Concerning the Saints in these Valleys, and those who are abroad, I
have a few remarks to make. The promises referred to by the brethren
who have addressed you this morning are very reasonable—they are very
judicious; they have promised to remember the poor in their prayers,
and before their brethren in Zion. I have made the Saints some
promises, and I am not aware that I have made any promises to them
that I have not fulfilled, at least so far as I was personally
concerned. I have promised myself that I would plead for the poor; I
have done it—I have continued to do it—and I expect to continue to
plead for the poor Saints. I have preached in the United States, in
the British Provinces, and in the Island of Great Britain, and have
invariably promised the Saints one blessing, viz., hard labor, hard
fare, and plenty of persecution, if they would only live their
religion, and I believe they are generally well satisfied that this
promise has been amply fulfilled. If the Saints cannot endure, and
endure to the end, they have no reason to expect eternal salvation
While brother Brown was speaking of the Saints in England, that they
would probably be good Saints if they were nursed, nourished, and
cherished, I had certain reflections. We gather the Saints, and gather
those who are poor; what for? To bring to pass righteousness, but many
of them turn and go to the devil. I will relate. Before we arrived in
Winter Quarters we held obligations and accounts, against the poor
Saints we had emigrated to America, to the amount of about thirty-five
thousand dollars, and that too out of our own individual pockets—it
was not Church money. But while we were in Winter Quarters, I do not
think there could have been ten persons counted, old and young, who
were brought from Eng land by our liberality. Is this fact
encouraging or discouraging? The honest poor are still suffering, I
mean the Lord's poor. But you may take the devil's poor and the poor
devils, and they will plead a thousand times harder to be brought out
of England, to have their feet placed upon American soil, than the
Lord's poor, or the honest poor. The devil's poor and the poor devils
will manage to get here, while very many of the Lord's poor stay there
and suffer, and continue to suffer until they lay down their bodies
and sleep in the tomb. Thousands and thousands of them will do this,
while that portion who call so loudly for help are those who will come
here and then go to the devil.
If there could be any rule by which the honest poor in England could
be designated from the dishonest, if the wealthy of that nation could
draw the line between them, allow me to tell you that but few of the
honest inhabitants of that country would suffer as they now do for
want of the common necessaries of life.
What is the cause of so much suffering there? Why the poor devils get
license for begging, and beg from house to house, making a speculation
of it; they beg money, bread, and clothing, and then speculate upon
it, and thus abuse their friends and their gifts.
There are thousands of houses in England kept by beggars, as fine
houses as there are in that country, and their proprietors can ride in
their coach and four: that there are such characters is well known
among the people. Some of the large boarding houses in England are
kept by them, and they hire men, women, and children to beg; they are
licensed beggars. The women borrow their neighbor's children and carry
them out to deceive the industrious and wealthy population, and thus
they excite the sympathies of, and beg from, every passenger going
into or coming out of a conveyance, and perhaps go to their homes
twice or three times a day loaded down with money. This is well known
by the wealthy, but they cannot draw the line of distinction between
them and the honest poor, hence they are obliged to suffer the
consequences.
Were it not for this the worthy poor would be fed and clothed in
England. If the wealthy of that nation could know the truth they would
feed the hungry and clothe the naked, honest, just, and virtuous
portions of the community. But they do not know them, and if they give
a loaf of bread or a sixpence, they expect it is given to a poor
devil; this makes them very careful how they give.
Has not a similar dishonesty the same effect upon us? It has, and that
is what I wish to talk about. For example, a man in England,
professing to be a Latter-day Saint, will go to his brother in the
Church and promise, in the most sacred manner, and call God and angels
to witness, and hope he may die, and not live to get to America, if he
is not as prompt to his word as an angel, to pay him back at such a
time, if he will lend him ten sovereigns to help him away to America;
another will get five sovereigns in the same way; another will beg to
be allowed to take so much out of a contribution box, promising to
refund it, and saying, "When I get to the Saints, where there is
liberty, and get work and good wages, I will remember you, my
brethren, and send for you;" and when they get here they forget it
all. This is the way with the devil's poor; the Lord's poor do not
forget their covenants, while the devil's poor pay no regard to their
promises. Are you afraid the devil's poor will apostatize? I am not
afraid of it, though sooner or later they will. They may hang on to
the Church for five, ten, or twenty years, but by and by, when
they cannot endure what the Lord will bring upon them, they will
falter and fall, and go by the board.
Now this is discouraging to every man who has been punctual to his
word, and done just as he said he would. You will find men in England,
who have saved, out of their hard earnings, at ten shillings per week,
five pounds, or ten pounds, handing it out as freely to their brethren
as water to drink, saying, "Go to America now, and you will help me
out." But these men forget their words, and when they have means they
tie up their purse strings, before they will bestow their charity upon
those who have assisted them.
Do I receive promises? Yes, men will promise me, saying, "If you will
let me go out this year by the means of the P. E. Fund, I will refund
the means again, that you may have it to send back for more." And what
will they do when they get here? Steal our wagons and go off with them
to California, and try to steal the bake kettles, frying pans, tents,
and wagon covers; and will borrow the oxen and run away with them, if
you do not watch them closely. Do they all do this? No, but many of
them will try to do it. We checked a number this year who were trying
to run away with the wagons, instead of paying their just debts to the
Fund. They will hang on and plead poverty and sickness, and say that
they cannot live unless they have this tent, or that wagon, and when
they get it into their possession they will never return it, unless
they are compelled to.
This conduct is discouraging to us. I will tell you a little further;
it is actually the faltering, and misgiving, and misdealing of unjust
persons that prevent the gathering of the Lord's poor, and that is
God's truth. Were it not for that, the Saints would be gathered by
scores of thousands. It is the wicked, the half-hearted, and what I
call hickory Mormons that prevent a more extensive gathering of the
Saints.
We have done pretty well this season, and quite a number are coming
out, and I will tell you how this is operating upon me and the people.
It is well known that we annually handle a large amount of means, and
that we turn it over and shift it about until it will answer the end
for which it was designed.
Now I can ask the world this one question, were we ever in your debt
and refused to pay you? And they will all answer, "No." We can turn to
the Saints in England, France, America, or anywhere upon the face of
the whole earth; and ask them, "Have you lent us money, or means of
any kind, and we were not on hand to pay you?" And they will answer,
"No."
When brother Erastus Snow arrived, on the 1st of this month, he came
in the morning and informed me that he had run me in debt nearly fifty
thousand dollars; he said, "President Young's name is as good as the
bank."
My name has been used without my consent, or without my knowing
anything about it, and our agents have run us in debt almost fifty
thousand dollars to strangers, merchants, cattle dealers, and our
brethren who are coming here.
I will tell you a little about the brethren, to show you the amount of
confidence there is.
There are men who have lately arrived in town who have a draft on me,
and who have hunted me up for the cash before they could find time to
shave their beards, or wash themselves, saying, "I have a draft on you
at ten days', fifty days', or six months' sight," as the case may be,
with, "Please pay so and so. Brother Young, cannot you let me have the
money immediately, for I do not know how I can live without it,
or get along with my business at all?" This is the kind of confidence
some men have in me. I wanted to name this. Why? Because I am hunted;
I am like one that is their prey, ready to be devoured. I wish to give
you one text to preach upon, "From this time henceforth do not fret
thy gizzard." I will pay you when I can, and not before. Now I hope
you will apostatize, if you would rather do it.
It is the poor who have got your money, and if you have any complaints
to make, make them against the Almighty for having so many poor. I do
not owe you anything. You have my name attached to the paper to help
the poor; whether they are the Lord's poor, the devil's poor, or poor
devils, is not for me now to judge. I tell the brethren that they may
understand here today what kind of sacred confidence some of them
have in the leader of this people, though I am happy to say that such
cases are few. I would be ashamed to join a people, organized as we
are, and be afraid to trust their leader.
It has just come into my mind how the brethren can be relieved of
their present dilemma, viz., every soul of you come forward and make a
donation of those drafts to the P. E. Fund. That will relieve you of
the debt at once, and you can then sit down and enjoy yourselves, and
lie down and sleep contentedly. This is pleading for the poor again,
and I am bound to do that.
I will tell you what I have done, for I know that many of the brethren
think that I am building myself up. I am, but let me tell you that if
I do not build up the kingdom of God on earth I never expect to be
built up; and I would not give the ashes of a rye straw for any man in
this kingdom, or for all his substance, who does not build it up, and
gather means for that purpose. It is true I gather a great deal of
substance around me; I am obliged to do it, I cannot shun it. I must
feed the poor, I must clothe them and take care of them; I must see
that they have houses; and when they get so as to deserve them they
must have a team, a watch, a farm, &c., and must increase; but they
must work and pay for it all.
You know I preached you a short charity sermon last Sunday. I am not
now preaching for the poor in England, but for Utah poor; and in Utah
no man is deserving, or woman either, of fifty or even twenty-five
cents' worth of flour, of a piece of meat, a garment, or the
possession of any property without they pay for it with their labor,
if they are able. That is for Utah, not for England, France, Ireland,
&c. It is plain to you that circumstances actually compel me to do as
I do. Do I feed my hundreds? Yes, I have fed them ever since I have
been in these valleys, ever since I could raise the grain to do it,
which I have always done until this year, and have had a great deal to
spare besides.
I collect means around me, the poor must have it, and I make them work
and pay for it; that makes me wealthy, and I cannot help it. I have
property for sale, and say, if any man in England, or anywhere else,
will expand his heart and loosen his purse strings to buy sixty-two
thousand dollars' worth of my individual property, I have it for sale
to help the poor. I do not want it destroyed, or to go into the hands
of a mob, but I want it to go to the building up of the kingdom of
God. I would prefer to let it go, into the hands of the Saints, and
use it to pay off those who have drafts against me. Here is brother
Duel, he has a good house, and there are many others, go and buy their
property, and they will take your drafts and hand them to me. [Here
many voices were heard in a low tone, saying, "Yes, take my
property." ] Why do I hear such responses on every side? Because they
know me and understand "Mormonism" as they ought. Go and throw out
your drafts, it is better for you to do this than to have the money
and let it go to destruction, and perhaps you with it. How many scores
have come into this kingdom, who have mourned themselves to death
because Joseph had five dollars of them? And yet they would let their
money go into the hands of the enemies of Christ, and sit down calmly,
and say, "Though I have lost that money, I am in the kingdom of God
yet." If it is absolutely necessary, and circumstances cannot be
controlled to keep the money from going into the hands of our enemies,
we will not whine about it, but let it go, and then get more.
All cash means that are in the hands of this people should be kept
there for the benefit and convenience of the kingdom of God. What for?
To roll on the work of the last days, gather the Saints, preach the
Gospel, build up cities and temples, send the Gospel to the uttermost
parts of the earth, and revolutionize the whole world.
You who have got those drafts, walk up like men of God and see where
you can purchase property, instead of taking the money to put in the
hands of some poor apostate, who wants to go to California.
Dare any of you come and buy property? I can furnish as much as you
can buy. My house on the hill yonder, I have advertised it for sale,
and also my lands and barn. "What do you ask for it?" Sixteen thousand
dollars; it is worth that and a great deal more, for it actually cost
more. Can any of you buy it? Walk up and buy my beautiful situation on
the hill and I will put the proceeds into the Perpetual Emigrating
Fund, if you will pay me the money, and gather the Saints, the Lord's
poor, and the devil's poor, and the poor devils, and when we have got
them here we will make Saints of them, if we can, and if we cannot, we
will cast them out of the kingdom.
If the brethren all felt as some do, the Perpetual Fund means would
increase rapidly, but what do they do? It was reported to you here
last Conference, that there were then fifty-six thousand dollars owing
to the P. E. Fund, by brethren in this Territory; some of the debtors
have run away, but the most of them are here. Can these men pay
anything? No, they are poor and distressed; they say, "If we let our
oxen go, how can we live? If we let our cows go our families will
suffer." How did your families get along before you got the cows?
Another will say, "I have only one span of horses and a wagon; and I
cannot pay the debt." You promised, before you left England, that you
would pay it, and pledged your sacred honor, and that is forfeited to
the P. E. Fund. You say that you cannot pay the debt; but I know you
can if you have a mind to. Live without a cow, as you used to, pay in
your houses and farms, and work until you get more. This debt is
diminished but little since last Conference; I do not suppose we have
gathered in more than one thousand dollars of it, and this season
there are about forty-nine thousand dollars more added to it. I
calculate that will rest upon my shoulders, but they are so sloping,
as you may observe, that it slips off, and then I kick it off at my
heels. The money will be forthcoming and all will be well, all will
be right; I am not discouraged.
I have a word to say to another portion of the community, some of whom
may be here today. A great many of the brethren are indebted to the
tithing office; and I have a good deal coming to me; and I intend to put you into the screw, for we mean to make you pay these debts
this season. One man says, "I owe the Church the money, it is true,
but I believe I shall break and not pay it." They want to get their
money into the safe and then break. If they owed a Gentile they would
pay their debts, they would work, and toil, and labor, day and night,
to pay their enemy; but when they owe the Church and kingdom of God
they can lie down and sleep in peace, though they owe thousands of
dollars, and say, "O! well, it is all in the family, we are all one,
it is no matter whether the debt is paid or not." I want to have you
understand fully that I intend to put the screws upon you, and you who
have owed for years, if you do not pay up now and help us, we will
levy on your property and take every farthing you have on the earth. I
want to see if I can make some of you apostatize; I will if I can, by
teaching sound doctrine and advocating correct principles; for I am
tired of men who are eternally gouging their brethren and taking the
advantage of them, and at the same time pretending to be Saints until
they gain an advantage over this people, and then they are ready to
leave. I want you to leave now; I give you this word of caution,
prepare to pay the debt you owe to the Church. If I had the money due
to the Church by a few individuals, I could pay every one of our
individual debts and the Church debt, and have a few scores of
thousands lying by me to operate upon; and in such circumstances I
could operate to some advantage, and greatly benefit the Church. But
it seems that there are many drones in the hive, who are determined to
tie up the hands of those who rule the affairs of this kingdom, and
the quicker they are thrown out the better.
I have given you some reasons why things are so slow and tardy in
their progress with regard to the gathering of the Saints. Let the
poor Saints strive to induce the rich to have confidence in them, by
keeping their word and punctually paying those who loan them money. I
am sorry to say that this is not always the case. The poor are filled
with idolatry as well as the rich, and covet the means of those who
have helped them; the rich, also, have the same spirit of idolatry,
and stick to what they have. Let the poor be honest, let the rich be
liberal, and lay their plans to assist the poor, to build up the
kingdom of God, and at the same time enrich themselves, for that is
the way to build up God's kingdom. May the Lord bless you. Amen.