| Show PAST PRESENT AND FUTURE following is an oration recently delivered before the payson utah county literary club by jedediah T taylor ay lor friends and fellow citizens I 1 am pleased to greet you this evening as associates in and citizens of our great republic we are representatives and advocates of freedom and I 1 am proud to be able to say our government is a grand and glorious one from her possessions in america forty eight territories have been carved thirty eight of which are now enjoying the privilege of statehood leaving only ten which have not become sufficient sufficiently I 1 y strong g to throw off their swaddling clothe and enjoy the rights of state government er ern Dment ment our territory with a population of more than was forty two years ago a wilderness a desert beyond the borders of the united states belonging to our neighboring government Wl mexico exico its parched soil its vacant valleys told its early visitors of its worthlessness with the exception of a few explorers the indians were the only human beings that had bad seen the barren waste since the extinction of the nation fourteen hundred and forty seven years prior and possibly since the days of noah A wilderness a desert yes and so se complete it was thought a civilized people could not subsist here to substantiate this I 1 refer you to the offer of col bridger of 1000 for the first bushel of corn raised here the rich silver mines of utah were not then discovered no roads connected the canyons and valleys no bridges spanned the rivers no workshops nor factories were erected and the whistle of the steam engine bad not been heard in our secluded spot nor even within the united states but for a period of twenty years could one reave leave a land of plenty the shades shade of the walnut the chestnut and the orange the springs bubbling up in the shade of the pine and the pleasant association of friends to come to such a forsaken country as this the effort required to do this was founded in love of freedom nothing but a deep love for in de pende ice ce the virtue of the sacred family ties and a desire to worship god unmolested could have induced a people to settle the dreary wild by contrast contrasting nghe nhe past with the present r besent the picture is more highly fi illuminated imagine one having tolled toiled in the burning sun having lived in the dugout and eaten roots and rawhide transported in an instant from the past to the present I 1 fancy he would be overcome by joy and weep through the ecstacy caused by the contrast it has been truthfully said I 1 there is no standstill A person a community a nation must either progress or retrograde the history of our territory shows that utah has been and is still progressing who is to be honored for our prosperity my desire is to bestow honor where honor Js is due did the government go vern ment of mexico lend a helping hand liand did our own parent institution hover over the little band of exiles to warm and protect it or is our present r sent condition to be credited un get dei god to the gallant heroic and undaunted pioneers of 1847 and following years I 1 need not answer this history and our workout veterans show where the honor is due there is not perhaps an instance in the history of the world of a people so small who have in so short a time and under such adverse circumstances achieved so much the dug outs have given place to brick palaces warmed and lighted by electricity the cradle and the reap book are nearly forgotten the hand mill surpassed by steam mills is a memento of bygone days the ox team and the cart have given place to fast horses and fine carriages and the never tiring iron horse the telegraphic and the telephonic inspru ments mente bring our people in close communion contributing largely to the wealth and comfort of our community outside of our borders bordera where is there a country upon the wide earth with fewer paupers haupers pau pers nine tenths of our commonwealth own the houses they occupy besides cattle find and lands the soil when properly cultivated yields abundantly in regard to education in our society we compare favorably with other territories in the union yet we are progressing utah has a bestiny bright and glorious though things to some look gloomy at the present the true saints are cheerful knowing that the clouds of darkness will soon be dispersed one hundred and fifty thousand people armed in the holy cause of truth whose prayers Rs as ceila to the throne of mercy cannot all ail to be heard the future no one unless inspired by him who sees all things can read but the purposes of god never mil fail and his promises to us are that the more we are wrenched and knocked about the stronger we will become oh that the inhabitants of ef the earth would study the Bible and become acquainted with the prophecies contained therein for thereby they can avoid much distress and calamity which otherwise will cause their destruction keeping in mind that small beginnings ginni ds make great endings let us continue our labors and knowing that the constitution of our land was framed for the good of all the members of our great republic let us press onward in the cause we have espoused surrender no virtue honor and obey the immortal constitution of our dearly beloved country for we have the truth th though there be hundreds of reports to the contrary and although deemed heretics now we will be the heroes of the future to be praised to be adored for utah will then not be the queen of the west alone but of the east the north and the south |
