President Taylor referred in his remarks this morning to myself as
coming from the far South, and as traveling extensively through the
country; and I feel led in my feelings to make some remarks on the
south country, and also the north, and perhaps on some other portions of the country through which I have traveled.
Two years ago this summer I visited the greater portion of the
Territory of Arizona; that is, I, with others, passed through the
northwestern portions of the Territory, along near the eastern
boundaries, southward to the extreme southeastern portions of the
Territory, returning through Tucson; crossed the desert to the Gila,
then crossed Salt River and up through the Tonta Basin and over the
Nookhoon to the Little Colorado, and obtained a very general
understanding of the country and the condition and facilities of the
Territory; and also the western portions of New Mexico. Last summer I
also visited the south part of Colorado; I passed along the line of
railroads from Ogden to Cheyenne, thence passing south through
Colorado, on the east side of the mountains to Denver, and thence to
Pueblo, on the Arkansas; thence southeast to the Rio Grande Del Norte,
and down that stream to the New Mexico line. It is in contemplation
that myself and a few other brethren will visit, during the coming
fall, the southeastern counties of this Territory—those new counties,
Emery and San Juan, which have been recently organized, and the lower
valleys on Grand River, and from Grand River to the San Juan and its
tributaries, and the settlements which our people are forming upon
those streams, and probably we shall extend our travels further into
New Mexico, and visit our new settlements on the head waters of the
Little Colorado, and the tributaries of the Gila, along the borders of
New Mexico and Arizona.
The chief object of our visits is to learn the facilities of the
country, and to look after the flock of Christ, and also to hunt after
any that might have strayed away, and when found to try to gather them
to some fold, where we can place some shepherd over them who will
endeavor to feed them with the bread of life, and keep them from being
entirely lost, or torn by wolves. We shall visit the new settlements
as fast as practicable, and the older ones also, to labor among the
people according to our calling, to teach the people their duty, and
to organize them as shall be necessary, and to set in order all things
necessary for their development and growth, and to maintain the union
and fellowship of the Saints, and respect for the Gospel and the order
and government of His Church and Kingdom.
There seems to be a necessity for the Latter-day Saints to gather
together, and then to scatter a little, and then to gather a little,
and so on; in other words, something after the fashion of the bees:
they go out of the hive empty and return with their legs and wings
laden with honey and bee bread. Now, if all can do this, we shall
continue to thrive in the hive of Deseret; but if, on the other hand,
we scatter and waste and destroy the good we have, we had better
remain in the hive until we shall have learned our duty better.
There is a tendency with some to want to get away from the restraint
of the Priesthood and the earnest teachings and admonitions of the
Gospel and the wholesome government that is maintained among the
Saints, in order to enjoy greater liberties, not greater liberties to
serve the Lord, for there is nobody in anywise restricted. Some are
desirous of greater liberties than they think they enjoy among us in
occupying the country and getting possession of the land and
accumulating stock, and desire a greater range. Now, this
feeling ought not to take possession of us too much, because if we
indulge it too much we are liable to become darkened in our mind
measurably, and lose the spirit of the Gospel. But when we are called
and sent out to labor, either to preach the Gospel in foreign
countries, or to gather the poor from distant lands, or sent to locate
in any distant place with a view of helping to establish towns and
villages and settlements, and building up and organizing and helping
to maintain good order and wholesome government, and to extend the
spirit of the Gospel—when we are called upon to assist in establishing
these new settlements, it is right that we should respond; it is as
legitimate labor as any other branch of labor in building the Church
and Kingdom of God upon the earth. But we ought to guard against a
restless spirit of changing locality merely for its own sake, and
moving to and fro in search of something better. This restless feeling
is not good, nor will it tend as a rule to happiness and permanent
good and prosperity to those who possess it. We are not all alike.
Some become attached to whatever place they call their home; wherever
they labor and build up a home they gather around them the comforts of
life, and feel settled in that place, and attached to their
surroundings; while others seem hard to settle down and make any place
seem like home for any length of time. To me this spirit has always
appeared strange, so contrary to my nature and disposition.
Notwithstanding, as has been remarked, I travel among the people as
much as, or more than any of my brethren of the Apostles of late
years—perhaps for the last twenty years—still my home has been in St.
George. Having had the care of the churches in the southern part of
the Territory, to a great extent, I have been obliged to travel a
great deal; but this has been from a sense of duty, and not because I
have felt tired of home and wanted to move about from place to place.
And I may add, that in all my travels, the thought of seeking a new or
better place for myself or family has never entered my heart, no matter
how many good places I may find; it is for others and not myself; it
is to search out places where we can plant colonies of Latter-day
Saints, where the sons and daughters of the Saints who are growing up
in the older settlements, and who desire soon to spread out where they
can make homes and form new settlements, where we can plant nurseries
of Latter-day Saints. But it is not, as I said, to seek locations for
myself or for my own family, only such portions of them as ought to go
out and begin to operate for themselves, and make themselves homes. I
am not one of that shifting sort of men. The lot that was assigned to
me in Salt Lake City at the time the pioneers entered Salt Lake
Valley, I retained until I was sent to St. George, and then I
transferred it back to Pres. Young from whom I received it. I have
never felt to change since I located in St. George; and if I had been
located upon a barren rock, I would have packed soil enough to make a
beautiful home of it. And, by the way, I believe the home I have made
has cost me as much labor as if I had hauled the earth on to it. I
have had to manufacture a great deal of what is now there; and so I
may say it has been so with the greater part of our town and "Dixie"
County. Naturally to look at it, it was a very forbidding country when
we first settled there. We were not allured to that region by
the green fields, the fine extensive meadows such as you have here.
The grass which we see upon the surrounding hills, inviting the flocks
and herds to eat, and the flowing crystal streams of pure water which
make music, sweet and enchanting to the ear, as they wend their way
through your valleys to the lake beyond, is in marked contrast to the
natural facilities of our southern home. Why, if I were to tell you
half the truth, the most of you would never want to go south to live;
but we are not in the habit of picturing the unpleasant features of
the country, but rather of speaking the best we can about it, feeling
that we have need to do it. And there are some who have had faith
enough and stamina enough in them to speak well of the country, and
nothing short of faith and Mormon grit could do it; while we were
doing this we did not forget to ask the blessing of God upon the land,
and I need hardly say that it has been through His blessing that we
have been prospered and enabled to make beautiful homes out of the
once forbidding, sterile wastes.
We were sent there to raise cotton when our nation was thrown into
anarchy through a civil war, and when it had become a question with
all Israel, "Shirts or no shirts?" It was shirts we were after; we
went to make cotton farms, and it was anything else but an inviting
cotton region. As I have said, no extensive fields made the eye glad,
but everything looked as though the whole country had been thrown
together in an irregular broken manner. The water had to be raised
from the low channels in which it flowed, in quicksand bottoms by
means of long and expensive canals, in order to get it upon the bench
lands. But now through the blessing of the Lord, and hard knocks, we
have a very fine city, inhabited by a pretty good people. I will say,
however, that the country is not so very much changed from what it was
when we went there, excepting in a few places where the people have
made inviting homes; but the homes which have been made are the more
precious because of the labor it has cost to make them; and they are
prized more highly on that account than they otherwise would be. You
may ask me, if I am beating up for volunteers for that country? No,
not at all; and yet the southern people would welcome most heartily
any of the brethren and sisters from Bear Lake or any other section of
the country who may feel desirous of locating among us, to share with
us the rocks and sands and the cactus and lizards. I say, we shall
welcome them most heartily; and then while they would have to take
their share, and maybe more, of this natural product of our southern
climate, they would also share with those who labor for their kindred
and friends and their own exaltation, in the Temple which our Father
has graciously and in His indescribable providence located among us,
and permitted us to build, with the help of the Saints generally
throughout the Territory. We feel that there is a wise providence
overruling this. It is in such a country that the wicked have no
desire for what they see around. They have passed through it, and as a
general thing are satisfied not to come back again, there being
nothing to induce them to do so. And this being the case St. George is
a peaceful home of the Saints, and as a rule a very good spirit
prevails there. Sometimes a little too much of the spirit of wine
because the grape is a staple article among us, and foolish persons some times indulge too freely in the wine which is manufactured
from that fruit. And it is one of the labors that we have upon us, to
teach the people how to use the things which God gives us in a proper
way and not abuse them, to control their appetites, and not allow wine
to bring evil into the community. And we feel in this labor that we
have succeeded to a goodly degree, there being much less of this kind
of indulgence practiced among the people now than there has been since
we settled and improved the country.
Now, touching the climate and soil and general facilities of the
country through which I have traveled in Arizona, and along the
borders of New Mexico, when compared with this region of country, it
is a desert; that is, the facilities for agricultural purposes are far
less than in Utah, and you know pretty well what they are in Utah. It
is more of a grazing region. There is a lack of mountain streams, for
the hills are generally low; they do not tower up in the clouds, and
are not capped with snow as they are in this northern country. The
main range of the Rocky Mountains falls off about the time you reach
the New Mexican line, and the hills then become lower, and the streams
are not so numerous. The facilities most attractive to my mind are
along the continental divide, in the eastern portion of Arizona and
the western portion of New Mexico. The northeastern portion of Arizona
is watered by the Little Colorado and its tributaries, and the farming
region is on the head waters of this stream, but it is not extensive;
there are, however, facilities for small settlements, and extensive
ranges for sheep and cattle. The garden of Arizona, so far as
agricultural facilities are concerned, is on Salt River, after it
emerges from the mountains and where our people are locating, at Mesa
City and Jonesville. The country along Salt River is being occupied by
people from various parts of the world, who are not of us. These two
settlements of our people are doing very well, so I understand and
there are facilities for many more in the same region. The climate is
warm; the summer is long, scarcely any winter at all, and scarcely any
frosts. But in that immediate vicinity there is not range for stock;
that is, there is not very extensive growth of grass. The range is
mostly in the hills, in the northeastern and southeastern parts of the
Territory, on the headwaters of the Gila and its tributaries, the San
Pedro and Black and White rivers; and also are many facilities for
small agricultural settlements. The climate generally is milder than
this, and consequently more pleasant. The eastern and northern
portions are temperate, neither very hot nor very cold. In the
southern portion, as I have said, the summer is long and warm; it is
decidedly a hot and a dry country.
The country I visited last summer, further to the east and northeast,
the upper valleys, or valleys on the Rio Grand del Norte, which are in
Southern Colorado, and run into New Mexico, is a fine agricultural and
grazing country. Fine mountain streams come out of the foothills to
the broad valleys and open plains. This region affords facilities for
flourishing settlements, as well as for flocks and herds; and the
climate is as cool as that of Bear Lake and the other elevated valleys
of Utah, and if not so severe winters as in Cache and Bear Lake
valleys, at least something approaching them. There are facilities for
many fine, flourishing settlements in that region of country;
and we are establishing some colonies in that, consisting mostly of
emigrants from the Southern States, with a few from Utah, to counsel
and instruct them in the art of irrigating the soil and establishing
settlements after the order of Zion. We find ourselves under the
necessity of sending a few more to that region, and a few others to
different localities, to assist in establishing and maintaining our
new settlements.
But now, I return to this lovely valley of Bear Lake—lovely indeed it
has seemed to me whenever I have visited it; but it must be remembered
that I have never visited it only when it was covered with green.
Still, I understand that the country is covered for many months in the
year with the white mantle, and for this reason many of you complain
of the long winters. But if it were not for the hard, cold winters and
the melted snows, you would not have these beautiful meadows and green
hills; you certainly have to thank the snows for this blessing. But I
have no doubt you will say, that you could do with a little less snow
and a little shorter winters and take a little less grain and meadow.
Well, I think I would do so too. If I had the choosing of climates, I
should not choose that in which I should have to cut hay three months
in the summer, and be six or eight months feeding it out in the
winter. I think with you I could get along with a little less snow,
if I had to sacrifice a little of the rich meadow, and at the same
time, correspondingly less mosquitoes and flies. And talking about
flies, you cannot begin to show flies like we can in St. George; and
they are not this common horse fly, they are the pesky house fly that
is ever ready to contend with you for your meal.
Now, if I lived in Bear Lake valley, I believe I should look upon it
as a very choice place to make my home; and if once I settled down, I
should not think of moving away, or speaking of it as a very bad
country to live in. I have made it a rule never to forsake old friends
in order to take up with new ones; or to lay aside an old wife for the
sake of getting a new one. The same rule would apply to my living in
this northern country; once I settled down I should not think of
moving away unless duty called me, and in that case of course I should
drop everything and go without a whimper. I see on this stand an old
friend in Brother John Nebeker, who moved down to our "Dixie" country,
and after living there some time, returned to Bear Lake. I do not know
how he feels about it, whether or not he is ready to make his home
with us again in St. George. [Bro. Nebeker: Not yet, Bro. Snow.
Laughter.] I would say to you who are doing well, let well enough
alone, go on and stick to what you have got. I think I can see a
chance to make some beautiful places where you have not more than half
done it. It is now some fourteen years since I was here; some of you
will remember it was when President Young came here, accompanied by
General Chetlain and others. I took in the situation at that time; I
mapped it out in my mind, and I have retained a pretty good
understanding of the region of country. It may not become me to
suggest to you who have had fifteen or twenty years' experience here,
but it strikes me that your faith has not been fully developed; I am
inclined to think that you can do something besides raising calves,
hay, wheat, oats and potatoes, and making butter and cheese—and here let me not forget to give you the credit of filling up
the country with young men and women, which is a noticeable feature of
the growth and wealth of the people. You have a big country here; so
much, in fact, that you hardly know what to do with it. You try to
enrich it all, and you skim it over, but you may depend that you have
facilities here for a much heavier population than you have got; and
upon the whole it is a healthy region. There may be some diseases
peculiar to this cold region, and some feel, and that truly, that a
warmer climate might tend to lengthen out their days, as well as add
to their bodily comfort. I believe there is no objection on the part
of anybody that such persons should try a warmer climate as may feel
inclined to do it. There is no disposition to chain or fasten anybody
to this country who may feel that they crave, and their health and
comfort require a warmer climate. If there be such, I can assure them
I have traveled through many other regions where there are
facilities for making nice, comfortable, happy homes, and where the
climate is milder; in fact, a person may suit himself with almost any
climate he may choose between here and the Mexican line—in Southern
Utah, Arizona and New Mexico. But as I remarked in the beginning, we
ought to study contentment, and not indulge in a restless spirit, for
change for its own sake, without having a good and sufficient reason,
or without having some duty assigned to us where we may labor with
better advantage to accomplish greater good in the building up of
Zion, or in extending our borders and establishing and maintaining
righteousness in the earth; and wherever our lot is cast, whether it
be in Cache Valley, or Bear Lake Valley, whether in a warm or a cold
climate, or whether in a hot climate, we should as much as possible
try to content ourselves and adapt ourselves to the surrounding
circumstances, always doing the most good we can.
Respecting the relative conveniences of St. George, for instance, and
the surroundings of that country, as compared with this northern
country, I have this to say, and I speak sincerely as I view it, and
verily believe it, that in our efforts to subdue the country, and
having to contend with difficulties and hardships, in order to plant
our settlements there, making our roads and getting building material,
and controlling the waters and the quicksands, and in having to meet
and overcome obstacles which are peculiar to that country, we have
worn out a great many good people, a great many good men have
succumbed under the hardships we have had to endure; and I was
counting up the number of families in the little city of St. George,
whose husband and father had passed away under these circumstances,
and I found that there were no less than between thirty and forty
widows there, besides quite a number who have left and returned North,
having buried their husbands down there. This is not the result of any
contagion, or violent sickness, or any special disease, for we have
had none; we have no prevailing disease, and it is not naturally an
unhealthy country by any means. There is here and there a locality
where they, having neglected common sanitary rules, have perhaps
suffered from chills and fever, or ague. Diseases of this kind, which
are incident to hot climates, have been experienced where they have allowed water to stand in pools. In St. George, however we have not
been troubled with it. Washington and Santa Clara have, but it has
arisen from defective sanitary measures. Naturally, I think our
Southern country is quite as healthy as the general average of places
in Utah. And when I speak of the number of men who have worn
themselves out in helping to subdue the barrenness of the land, I
might have said they have been mostly hale, hearty men, who went there
in their prime, that wore themselves out with constant work in making
homes for themselves and families. They have fallen a prey to exposure
and labor both summer and winter, and to poor fare. But after saying
this, I am happy to say also, that I think we have passed the crisis
in this respect. We have learned wisdom by the things we have
suffered: the comforts of life are being increased around us, and we
are making up our minds now not to kill ourselves trying to live as
fast as we have done in times past.
Now, I have said on different occasions, which it is as well for the
youth of our large towns, our railroad towns and cities, where
emigrants are dropped by the shipload, and where there is a redundancy
of labor and surplus workmen, who are seeking for something to do and
cannot find it, and are idling away their time and are waiting for
something to turn up, and waiting for some easy chair, some clerkship,
some place to make a living without working much—and I may say this
class of people are abounding among us, and they receive an
unfavorable education, and are contracting habits which are not good;
I have said, and do say, that it is better for such to enter into
swarms and form material for new colonies, to help to establish new
places, and make new roads to the timber, get out farms, build mills,
and subdue the elements, as their fathers did when they first settled
this country. But in saying this to the surplus population of our
older towns and railroad centers, we do not wish to apply it to these
regions, where you have an abundance of room, needing, in fact, a much
heavier population. I am persuaded that the people of this valley will
be healthier, happier, and will enjoy more facilities and comforts
when their population is treble to what it is today. Three times the
population you now have can handle the facilities which you do much
easier than the present population can handle them, and to better
advantage and to better profit to all. And you will have better roads,
and better farms, and better houses, and better mills, and better
schools, your cities will be much better built up and improved, and
your property more valuable, and everything will conduce to your
comfort and growth, than under existing circumstances.
I was favorably struck with Garden City as I passed through it; I was
favorably impressed with St. Charles as I passed through it. These are
beautiful locations. I was particularly pleased with one thing I saw
in Garden City, which was the long canal from Swan Creek. In this cold
climate, where the seasons are short, it is important in irrigating,
that the water should run slow and as long as possible before it is
put on to the land, in order that it might get warmed, because it has
a much more salutary effect on young crops than where it is cold and
chilly direct from the canyon; and I am persuaded that a good deal of
your small grain is injured in this way. Brother Thatcher took
it upon himself to speak a little upon this practical question, and
you will pardon me for doing the same. Though you farmers may think
you know more than I do about it, you will all agree with me in this,
that any suggestion I may make will not harm you, as you can do as you
please about adopting it. But I know the difference between the effect
of cold and warm water in agriculture in making things to grow; when
you wish to rush the growth of your plants or crops in warm weather,
the one is far preferable to the other. And if you wish to raise
fruits and plants which are delicate and tender, of course you can get
on to your warm, gravelly soil, and there put on your manure; and if
you can use warm water, and have the benefit of the canyon breezes to
prevent frost, you can raise a great deal of fruit. You now raise a
great deal of small fruit, such as strawberries, raspberries, currants
and gooseberries; and what is there to hinder you raising plums and
many varieties of choice apples, such as we cannot grow in St. George?
That country is really too hot for growing apples. I raise apples, but
they are not as good as the same variety raised in Salt Lake City. I
am persuaded that this Northern region could beat us on apples, but we
could beat you on pears and peaches, apricots and some other fruits. I
should advise you to keep trying, and if your trees kill down once in
a while, keep replacing them, and make the land as warm as possible,
and put on the water warm, but not when the plants can stand it
without; and then, do not leave it on late in the fall, thus keeping
the plant growing late in the season, for when this is done the first
severe frost that comes generally takes them off. I will leave this
subject to Brother John Nebeker, who is abundantly able to continue
it, and who, by doing so, might greatly benefit the people of this
Northern country.
I would like to offer a little advice to your board of trade. You have
one I suppose? (A voice: Yes, sir) Of course, in giving you my
reflections in this as in other matters you are at liberty to please
yourself about accepting it. You are here in a comparatively solid
position, you can have things about your own way, that is, if you
choose to be united. You are not mixed up as they are in Salt Lake
City and in Ogden, you can control the trade of this whole region of
country, not only in marketing your own produce but in the buying of
your merchandise, wagons, carriages, machinery, and everything you
have to import which you could get from first hands and at first cost
and thereby save to yourselves the profits now made by middlemen. And
in marketing your produce you can do likewise, but then you would have
to control the business among yourselves, and give it your hearty
support, and be resolved that you will operate together. Now, you are
enriching men every year by your trade, and you are doing it by being
divided, every man being for himself undertaking to market his own
produce and to buy his own plows, rakes, mowers and reapers, and
hauling his own produce to market and then doing the largest part of
his trading with stores in which he is not interested, and his own
cooperative store doing but a small languishing business. The great
bulk of the business of this Territory is handled by outsiders at a
distance from your settlements both as to importations and as to
marketing your produce. You haul to market your butter and
eggs, and the merchants dictate to you the price which they will pay,
and you cannot help yourselves. In this way they grow rich on the
profits, while you remain poor comparatively speaking, that is, you do
not enjoy the benefits of your own labor and produce to the extent you
might, if you were properly united. Your board of trade and
cooperative stores throughout the county ought to work together and
enter upon a system to handle your own produce in bulk; and then in
buying wagons and agricultural machinery, etc.; instead of every man
buying a single wagon or farming implement, this organization would
deal direct with the manufacturers by the carload, at manufacturers'
prices, having them shipped to Evanston, the nearest point, instead of
Salt Lake. I think the same also in relation to your stock. I
understand you were making some efforts in this direction—the
handling of your stock and marketing it. Every step you take in this
direction will tend to consolidate the interests of the people and
increase your common comforts, and will at the same time have the
tendency to keep at arms length Jews and Gentiles, who may be hunting
chances to pick up what little money you have to spare, or to make
what money they can out of you. The more you concentrate your business
relations and the greater degree of confidence you beget one for
another, thereby having and increasing a desire to build each other
up, the less you will be troubled with sharpers who thrust themselves
into your towns and neighborhoods wherever there is evidence of the
existence of money. I feel that this is our duty as a people, to adopt
this cooperative manner of doing our business, in order to protect
ourselves against the spirit of greed, and our children to a great
degree from the contaminating influences that Gentiles, as a general
thing, carry with them wherever they have located among our people. We
have been taught for years to sustain Zion's Cooperative Mercantile
Institution: and our local merchants should buy of them. But in all
probability, if you were combined in this valley in your business
relations, instead of every little store in every settlement in this
valley being obliged to send to Salt Lake or Ogden for supplies of
merchandise, it would be a matter of necessity to have a center here
such as they have in Ogden and Logan, only on a smaller scale, in
which you might do your wholesale business direct, and so arrange it
that the parent co-op will ship to you most of the articles you need
direct, which you need only go to the city to "sort up," instead of
going for all of your supplies. I think this would naturally come to
be the result of a thorough union and combination of labor and
interests in this valley; and I think too, that your isolated position
eminently fits you for building up such home trade.
I am pleased to learn of the goodly degree of fellowship which
prevails in your settlements, and that there are but little apostasy
and opposing influences to contend with. You have been highly favored
of the Lord in that which you have enjoyed, from the early settlement
of this valley, the presence and counsels and labors of President
Charles C. Rich, whom I regard as one of the wisest and most prudent
counselors in Israel, a father indeed in the midst of his people; and
the blessing of God has attended his ministrations among you, as is
evidenced in the condition of the people generally.
My heart feels to bless the people, and to invoke the blessing
of the Lord upon the land and upon the elements, that they may be made
to conduce to your happiness and comfort; and that while you reap the
fruits of the Father's mercy and goodness, your hearts may be ever
found to acknowledge Him as our benefactor and friend, and to
appreciate His blessings. I trust that President Taylor and the
brethren who are with you may be able to impart such words of counsel
and consolation as your circumstances require; and that soon you will
have in your midst again President Budge—that is, if we succeed in
getting our mind upon the right man to take his place. He has been
doing an excellent work in Europe, and we do not want to release him
until we can replace him with a suitable man.
Your local Priesthood in your several wards and settlements, I doubt
not, are earnestly seeking to learn their duty and to qualify
themselves to magnify their callings; and if the people give them their
faith and prayers and confidence and support, you will steadily
advance in good works, in faith and wisdom; and I trust you will
improve also in your educational interests. I suspect what is common
in our new settlements, that you may seem behind in this respect, or
at least you are not as far advanced in the condition of your schools
as is desirable; and for the reason that there are more or less of the
people who are so much absorbed in the cares of life, in making
themselves homes, in order to be able to withstand the rigors of the
climate, that they cannot bestow the attention and care to the
training of their children which they ought to. I suppose they are
willing to build schoolhouses, however, because they serve a triple
purpose; first, for dancing; second, for school purposes; and third,
for religious worship. Perhaps I ought to reverse it, but you can if
you choose. People are willing to help to build schoolhouses for
triple purposes. And when they have done this, they think that the
Trustees should find teachers for them to teach their children who are
not large enough to work; and these are often sent to school to be
kept out of the way.
Now brethren and sisters, I do not mean, in making these remarks, to
charge any of you harshly; and it may be I do not give you the credit
which you are entitled to. I only speak what I find to be quite common
in our new settlements throughout the country where I travel, and I
feel the necessity of appealing to the good sense of the fathers and
mothers; and to say to the Bishops and the Elders and Trustees
particularly—and here let me say, that our Trustees should be chosen
from our most energetic men—men who will fill the office, who will
give it their most earnest consideration, who will seek to make
everything comfortable around the schoolroom, men who will take an
interest in the welfare of the children, and who will look to the
wants and encouragement of the teachers, and who will also see that
good and suitable books are provided, especially the Bible and Book of
Mormon. Now, do not be afraid to see the good books which God has
given unto us in the hands of your school children; do not be afraid
of the teacher who will open school by prayer, and who will encourage
faith in God, and morality, and everything that makes people good
citizens. And I beseech the people generally to encourage the combined
efforts of the County Superintendent and the Trustees and
schoolteachers in establishing good schools in your midst;
and that you will also sustain all the other good institutions, such
as the Relief Society, the Mutual Improvement Associations, and your
Sabbath Schools, and also those who act as Superintendents and
Teachers in the Sabbath School. And do not, my brethren and sisters,
consider it a little calling to act as a Sunday School Teacher; for
when faithfully acting in this capacity you are sowing seeds in the
minds of the youth which must sooner or later produce the natural
fruit; and thus prepare men and women to carry on the work which their
fathers have begun, and in which some of them have worn themselves
out.
That God may bless the people of these valleys, and that their
children may grow up to perpetuate their names with honor to
themselves and glory to God, is my earnest prayer, in the name of
Jesus. Amen.