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Show CHURCH CIS, I SHU I HFJJP FLOCK I President Smith Opens HI the Eighty-Second Con- Hj ference of Latter-Day H Saints With Address in H Which He Declares H Payment of Tithes Is . HI Entirely Voluntary H DENIES CHARGES H MADE BY "ENEMIES" H In Specific Terms the ' H Prophet Declares That H the Religious Organi- H zation He Represents H Does Not Stand for H Commercialism, and H Does Not Make Ues of H Coercion. .H WITH a great congregation pros- flH ent at each of the two sessions Hj of the day, notwithstanding rain, the eighty-second annual aM conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints opened yesterday at the big tabernacle In this jH city, witn President Joseph F. Smith in charge of the services. There were fivo speakers In all, they jH being Presidents Joseph F, Smith. Anthon Hi Hs.Xund,-. Charles -XV. Penrose, Francis "HQ M. L.yinau and Apostle Hebar J. Grant. jfl President Smith's oponlng address was ln greeting to the assembled multitude, and was partly devoted to a review of Si tli6 general condition- of the church. He jH declared that the orgtmlzation was in fl better temporal condition than ever bo- jRJ fore; denied that the church was becom- Ing dcspiritualized; asserted that tho H church was not boing commercialized; Hi protested that members of the organiza-tlon organiza-tlon were not compelled to pay tithes; and proclaimed that tlie church and tho Mormon peoplo were being criticised and fl opposed by their enemies only npon false promises. flH Many Officials Attend. H There was a large attendance of prcsi-dents prcsi-dents of stakes and bishops and their counselors and members of the various priesthood quorums. When the eighty-3eoond annual con- HB ference opened at 10 o'clock yesterday morning the presiding authorities of tho church were in their places, as wore nine of tho twelve ' apostlos and six of the first seven presidents of seventies. President Joseph F. Smith and Coun-selors Coun-selors Anthon H. Lund and Charles W. WM Ponrose occupied the higher pulpit. With ffij them and in the second pulpit were Apos- HH ties Francis 3J. Lyman, Heber J. Grant, Hyrum M. Smith, George F. Richards. WM Anthony W. Ivlns. Orson F. Whitney, ' . David O. McKay, Joseph F. Smith, Jr., and James "E. Talmage. High Authorities Present. H Of th first seven presidents of 6c.-r.n-ties there were Seymour B. Young, Jon-at Jon-at ban Golden Kimball. Joseph W. McGur-rin, McGur-rin, Rulon S. Wells, Brlghaxn H. Roberts and Charles H. Hart. All of these, to-gether to-gether with Patriarchs Angus M. Can-non, Can-non, Sr.. Joseph a Taylor and Thoman H DobBon, occupied the threo principal pul-pits. pul-pits. Below them, and dlrnctly In front of the sacrament altar, were Presidents Ben E. Rich of tho eastern states mis-slon, mis-slon, Joseph E. Robinson of tho Callfor-nla Callfor-nla mission, Mnlvln J. Ballard of tho BD northwestern states mission, Samuel O. HH Bennion of the central states mission, Germa.ii E. Ellsworth of tho northern RH states mission, John L. Hcrrlck of the BH western states mission and Charles A. fl Ca'.lis of the southern states mission. With the higher authorities were Charles flf W. Nlbloy, Orrin P. Miller and David A. Smith, constituting the presiding blsh-opric. blsh-opric. Ranged In the upper stands to the right and left of tho presiding authorl- Mi ties were presidents of thu Y. L. and Y. M. M. I. associations, the primaries and H the relief societies. In the immediate front of the stand, and extending almost HH half way back Into the auditorium, were H presidents of stakes and bishops and thoh respective counsolors. Prof. Evan Stephens Olrectnd the choir, with Edward V. Kimball at til.) organ. Unique Solo Feature. H An exceedingly attractive fealuro of H th morning session was a solo by Miss Amelia Margctts. daughter of George B. H Margetts, 28 East Fourth South street, this city. The young lady sang "O, My Father," rendering the composition In the Spanish language. She has a splendid H voloe, which she utilized to great advan- 1 tage. Blnglng in the utmost confldoncB. (Continuod on Page Two.) H LEADER ASSURES THE SAINTS TITHING IS NOT COMPULSORY (Continued from Pago Ono.) I ease and eft'ectlvDness. The young lady, i who Is but 15 yearn of age, was the re-l re-l clplent of many congratulations at the . closo of Jhe meeting, being especially commended for her capablo work by Prof. - 15van Stephens. , It was estimated that approximately . 7000 pooplo attended tho opening session, the rainstorm In all likelihood keeping many away who othorwlso would have been there. Tho body of tho auditorium was filled with tho exception of under the gallery, whilo thn balcony Itself was pretty -well occupied all around. In tho uftornoon the attendance was groator, the big building being almost tilled to comfortable seating capacity. Asldo from the solo by TUIss Margotts, , tho musical programme for the morning Included the hymns, "Como, Come. Ye Saints" anil "An Angel From on High," and the anthem. "Jesus. My Cross Jiave I Taken." Prosldcnt Joseph V. Smith opened the conference by greoting the members of the church present, and -concluded his address ad-dress with a benediction for their future welfare. Living for Cause. "Personally J huv nothing but tho cause to live for during the remainder of my life." said President Smith. "I have had much experience in the missionary mis-sionary service, and enjoyed It. and I hopo to continue In the ministry to the end of my days. 1 believe the saints to i be engaged In tho cause of truth, not of . error. "It Is a source of gratification to the saints to know that their enemies are not and have not been opposed openly and avowedly to' the principles which we havo espoused. As a. rule the opposition oppo-sition that has beon arrayed against the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has been urged against us from falso premises. Instead of being opposed to our religion they have boon oaalng their false chaieTes on things of which we aro not guilty. Our enemies would not appear to be consistent to oppose the principle of revelation from God to man; to oppose the Latter-day Saints for believing be-lieving that the Lord Almighty is quite as capablo of revealing himself to tho church in this (dispensation as he ever was. And therefore when our enemies oppose us or our faith in these principles, prin-ciples, it Ih on the falso premise that we do not. bclievo in and practice what we preach. "We are not responsible for the general declaration of the world that no longer Is there revelation. We aro responsible for the assert ion that there Is continued revelation, We will tlnd that It is not the truth that they are lighting, but that it Is their misconstruction of tho truth that Is the causo of the trouble Denies Charges Made. "They have charged us with acts and praotlcos that we are not guilty of. They havo constructed in their own minds evils that the church has never been guilty of. They charge us with being currupt, with having practiced corrupt principles, of being secluslve and opposed to the world, of opposing oitr government and of being antagonistic to good and wholesome laws and works of righteousness. righteous-ness. They havo actually charged us with being murderous and adulterous, and with all manner of evil doing. "If the world if our enemlos desire to oppose the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints because we believe with all our souls In the divinity of Christ and In the divinity of the principles which he taught because we believe that these principles havo been restored to the earth in tho dispensation of the fulness of times, and becauso we choose to live them we have no fault to And with them. We. can " onlv regret that they do not comprehend com-prehend the truth as we see it. "The world does not oppose us for what we do. but they oppose us for what thoy charge us with doing. I pity them, because be-cause they are either doing It In Ignor-anco Ignor-anco or because they aro wilfully disposed to distort the truth. Says Church Prospers. "Tho Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Latter-day Saints was never in better condition, condi-tion, temporarily and splrltuallv. than It now Is. Tho orlesthood Is more effectively effec-tively and efficiently organized than ever before. I believe the faith of the Latter-day Latter-day Saints in the divinity of the mission of .Tosenh Smith is as great as It ever was. There is as much union and good fellowship In the church as ever. Of course, there arc discontented nersons and faultfinders among us I suppose we will alwnys have them but I do not believe be-lieve there were over fewer of thorn than today. The "Latter-day Saints never understood un-derstood our own principles better than they do today. T believe with all my soul that the church Is growing todav ouite as fast as In' any other period of Its existence. The presidencies of the stakes of Zion In any other nerlod of our hlstorv wero never more diligent In their discharge of duly. This is my Judgment from my point of view and I think wo aro as capable -of passing such judgment as any men can be. Asserts Spiritual Gains'. "We have been charged by public speakers abroad, and by men who occupy oc-cupy positions in the community which should inform them to hotter effect, that the Mormon church Is losing Its spirituality. This is as false as It can be. Lot mo say for the Instruction of these people If such Individuals will receive re-ceive instruction from me that thore Isn't a man, woman or cnun who Is In good standing and fellowship, and who has received the Inspiration of the gift Sings Hymns of Mormons In Spanish MISS AMELIA MARGETTS. I of tho Holy Ghost, wh?o docs not now enjoy to the full tho spiritual comfort and blessing that belongs to nil who live righteous and clean lives. Where will you go outside of this church, among th; sects of the world, to find an organization organiza-tion or a. religious community that has rocelved equal spiritual advantages with us? Where will you, find another people peo-ple in the world that- have received the gift of tho Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands by competent authority? So far from losing its splrituallzatlon .la tho church that It Is constantly receiving additional blessings In this resDect. '"The gift of Inspiration Is not confined con-fined to the presiding authorities of the church It belongs to every Individual member of the church, and It Is the right and privilege of even individual to enjoy revelation for his own guidance. guid-ance. Praise for the Saints. "There is no organization of people in tho world who aro so universally spiritual, spirit-ual, or who are so entitled to inspiration and revelation from tlic spirit. You have the privilege to have revelation as to whether I am a servant of God or a servant serv-ant of man. and It Is my privilege to have revelation for my own guidance. There never was a time when the spirituality spirit-uality of the church was greater. "The church Is charged with commercialism, commer-cialism, Thore is not a jot of truth in the charge. We are not the church is not engaged In buying and selling, goods and chattels. It Is true we have the law of tithing: but we do not pasH around the hat, or the-vpontrlbutlon box, or the plate, In order to secure funds for carrying carry-ing on our work. This practice of collecting col-lecting contributions for church work, as It Is in force In the other churches, might as reasonably bo called commercialism as to give that character to our law of" tithing. Vehement Denial. "And thore Is anothor falsehood spread abroad In the world, and that Is that the Saints aro compelled to contributo money to tho church and that tithe payments pay-ments are exacted from the Saints. It Is an Infamous falsehood, a slander of the worst kind, for there isn't a syllabic of truth In It. There Is not even the semblance of truth in this charge. There Is no ground at all for the' charge. It Is true we believe and practice the principle princi-ple of tithing. The people contribute voluntarily of their means to the support of tho church. The officors do not force the observance of this law; It is a voluntary volun-tary matter. I have tho right to sav whether I will pay my tithing or not. Of course, being loya'l to the church, I pav my tithing. JuBt as I respect or observe any other law of the church. This money is bandied by the first presidency. Uia council of tho twelve and the presiding bishopric eighteen men. It is Judiclous-lv Judiclous-lv and honestly cared for and disbursed for the good of all the people. Some tlmo during this conforence we shall havo a report from tho presiding bishopric on the matter. To call this commercialism is nonsense in the extreme. "I repeat, it Is not that which we do, but that which thov falselv charge us with, that forms the groundwork of the opposition against the church. If they want to continue in that course, let them We can only feel sorry for them, because the truth and the church will triumph In the end. Defines Types of Prayer. "The Latter-day Saints are a praying people, but they don't have to repeat: the Lord's prayer every day. They don't say Give ns this day our dally bread' while at the same time thev have a store of bread for an indefinite" period. But they pray Intelligentlv and consistentlv. thanking, the Lord for the bread that they have. President Smith concluded his address by declaring the Mormon people to ho among ,the best on earth, predicting tho triumph of the church oyor all its enemies, ene-mies, and calling upon ihc Lord to bless all the Saints throughout' all the world. President Anthon II. Lund followed with an Indorsement of the remarks, assertions asser-tions and testimony of President Smith. Ho. too. denied most emplmtlcallv that there whs ivtrogresclon In th church bv reason of loss of spiritualism. He de-1 clared that the Mormon people were un excellent people, but that there was always al-ways room for Improvement. lie closed with a general exhortation to faithfulness to tho religion and to righteous Jiving, especially es-pecially urging the Saints to emulate the example of Christ by forgiving their enemies. ene-mies. i Elder Moses W. Taylor delivered tho opening prayer at the morning scaslon and Elder Richard W. Young pronounced the benediction at the close of tho serv-Icoh. serv-Icoh. 4 Afternoon Session. At the afternoon meeting the musical programme Included a duet bv tho Mlsse.i Kdna and Ivy Evan. "Tho Lord la M Light." which was ming In good style. Tho hymns rendered were '"We Thank Thee. O God, for a Prophet." "O, Sav What Is Truth." and "Redeemer of Israel. Is-rael. Our Only Dollght." For todav's sessions ses-sions the music will he supplied by th I school chorus of the B. Y. unlversltv of!, Provo. under tho directorship .of Pro-fesHor Pro-fesHor Anthony C. Lund. In closing th afternoon meeting tho chorus will sing "Tho Lord Hath Brought Again iCIon,'" a splendid composition by Arthur Shcpncru of local musical fame. President Charles W. Penrose was thu first speaker of the afternoon. Ho appreciated appre-ciated tho splendid infiuenca felt at the morning session, which was indicated In , the attention paid to the addresses. He freely and unreservedly indorsed the testimony tes-timony of President Joseph F. Smith. i "The ordinances of tho church," said President Penrose, In part, "place us all on one level all alike must obey them In order to receive the benefits promised. We all must havo faith, must repent of our sins, bo baptized for their remission and receive the gift of tho Holy Ghost through thft imposition of hands by thoss having proper authority. Reasons for Joy. "It 16 a llttlo surprising, however, to find that some who have been thus blessed, and who havo received and borne testimony to tho truth, have allowed themselves to be drawn nslde Into orror. These. I am glad to say, are few In the church. 1 was glad to hear President Smith say this morning that the church was never In better condition than it Is today, and that tho saints aro endeavoring endeavor-ing to Ilvo their religion conscientiously. I am glad to know that the church, both splrlUially and temporally financially la In better condition, notwithstanding repeated re-peated and continued efforts to discredit and destroy the church In the land. Such opposition has been encountered from the beginning, but It has always had but ono result, In that the church has become solidified and strengthened and has grown hotter. "There Is division among the other ro-llglous ro-llglous sects of the world. If our church were to move among thorn and become harmonious with thorn to the extent that they arc harmonious at alt we would become one of them. Wo ara separate, apart, distinct from other sects, but wo do not deslro to do anything to prevent them from Inculcating their own views. They have that right. We want tho same liberty that wo accord to them We ha'vo a message to all the world and wo want the privilege to carry It to all kindreds, tonsues and peoples. Tho authority au-thority to proclaim (he gospel of Jesus Christ has been given to us, and we nre authorised to administer tho ordinances of the church. Wo Intend to struggle for our liberty and our rights, but not necessarily neces-sarily by carnal mean's, for the Lord has promised to fight our battles. Points Out Mission. '"Whllf we are providing for ourselves the creature comforts, wo have at. tho same time the more imnortant mission of proclaiming the gospel. It la our mission on earth and wo want the right to fulfill It in all tho world. "Wo have the right- to compare our priesthood organizations with those of other churches, hut we want to do It in a proper spirit in a kindly spirit. We must expect, however, a great deal of animosity to be exhibited against up Even In this land, consecrated to liberty, we may expect opposition. It was on this soil that our prophet was martyred He did no harm to any one. but endeavored endeav-ored to benefit humanity by revealing to It the truth. "In literature, even In novels, virtue is made to triumph in the end; yet many of these writers are Immoral and sinful. It Is one thing to learn the truth and another thing to practice it. "Wo arc preparers of the way for the establishment of the kingdom of God. We havo no controversy with this srov-ernmont srov-ernmont or any other Government on earth, but wo have the duty to perform of carrying the gospol to humanity to prepare the Inhabitants of the earth for the coming of the kingdom of God. The Lord will In due time, and In consonance with his purposes, overthrow the corrupt governments of tho world to make room for tho domination of his own kingdom. king-dom. Sees World Conquest. "Our gospel has come down from God out of heaven. It has come here to remain. re-main. It Is that organization prophesied of old, and all nations of the world shall eventually bow to Its authority. It Is to be a kingdom of righteousness, of truth, of brotherly love and unity. We believe In tho fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of. man. We must be faithful faith-ful tc our mlsj-ion, else. God will raise up others to take our places. 'Let us ask ourselves tho auostlon whether wo are living to the truth and conforming to the principles and ordU nances Introduced by the authority of God. Or are we endeavoring to. follow and adopt customs to gain tho world's " approbation? We should examine ourselves our-selves in our homes, In our organized societies and in our priesthood quorums. These have been established for our benefit and wolfare, to bring us closer to the Lord, and finally take us Into his presence, but we must take advantage of tho opportunity offered by attending to our duties. "Although wo are entitled to receive revelations for our personal guidance, there Is but ono man at a time on the earth who Is entitled to receive revelation revela-tion for tho church. If everv Tom. Dick and Harry could rise up and give a revelation reve-lation for the church, order would bo disturbed dis-turbed if not obliterated. This privilege and authority belongs to tho president of the church alone." Appeal for Courage. President Penrose closed his address by admonishing to continued faith and perseverance per-severance In tho. face of all opposition, and promised final triumph for the church, when the kingdoms of the world will become the kingdom of God. President Francis M. Lyman of the twelve apostles was also gratified to learn from President Smith that the church was In good condition, progressive and growing, and that tho saints were more faithful. Yet there Is ample room for Improvement, he declared. "We are a peculiar people," said Mr. Lyman. "We arc gathered together as religious people generally do not gather. We have come from all nations where the gospel hag been preached and wi-have wi-have become neighbors. We talk different differ-ent languages, yet we have but one spirit the spirit of the Lord that is conferred upon us in goodly measure. "It Is my testimony, having been among the people for a number of years, and especially es-pecially among; the priesthood quorums, that we are all believing more in the divinity di-vinity of Joseph Smith, the Jewish scriptures scrip-tures and the Nephlto scriptures." He said that eventually the church would come to he respected In the world. It was becoming known that the Mormon people were the choicest In tho world, noted for morality, Integrity and righteousness. right-eousness. None do wrong who do their duty in the church. All should preach the eloquent sermon of example in charity, benevolence, kindness and good feeling. Grant's Testimony. Apostle Heher J. Grant declared that the Saints were strengthened and built up in the faith by tho conferences. Ho believed that every Latter-day Saint who had received a testimony of tho truth I was doing all In his power for the uplift of humanity. The Mormon people arc becoming be-coming better known for their true worth. They arc discovered not to be vile and wicked but truly good people. Christ and his diecipl.es had been vilified and maligned, and the name persecution w.is reaching the Saints In these days. But as people become acquainted with Chi teachings of Joseph Smith they learn that they are for the betterment of mankind The- only people whom he had ever known to live up to their, teachings and prlnclpl -s were the Mormon people. They desire the good of all mankind, and no amount of opposition can harm them not even the vile, wicked, corrupt and deceiving moving picture films that havo been and arc being exhibited In tho country. Mr. Grant ,nlso denied compulsion in Uip rollectlon of tithe;: from the people. lie declared that these contributions were voluntarily made, and that those who had beon honest in their tithe paying had lts-! lts-! tilled to the bleeslngs received on that I account. He urged all to bo ahsolutolv honest with God In this matter, finishing i with calling down blesslngy upon all thn j people of the church. Elder David H. Cannon, president of the St. George temple, offered the opening open-ing prayer of the afternoon, and Elder Lewis Anderon, president of the Manti temple, gave tho benediction. At 7 o'clock In th" evening the general gen-eral priesthood meeting of the church was hold In the big tabernacle, to which there was no admittance except to thoHc who held tho Melchlsedftk priesthood. |