By the cash manifest just read by brother John T. Caine, you perceive
that there has been expended, during the years 1857, 1858, 1859, and
to Oct. 4, 1860, $70,204 in excess of what has been received in money
and Tithing. This excess has been derived from cash received for
lumber sold to the army to the amount of some 16,000 dollars or 18,000
dollars, and from the sale of sheep, horses, mules, cows, wagons,
harness, &c., to various persons for cash. It has been rather
difficult to raise the large amount of cash we have expended over the
amount received on money-Tithing; but when it comes time to sleep, I
do not stay awake contriving how we are to financier. I can understand
in a very few minutes all that is necessary and possible to be done,
without taking very great thought in the matter.
At times it seems as though all hell and earth are combined to keep
money out of my hands. A great many of the people would give me
millions, if they had it; but most of those who have it will not part
with it. Those who are liberal have nothing, and they would give me
all they have. Scarcely a man comes into this Church, having much of
an amount of money, but what spends his money before he gathers with
the Saints. Persons would conceal from Joseph that they had any money,
and, after they had spent or lost it all, would come to him and—"Oh,
how I love you, brother Joseph!" If you think you can keep the money
from me, you will be mistaken, for I shall have what is necessary to
carry on this work; and those who take a course to hedge up my way in
business transactions, pertaining to carrying on this work, will go to
the Devil. They shall have that promise, with my blessing. I do not
curse people, but I bless that class with a plenty of devils.
For four years past we have not had much money pass through our hands.
In previous years merchants here have received as much money from me
yearly as you have heard read here today. During the past few years
we have had to manage and plan pretty closely in our business
transactions. Those who bring coal to sell want money, and the
brethren who labor on the Public Works need a little money now and
then. Some think that brother Wells, who is our Superintendent of
Public Works, is hard and close in his public dealings; but he is not.
I have explained all that is necessary in regard to this matter. We
traffic and trade, we drive cattle to California, and trade here and
there, and do everything we can to carry on this work. You know, and
my wives and children know, that it is my mind that those who do
nothing but sit in rocking chairs can live on potatoes and buttermilk,
while those who do the labor should have both the substantial food
and the luxuries. My friends know that this is my mind all the time.
Some may think that my individual business is so mixed and combined
with the public business that I cannot keep them separate.
This is not the case, as you can learn by asking brother David O.
Calder, or brother John T. Caine, who has been reading a manifest to
you. Hiram B. Clawson, John T. Caine, and Thomas Ellerbeck are the
clerks who keep the books of my private business; and the
Trustee-in-Trust has his clerks, of whom David O. Calder is the chief.
Horace Whitney, Joseph Simmons, and Amos M. Musser are his associate
clerks, and they keep the books pertaining to the public business. My
own private business is kept distinct from the public business. If
brother Calder wishes one hundred or a thousand dollars, if I have it,
he borrows it of Hiram B. Clawson and pays it back; and so also
brother Clawson borrows of him and returns it. The teasers who come
all the time after women, and soon get tired of them and want to
divorce them, I make pay ten dollars for each divorce, and that is my
individual bank. If I want five dollars or fifty cents from Hiram B.
Clawson, it is charged to me; and if he receives money from me, it is
credited to me; and not a dollar (except what I hand out or give away
out of my private purse), goes out of my office, either in private or
public capacity, without passing through its appropriate set of books.
I tell you this, that all may know that my private affairs are not
amalgamated with the public affairs. Brigham Young and the
Trustee-in-Trust are two persons in business. When you speak of
Brigham Young as Trustee-in-Trust, he is one man; and when as Brigham
Young, he is another; and the business between these two names is kept
as strictly separate as is the business of any two firms in the world.
If you want to know anything about the money, item by item, how it has
been obtained and how expended, our books are open.
We do not ask anybody to pay Tithing, unless they are disposed to do
so; but if you pretend to pay Tithing, pay it like honest men. And
Bishops who have it in their power to gather money-Tithing, it is
their duty to do it; and if they do not, they do not magnify their
calling. And brethren that have money, pay your Tithing on it while
you have it; and when you turn your property, upon which Tithing is
due, into money, pay your Tithing in money. Here are thousands of men
wearing good hats, coats, pantaloons, &c., &c., that I have paid the
money for. And women with costly ribbons on their bonnets, I pay the
money for these ribbons; and I pay the money for the slippers on their
feet, for their stockings, their garments, &c. I have paid the money
for these articles, year after year. Is it not your duty to see that I
have a little money? Were the Lord to reveal to me where the ancient
Jaredites hid their hundred of millions of dollars' worth of treasure,
I should not take it and hand it out to the people, unless the Lord
directed me to do so; otherwise, it would perhaps seal the damnation
of many; for at present you are better off without those treasures
than you would be with them.
If I am under obligation to see this Gospel carried to all the nations
of the earth, so also is every Elder of Israel. If it is my duty to
see the poor gathered, so it is the duty of every Elder. There is no
excuse for any man: everyone ought to put forth his hands and means,
and do according to his ability.
We have often told you that we want to build a Temple, but not for
convening promiscuous congregations. I inform you, long before you see
the walls reared and the building completed, that it will be for the
purposes of the Priesthood, and not for meetings of the people: we
shall not hold public meetings in it. I should like to see the
Temple built, in which you will see the Priesthood in its order and
true organization, each Quorum in its place. If we want a larger
building than this Tabernacle for public exercises, here is the ground
already planned, and has been for years. We can, if we choose, build a
Tabernacle that will accommodate fifteen thousand people. The Temple
will be for the endowments—for the organization and instruction of the
Priesthood. If you want to build a Temple on these conditions, you can
have the privilege. But I never again want to see one built to go into
the hands of the wicked. I have asked my Father to give me power to
build a Temple on this block, but not until I can forever maintain my
rights in it. I would rather see it burnt than to see it go into the
hands of devils. I was thankful to see the Temple in Nauvoo on fire.
Previous to crossing the Mississippi River, we had met in that Temple
and handed it over to the Lord God of Israel; and when I saw the
flames, I said, "Good, Father, if you want it to be burned up." I hoped
to see it burned before I left, but I did not. I was glad when I heard
of its being destroyed by fire, and of the walls having fallen in, and
said, "Hell, you cannot now occupy it." When the Temple is built here,
I want to maintain it for the use of the Priesthood: if this cannot
be, I would rather not see it built, but go into the mountains and
administer there in the ordinances of the holy Priesthood, which is
our right and privilege. I would rather do this than to build a Temple
for the wicked to trample under their feet.
There are great and glorious things yet to be revealed. We are but
babes and sucklings in the knowledge of God and godliness. With all we
know and understand by the Priest hood here in the midst of this
people, we are mere infants before the angels in heaven. We want to
instruct the people and prepare them to enter into the presence of the
Father and the Son. We want to gather the poor, send the Gospel to the
uttermost parts of the earth, and do a great many other good things;
and we will do so. We will turn the world right side up, for it is now
wrong side up, and we want to turn it over, prepare it, and present it
to Him who owns it, in a more goodly form and attitude than it has
been for many centuries.
[Here Elder John T. Caine read a list of the subscriptions to the
Missionary Fund.]
We will send our Elders forth to preach, and will furnish, as we have
now, wagons, mules, harness, &c., to those who are not able to
provide those things for themselves. When our Missionaries reach the
frontiers, they will place a fair valuation upon their animals, &c.,
the money will be paid to them, and they can at once proceed to their
different fields of labor. I pay them the money for the property they
have at the frontiers, and when they return I want them to come home
as poor as they go away. If anyone wishes to get rich, let him stay
here and get rich, and not enrich himself from the labors and means
of the poor Saints abroad. You may think that I am severe on that
course. I am, and I mean to be, until I stop it. It has been growing
and growing, becoming tall—almost ungovernable and out of my reach;
but my foot is set upon it, and I will walk it under and the influence
of anyone who promotes such a principle. If I want to become wealthy,
I will stay here and accumulate property. If brother Heber C. Kimball,
Daniel H. Wells, or the Twelve Apostles want to accumulate wealth,
stay here and do it, and not go into the world to become rich. When you go into the world, go to preach the Gospel; and if you have a
sixpence, give it to the people. Give your time and talent to the
people; and if the Lord puts money into your pockets, it is not yours,
only for you to use to save the people spiritually and temporally.
We are going to fit out our Elders from here, asking no odds of the
world: we have proved them enough. The gold and the silver belong to
the Lord Almighty, and he will hand it over to us as fast as we know
how to use it to his name's glory. Some say, "If we had a gold mine, we
would do well." If I knew where there was a gold mine, I would not
tell you. I do not want you to find one, and I do not mean that you
shall; or, if you do, it shall be over my faith. We have gold enough
in the world, and it is all the Lord's, and we do not deserve more
than we get. Let us make good use of that, and send out the Elders.
Brother Woolley stated, yesterday, that he wished to see men and women
who are too lazy to cook their victuals come with handcarts. They are
the ones that will not come with handcarts; they have to be conveyed
in wagons; and when they arrive here they will apostatize. It seems
impossible to have them to do so anywhere else; and we want them here
as soon as possible, that they may apostatize and leave—get out of our
way—that we may go on with our labors; and in this we are making a
few devils for future use, to carry on our kingdoms.
Let the brethren who pretend to be Bishops be so indeed, and gather
Tithing. And if the people pretend to pay Tithing, pay it properly and
fairly, so far as you do pay, or let it alone entirely. Keep your
dollars and cents, your horses and mules, your grain, &c., if you
choose; but if you pretend to pay Tithing, pay it like men: act like
men and Saints. We want to build a Temple on this block. Don't you
think that hell will howl? What did we tell you when we laid those
foundation walls? We told you that all hell would be on the move. That
has transpired, and still they say, "We have not persecuted you;" but
they are liars. Who among them have stepped forward and said, "Let
those men alone?" Only a few. Our friend who came here in the dead of
winter, having left his wife sick nigh unto death, is one of those who
will yet have a celestial crown; he is on the road to it. When Judge
Kinney was in Washington, he spoke well of this people. So far as I
know, he has never spoken evil of this people, but every time he met
an Elder in Washington he received him as a friend, spoke to him
kindly, and was not ashamed to walk arm-in-arm with him in the streets
of that city. There is a kingdom for him—a kingdom of glory. When they
wanted him to come here as a Governor, I am told that he said, "Yes,
if you send no soldiers there." He has a heart; and I say, God bless
him and every other good, honest man, whether he is a "Mormon" or not.
Who ever walked more correctly in his sphere of business than Judge
Shaver? No man. He was as upright as a man could be. He came here as a
Judge, and he honored the people, he honored his office, he honored
the President in his appointment, and he honored the laws of the
Territory and the laws of the Government. There is a kingdom for him;
he will have his reward.
There is a great difference between persecuting this people and the
people of other sects. God will make persecutors pay every debt they
contract with this people. This is the Priesthood of the Almighty. God
has set his hand the second time to gather the people. It will
not do to trifle with this people. "Touch not mine anointed," saith
the Lord. O ye inhabitants of the earth, be careful how you infringe
upon the Latter-day Saints. They are the anointed of the Lord, and are
like the apple of his eye, and he will bring you into judgment for
every act and move you make against them. This nation will be shivered
to pieces. There is no cohesion in the particles that compose it. If
you touch it, it will fall to pieces, for it is shattered from its
center to its circumference. They think it so strange that the
"harmonious democracy" can divide. You might as well try to put out
the sun as to make them united. God is working with them; he is taking
his Spirit from them. They are like water spilled upon the ground;
there is no soundness nor stability left in them; they are devoid of
good sense. God has called away the intelligence he bestowed upon
them, and every move they make will sink them deeper and deeper in
the mire, until they are lost and gone forever. We wish them no evil;
we heap no coals of fire on their heads, only by doing them good and
exhorting them to refrain from meddling with this people. The time is
nigh when every man that will not take up his sword against his
neighbor must needs flee to Zion. Where is Zion? Where the
organization of the Church of God is. And may it dwell spiritually in
every heart; and may we so live as to always enjoy the Spirit of Zion!
Amen.