OCR Text |
Show : H TEMPLE IS BID UPON (BHRENCE .jtterday Saints Vote to Erect Place of Worship a on Island of Oahu. Hawaii. RESIDENT DECRIES HEAVY TAXATION leclares That Some People Have Gone "Education Had" in Extending the High School System. I Ikt. to aierrbe: of th? Church of Cirirt of Ltter-dsj Slur's, a ' : important announcement ma ro tail fomference in the tabernacle hriar wis tbi' a ten Ic vrouid be j lit Lair.' on the Island of Oahu, i IfHaTaiiiin :o'.;p. k:: araonnremert w?. Ueit Joseph F. Smith in hi.- co-".. iaidm. The cost of this m: ! not announced, a that has Mi determined upon. Such de- , I a io be arranged iater, when kali have bvon prepared. Vre are now four temples in I'tah ea;b at Salt Laie. Lopan, Manii Georg and onr i under eon-Bsi eon-Bsi in Alberta, Canada. Thr Ha us temple will make the eirth. t the people are hein too h.?a iK i for school purposes waa another le of the addren of President o. He declared that some people Iflie "education nia.i " in their ad-KJ ad-KJ of an extended high a.-hool t8- p Eurden Is Great. Bdnt 8mHh said that the added kiwis too p-eat. in view of the I that io Biblical or religious traiu-"M traiu-"M be had in the public .-hools. ""taaded Oat children should have 7 Khooliag in theological matters, iila those parents who desired to fcjlhl tiia were obliged to both ration in church or private school; W taies to support the public in-where in-where no such training fctihad. tadnt Smith has been suffering wld for several days, and spoke e difficulty, bis distress being te: h his auditors. There were "'ti he waa heard but a short bom the speaker's starfo. Od of the indisposition President 4."ko ia also general snperintend-Dcst snperintend-Dcst Sunday School union, to attend the annual meet- at body at the tabernacle last He wiH b, at both mectAag, flowwer. MflW persons attended each of Mabsraaelo meetings vesterdar. the morning and afternoon there ' w?riw meeting In Assembly rJ eats about 4000 per-on'. e total attendance of 16,00f t each session. Including f'm ho attended the Sunda-seting Sunda-seting la8t, right; thr a-tn,j. the day was ! 2.000. 4 the day opened with threat... the sun beamed upo hr m the afternoon aed the ,J? s,od iring thr. ,1a-. r. ji) Wlt Shower in the forenoon. J Mexico. b l,.Sml,n' Proposal to build aj .. - tne liiano of Oahu came our- 4. , S" ,h,: He also it had been the Intention of (T thorltlea to build another .v.'M "'rtnem border or Me,-. ..n,n',U " had nr,"V': 'V r' - - SWfe h2?K amhIUoue for power, '' if' the rl l,rn by ""'f'1 and ""1 v. ,, "litis of MVJ.mp,e ,'h"r ha1 been - " oriunued; toir '.ettple- -th:n rjfjnet ""aned on Pag, Two.) product of the work of Mornionism and the church, God speed Mormon-Ism Mormon-Ism and the church." President Monsori read some eastern newspaper clipping? of recent date, railing against the Mormon people, and these statements he proceeded to deny with some humor and much force. Especially did he call attention to the statement of one woman speaker, referring to the tithing report made public last April, which declared that in one year (according (accord-ing to this woman's figures) the church had collected $2,000,000,000. "Just fancy." he said, "assuming that there are 400.000 members ot" tiie church, that would make each member earn S50.000 annually and pay $4000 in tithing each year. That being the case, don't you think that such a productive pcuple ought to be left alone?" President Callis Is Heard. President C. A. Callis of the southern states mission also spoke briefly, saying In part: The sin of ingratitude Is a most ab-, horrent one. I sometimes wonder if,' after experiencing the blessings of prosperity which they do. the Iatter-day Iatter-day Saints are not showing their Ingratitude In-gratitude to t he Lord by not paying a full and honest tithing. After having hav-ing been blessed In our basket and store we should not hesitate to show, our gratitude by a proper return to the Lord. On every hand are testimonies of the truth of the gospel. At our very doors prophecy after prophecy is being fulfilled, and there is every reason why the faith of the saints should find constant renewal. President Frank Y. Taylor of the Granite Gran-ite stake uttered the invocation at the afternoon meeting, and Presiding Patriarch Pat-riarch Hyrum G. Smith pronounced the benediction. The music of both services was a feature feat-ure of the day. Tt included the. anthem 'Judgment," with Mrs. Esther Davis Stephens and Horace S. ISnsIgn in tlfe solo parts; "I.oyaUy," a composition by Professor Evan Stephens; "The "Lost Chord," sung by eight little girls, under the direction of Mrs. Lizzie Thomas Edward Ed-ward ; the "Hallelujah: chorus by the full choir and great organ. The music was excellent, and was highly appreciated. appre-ciated. Scandinavians Meet. Immediately after the close of the afternoon af-ternoon service the saints and missionaries mission-aries of the Scandinavian mission held their conference in the. Assembly hall, while the German conference was held in Barratt hall. In the Bishop's building at 4:30 o'clock a meeting of the presidents of quorums of seventy was held. This was for members mem-bers of that priesthood only. There are to be two meetings of the general conference in the tabernacle today to-day one beginning at 10 o'clock this morning and the other commencing at 4 o'clock this afternoon. There will be no sessions of the conference tomorrow, the two final meetings being scheduled for Wednesday morning and afternoon at the usual hours. It is the practice of the church to hold its annual and semi-annual conferences on such days as to embrace April 6 and October 6 and the nearest Sunday to each date. Officials of that organization deeming three days sufficient for the transaction of all business at this time, a recess is provided for Tuesday, the final sessions to take place on Wednesday, October 6, Tonight at the tabernacle, commencing at 7 o'clock, there Is to be a general priesthood meeting. To this the public will not be admitted. GREAT THRONGS HT CONFERENCE (Continued from Pago One.) where liberty prevails or where it hall prevail, for It Is comin our way. The day Is not far dTstant when righteousness win prevail in the land. We shall be permitted to serve God according lo the dictates of our own consciences. It In true that there are a. few men of narrow mind who criticise us and who are loudly proclaiming what a terrible people we Mormons are. ;'Pheir voices shall not prevail, however, a nd the lnha lilt ants of this country will continue to become be-come more enlightened as to the purposes pur-poses of the Lord. Members Consulted President Smith said that he had been impressed with the necessity for building build-ing the temple in the Alhefta. Canada, colony, and later with the desirability of, erecting one tn the Sandwich inlands', by incidents which had come to bis notice. These experiences, he fald, had to do with the inability of members of the church living at great distances from Salt Lake City coming here to do their work In the local temple, or In those at Logan. Manti and St. George. Utah. In view of the general desire among the church membership to perform' ordinances ordi-nances which could be attended to onlv In the temples, President Smith said. It was unjust to let Ylnaneial Inability stand in the way of the full salvation of any member of the organization. For this reason, and in order that no condemnation condemna-tion should attach to those having it In their power to a fford the neeessarv relief, re-lief, he had favored the temple In Alberta, Al-berta, Canada, and had concluded to present pre-sent the matter of a temple on the island of Oahu. President Smith said that he had not come to this conclusion without having first consulted the wishes of the tithe-paying members of the church In these localities. These had promised to do their share, he said, and be felt that the general church organization was In duty hound to assist them, as they had helped in the erection of the magnificent edifice In this city. Finally, the venerable vener-able president said, he had conferred with the council of twelve apuscies a nd the presiding bishopric and the consensus of their determination he had presented to the people In conference. He was pleased beyond measure, he declared, to see that the people were so heartily in favor of the plan. Conditions Reviewed. In reviewing the condition of the church at this time. President Smith said that he was gratified to report that the people were more united now than at any other period of the history of the organization. Also, he said, they were prosperous tn temporal matters and the general organization organi-zation of the church was In a prosperous prosper-ous condit ion. On these matters President Presi-dent Smith said In part : The Latter-day Saints are coming to see eye to eye on the principles of life and the plan of salvation. True, bis satanfc majesty is still alive, aa we have reason to know, but his power is waning and his influence In the earth ts growing less. It will continue to grow less and less until finally the power of God will triumph and righteousness will fill the earth. My prayer is that all the people of the earth shall be blessed to the end that they will devote themselves to the works of righteousness. and become farorcd of the Lord. It Is only through the gospel that the spirit of peace will prevail In the earth and the warring nations of the earth will cease their strife. Since we met here six months ago we have organized four new stakes. These, it must be understood, a re merely divisions of older stakes. The regions wherein these divisions have been made have become more, thickly settled and have enlarged 'and extended ex-tended their prosperous communities. In addition, wc have organized twelve new wards and five independent branches, which later will be made wards as soon as they become sufficiently suf-ficiently self-supporting. Stakes Number 72. There are now in the church seventy-two stakes. 764 wards and thirty-eight thirty-eight independent branches, unattached unat-tached to wards. During the past six months some changes have been made In the missions in Tahiti and Japan. We have helped eighty wards in erecting erect-ing meeting houses and amusement halls, or have assisted them In paying pay-ing off indebtedness accruing from former building activities. In respect of the tithing accounts of the people. T will say that they are a little better than they were last year. This is a gratifying condition, con-dition, because much money is being expended for church school purposes. while on this subject I will say that the state government has provided pro-vided splendid public schools up to the eighth gra.de. It has also given us a , university which lias no superior in the country. It helps, too, to support sup-port an agricultural college which is doing a work of usefulness here. But now I observe that there is a disposition disposi-tion to go too far with the high school idea. In fact, some people have become be-come education mad. Their activities activi-ties are burdening the people with too many taxes. Excessive Taxation. There is an excessive taxation for secular school purposes as a result of this disposition on the part of many people. If a man desires to send his children to a school where they can get the religious training which they should have in their youth, he must be at the expense of sending them outside of the state schools. The Bible has been barred from these and religious teaching in them is inhibited, in-hibited, so that the man wishing to give bis children an ecclesiastical training must submit to an expense in addition to his taxation to support sup-port the public system. It Is desirable that the people observe ob-serve more carefully the law on fast offerings. If this item, small as it is to each person , were faithfully a t -tended to. there would be no need of taking a dollar from the tithe funds to help the poor. It is our duty to assist the poor there are many kinds of poor, yon know, and I mean the, righteous poor a nd this fast offering offer-ing was Instituted for the purpose of doing this duty. President Lund Speaks. President Anthon H. Lund also addressed ad-dressed the morning meeting, his brief remarks being of a doctrinal character, lie admonished the people not to become weak in their faith through the persua- fiions or mockeries of adversaries who represented themselves as friends but unbelievers. un-believers. The morning overflow meeting In the Assembly hall was conducted by Apostle George Albert Smith. At the tabernacle services in the forenoon fore-noon (he invocation was uttered by President Pres-ident William McLachlan of the Pioneer Pio-neer stake and the benediction was pronounced pro-nounced by President Andrew Kimball of the St. Joseph stake.' Melvin J. Ballard, president of the northwestern states mission, mis-sion, participated in the musical exercises, exer-cises, singing; a tenor solo. President Charles W. -Penrose was the firsttspeaker at the afternoon meeting in the tabernacle. His address was largely doctrinal. He said in part: In the early days of this organization organiza-tion the elders went out literally without with-out purse or scrip, depending entirely entire-ly upon the kindness of friends whom the Lord saw fit to raise up unto them. Most of the older members of the church were impressed bv this exhibition exhibi-tion of faith and this sacrifice and they appealed to the Lord for wisdom In deciding their action concerning the. gospel. Those who thus went before be-fore the Lord in faith invariably became be-came converts. This was my experience experi-ence when I first heard the gospel In 1850. T acted upon the advice and experience of Joseph Smith, the prophet, to ask of the Lord, who gives liberally of his wisdom. This is no sect of religion. This Is no man-made organization. It is divine from tbe very beginning, and It will be brought to a glorious consummation. con-summation. We are to draw near unto deity with our whole hearts and serve the Lord with all our might and mind and strength. Through Joseph Smith, the prophet, God has revealed anew the plan of salvation and restored re-stored all the gifts of old, for he is the same today as be was of yore. More Than Faith. There is something more than merely mere-ly believing in deity and something more than mere obedience to religious re-ligious rules. It is necessary for us to follow the example of the Savior, who was born again of the water and of the spirit. Baptism by immersion is absolutely essential to our salvation, salva-tion, and it is equally essential for us to have the spirit of the Holy Ghost conferred upon us by those holding the proper authority. Unless we teach this doctrine lo our children the, condemnation of God will be upon us. We should have our children baptized and confirmed when they are S years of age. This is a requirement of the gospel. The fast day has this work in view as one of its principal objects. Revelation Necessary. Men who attempt to lead us away from the truth come purposely to deceive de-ceive us. Among our other peculiarities peculiari-ties we believe in continuous revelation, revela-tion, and upon this we depend for our guidance. " Those who would lead us away from this truth are defiant of the gospel and the truth is not in them. If with our whole hearts we will seek God he will draw near to us and we will find him. I do not know of any sensation which is more delightful de-lightful than to be enrapt in the visions vis-ions of eternity as received when we are sublimated and drawn from material affairs and are near unto the Lord. Tho church will prevail, notwithstanding notwith-standing the fact that we are maligned ma-ligned and our leaders are traduced. We shall triumph not because we are so wise nor because we are mighty. Our victory will come because be-cause God is our refuge. President John W. Hart of the Rigby. Idaho, stake, said it was an inspiration in-spiration to him to look , into the faces of those whom the Lord had chosen to direct his work. Tt was an added inspiration, inspi-ration, he said, lo look into the eyes of the great congregation present at the afternoon meeting. Tie continued in part: The bitterness of feeling toward the Latter-day Saints which formerly existed ex-isted in Idaho is fast passing away. The people are willing to consult with us and we are grateful for the fact that they are more appreciative of the blessings which they enjoy. There was a time when the members of the church were deprived of the franchise fran-chise In Tdaho because of their religion. re-ligion. Our people now enjoy their civil and religious rights there, and their industry and frugality. their progress! veness and good citizenship are being appreciated in a very high degree. Stake President Speaks. President Mark Austin of the Fremont, da., slake reported that the people in his .jurisdiction were very m uch interested inter-ested in the work of the Lord, and that he conveyed from them greetings to the members of the church assembled in the conference. "If any man love hla people," peo-ple," said President Austin, "he will leave them in peace and not attempt to disturb dis-turb them by spreading falsehoods about them. Enemies of this work," he continued, con-tinued, "can not destroy the souls of the people, an. I It is therefore only necessary for us to fear the Lord, who is able to destroy both soul and body." President Walter p. Monson of the eastern states mission made a brief address, ad-dress, saying in part : The Lord will not leave those who are engaged in his services alone as-long as-long as they put their trust in him. If an investigator should come to Now York from abroad, seeking for the truth, he will be confronted by a peculiar pe-culiar situation so far as the Mormon faith and people are concerned. If he goes to a motion picture show or a vaudeville performance he will find Mormon Ism and the Mormon people depicted In the vilest fashion or made the subject of rude Jest or vulgar humor. If lie goes to church he will find the vials of wrath and vituperation vitupera-tion eloquently poured out upon this j people. If he listens to speakers at street meetings he will hear the Mormons Mor-mons made'the butt of coarse vituper- ation. Clippings Are Read. Finally, in order to get at the truth concerning this people, he may come tn Utah. Here lie will find h beautiful beauti-ful city, idled wit h attractive homes, with citizens of good American cali-j cali-j bor. Glazing upon these Ihinga he in likely to say, "Well, if this is the |