes alone do not have the stamina that they would have
if they had a greater variety of food. Such a people could, I believe,
be kept subjected more easily to thralldom than a nation which is
better fed. The millions of India are kept in subjection by as many
thousands of Europeans. There are doubtless many causes for this,
among the chief of which is their diet.
God has given to us a land that is bounteous; every variety of food
can be produced here in the greatest profusion. It only requires the
exercise of the powers with which we are endowed, with proper
industry, to bring forth food in the greatest abundance and supply
every want of man and beast. But whilst I speak in this strain about a
variety of food, I am opposed in my own feelings, to a great variety
of food at one meal. I believe that we enslave our women; we crush out
their lives by following the pernicious habits of our forefathers in
this respect. We sit down to table and, especially if we have friends,
our tables are covered with every delicacy and variety that we can
think of. I believe in variety at different meals, but not at one meal.
I do not believe in mixing up our food. This is hurtful. It destroys
the stomach by overtaxing the digestive powers; and in addition to
that it almost wears out the lives of our females by keeping them so
closely confined over cooking stoves. A variety of food is not
incompatible with simplicity of cooking; they can go hand in hand. We
can have a variety in diet, and yet have simplicity. We can have a
diet that will be easily prepared, and yet have it healthful. We can
have a diet that will be tasteful, nutritious and delightful to us,
and easy to digest; and yet not wear out the lives of our
mothers, wives, daughters and sisters in its preparation.
These are topics, my brethren and sisters, that should claim the
attention of the Latter-day Saints, because they pertain to our
everyday existence here on the earth; and if we follow the course
marked out, and seek to follow the counsels given, the result will be
that, here in these valleys, we shall raise a race of men who will be
the joy of the earth, whose complexions will be like the complexions
of angels—full of health, purity, innocence and vitality; men who will
live until the wheels of life will stand still in consequence of the
gradual decay of the body; not afflicted and brought to the grave
prematurely by disease engendered by improper feeding and other
unhealthy habits. We can do what no other people ever could do, at
least no other people living in the present generation. We are here a
new people, forming our habits and laying the foundation of a great
work, and of course are in a state of transition. We can therefore, if
we so please, accommodate ourselves to new habits—habits recommended
and taught to us by the servants of God. One of the great advantages
that would result from our having a more simple diet would be that we
should be less apt to overload our stomachs through the tempting
character of the food we eat. How often is it the case, after we have
eaten enough, somebody will say, "Here is something I would like you
to eat a little of; do taste it." Well, you taste, and before you are
aware of it, you have eaten more than you should; your stomach rebels,
and you feel that you have done a wrong, and if your stomachs are
weak, you have to pay the penalty of your imprudence.
We are expecting a heavy emigra tion this season. We hope to see them
come by thousands. How are these brethren and sisters to be employed?
Already we are under tribute. The great majority of the articles of
clothing that we wear is imported, and there is nothing more apparent,
to those who reflect on this subject, than that we as a people must
turn our attention to the creation of new industries. Our President
has led out in this direction. He has set an example to the
capitalists of this Territory, worthy of all imitation by introducing
machinery and urging upon the people the cultivation of certain
articles—such, for instance, as cotton and wool. It is a matter of
necessity for us to turn our attention to these branches. We must use
the facilities God has given us in the best possible manner for
increasing the means of employing those who come into our midst. It
should be our aim as individuals, as families and as a community to
dispense with everything that we cannot manufacture. I am told that
thousands of dollars a year are expended in supplying our tables with
mustard imported from the East. I have no means of knowing the truth
of this, but it seems incredible, that we, with the facilities we have
for its production, should depend upon importation for the supply of a
common article like mustard.
But this is only one article. When we sit down to our tables, and take
a survey, we find many articles that are thus imported. It may be, and
frequently is said by a certain class of persons that articles can be
imported much cheaper than they can be manufactured here. This is
urged by them as a reason for importing; but it is a delusion and a
snare, and the man who utters such a sentiment is an ignoramus. He
knows nothing about the true principles of building up a
people and kingdom. That which is manufactured here, though it cost
ten times the amount it would cost in the east, is the cheaper, for
that is the commencement of independence. The man or the family who
carries on home manufacture is laying the foundation for true and
lasting independence. They are helping to emancipate the people here
from the thralldom under which we have groaned, sweat, toiled and bled
for years. This Territory has been bled of its money and life by this
erroneous idea. We must stop this drain or we will sink into slavery
more abject than that felt by any other people on the continent. The
cause of God requires us to take a different course, and if we pursue
that marked out for us, means and facilities will increase on every
hand. We would like to see it fashionable in the Territory to dispense
with all articles that are imported. But now, when one family procures
an imported article, their neighbors feel that they are not in the
fashion unless they have the same. One lady and gentleman must have a
fashionable bonnet and hat, and their neighbors must have the same.
You can see the result—these fashions make us slaves. Our young ladies
are ashamed to go into company unless they can dress like their
companions; our young men feel the same. And it is not confined to one
class; we all partake of it to a certain extent. We must reform; there
is nothing more apparent than that. We must change our habits, and
make it fashionable to have articles of our own manufacture, and
dispense with all articles that are not so, unless they are absolutely
necessary for our comfort and well-being.
The Lord has multiplied around us every facility for making us a great
and mighty people. We have been able, in an astonishing manner, to
create comfortable homes; the land has been touched by the power of
God, and it yields to us of its strength in abundance. Nowhere on the
face of the earth can food be raised of a better quality than here.
Our cereals, fruit and vegetables are unsurpassed in the world. We can
also produce the finest of hemp, flax, wool and silk. All these
articles can be produced in abundance here, if we will bestow the
attention and care necessary for their culture.
When we reflect upon our position twenty years ago—then this Territory
was a desert and we were cut off by almost illimitable stretches of
barren waste from the rest of the world—we can realize to some extent
what God has done for us. Now we and our children and the stranger can
dwell here in peace, comfort and security. This should stimulate us to
press forward. There is no work too great, under the blessing of God,
for us to accomplish if we will only exercise the ability and power
that He has bestowed upon us. I look forward to the day, and I trust
it is not far distant, when we will have everything in our midst
necessary to make us a great and mighty people; when our young people
will be the best educated, trained to the best manners, dressed in the
best clothing, and appear to better advantage than any people on the
continent or in the world. I look forward to this; and it seems to me
that it is in the near future. Great and wonderful changes will be
effected in Zion. Our young people will be educated in true
principles; they will be healthy and beautiful, filled with the Holy
Spirit, and attractive to God and man. Our habitations will be
delightful to visit; our orchards and gardens and all our surroundings
will be the most beautiful that can be imagined. Is there anything to prevent it? Nothing but our own unfaithfulness. God, who
has blessed us as we are blessed today, is willing to bless us more
abundantly. Heaven is full of blessings to be poured out upon us, if
we will only prepare ourselves to receive them. The faith that the
Saints are now manifesting in sending for the poor will bring down the
blessings of God upon them, and will increase our faith to accomplish
those labors that we have yet to perform. Send for five thousand
people! Yes, and the Latter-day Saints can do it and perform their
other labors too. What effect does this have upon us? It fills us with
faith and confidence that there is no labor that can be assigned to us
that we cannot perform. And this is the training that God is giving
to us. It is upon the principle that gymnasts perform their feats of
almost super human strength—by continued practice. It is so with us.
God in the beginning gave us small works to accomplish. We performed
them, and as a consequence, had faith to attempt greater, and thus we
have gone on until today. And the work we are now doing is
preparatory to some greater work that He has yet in store for us to
accomplish.
May God bless us, my brethren and sisters and His wisdom be given unto
us. May His Holy Spirit rest mightily on all the Latter-day Saints
that their minds may be filled with it, that when the prophet and
servants of God speak unto us, our hearts may be prepared to receive
their counsels, treasure up our words and carry them out in our lives,
that when Jesus comes we may be prepared to meet Him, which may God
grant for Christ's sake. Amen.
- George Q. Cannon