Show DISCOURSE at the sixty eighth annual oon conference po ference of the church in the 2 bernacle salt lake city friday april ath 1898 by deett JOSEPH F SMITH JB jo brethren and sisters I 1 have been 4 called upon to make a jompp 9 remarks and as I 1 have not pre upon what to say it Is just ars to mp me to follow some of the that have already been made iia this morning by reading from T batth chapter of mosiah Z wave eve in god believe that he is kat he created all things both yen and in earth believe that t all wisdom and all power both aveh eft and in earth believe that doth not comprehend all the which the lord can compre again believe that ye must lot of your sins bins and forsake them bumble le yourselves before god lk in III sincerity of heart that he jorgine you and now if you beall i these things see that ye do 4 awn I 1 say unto you as I 1 hove hae bore rore a that ye have known of aness and have tasted of his aad have received a remission ains which mauseth such ex tr great joy in your souls even d that ye should remember always retain in remembrance fye atness nass of god and your own and his goodness and long towards you unworthy krefl and humble yourselves even depths of humility calling on ug 0 of the lord dally daily and stand featly in the faith of that vaito xao come which was waa spoken by T ottati p of the angel I 1 say unto you that if taw ye shall always rejoice fluted with the love of god gd and r retain a remission of your sins e ism bhail W grow ow in the knowledge lory ry of 01 hi him 1 m that created you t the knowledge of that which is ayi true trual sr ya y will not have a mind to atop another but to live peaceably er to every man cording according ae t h is his due ye wilt will not suffer your children abrey atley go hungry or naked will ye suffer that they trans laws of god and fight and with h one another and serve the efto 0 ts le the master later of sin or who evil spirit t which hath been S bf iv by our A fathers athers he being an r tall all I 1 r righteousness I 1 1 ye will teach each t them to walk IF iWas tv Ys ortruth of truth and sober soberness neW shift to love one another if am b ne another IBO I 1 ye yourselves will sue suc elhat 7 stand hauad in red need of your in administer of your him that in av attl not suffer tal agut thil the blau U no of to you turn him out to perish r perhaps thou say the man has brought upon himself his ral misery sery therefore I 1 will stay my hand and will not give unto him of my food nor impart unto him of my substance that he may not suffer tor for his punishments are just but I 1 say unto you 0 man whosoever boeth this the same hath great cause to repent and except he re of that which he hath done he peri for ever and hath no interest t e rest in the kingdom of god for behold are we not all beggars do we not all depend upon the same being even god for all the substance which we have for both food and raiment and for gold and for silver and for all the riches which we have of every kind and behold even at this time ye have been calling on his name and begging for a remission of your sins and has he suffered that ye have begged in vain nay he has poured out his spirit upon you and has caused that yo your ur hearts should be filled with joy and has caused that your mouths should be stopped that ye could not find utterance so exceeding great was waa your joy and now it if god who has created you on whom you are dependent tor for your lives and for all that ye have and are doth grant unto you whatsoever ye 76 ask that is right in faith believing that ye shall receive 0 then how had ye ought to impart of the substance that ye have one to another and it if ye judge the man who i his petition to you for your substance that he perish not and condemn him how much more just will be your condemnation for withholding your substance which doth not belong to you iut but to god to whom also your life belo ngeth and yet ye put up no petition nor repent of the thing which thou hast dene 1 I 1 I say unto you wo be unto that man for his substance shall perish with him and now I 1 say these things I 1 unto those who are rich as pertaining to the things of this world and again I 1 say unto the poor ye who have not and yet have sufficient that ye remain from day to day I 1 mean all you who deny the beggar because ye have not I 1 would that ye say in ill your hearts that I 1 gle give not because I 1 have not but if I 1 had I 1 would give and now if ye say sav this in your hearts ye remain guiltless otherie oth erwe ye axe are condemned and your condemnation is just juet for ye covet that which ye have not received and now for the sake of these things which I 1 have spoken unto you that is for the sake of retaining a remission of your sins from day to day that hat ye may walk guiltless before god I 1 would that ye should impart of your substance to the poor every man according to that which he hath such ke is feeding the hungry clothing the naked visiting the sick and aad administering to thear relief both iwah spiritually and temporally po rally according to their wants and see that all these things are done in wisdom and order for it is in not requisite that a man should run faster than he has strength and again it to is expedient that he should be diligent that thereby he might win the prize therefore all things must be done in order and I 1 would that ye should remember that whosoever among you that bor of his neighbor should return the thing that he bor according as he doth agree or else thou shall commit sin and perhaps thou shall cause thy neighbor to commit sin also and finally I 1 cannot tell you all the things whereby ye may commit sin tor ford there are divers ways and means even so BO many that I 1 cannot number them but this much I 1 can tell you tha t if ye do not watch your thoughts though its and your words and your deeds and observe the commandments of god and wn ton dinue in the faith of what ye have heard concerning the coming of our lord even unto the end of your lives ye must perish and now 0 man remember and perish derish not I 1 have been reading the words ot at king benjamin to the people as re corded in the fourth chapter os of moslah mosiah in the book of mormon and I 1 dont know but what they apply to us today in many ways as completely as they applied to those unto whom they were spoken yeti yet I 1 believe I 1 can confidently say that the latter day saints as a rule are among tk taft most hospitable generous and kind hearted people that can be found upon the earth not long ago one of our elders returned from a mission in the south there had been a question om raised in his mind as to whether the latter day saints in zion would be b as open hano ban aa hogni table as kindhearted and as willing to lo receive and entertain a stranger as were the peon peo pie of the south and he determined to put the matter to the test the story of his visits to some of our people heft Is published in the improvement UM no 6 1 I canot banot give it to de tall but will only attempt ft a brief out auf i line representing himself ae a minister 1 of the gospel from tho the state of Tennee eee traveling without purse or scrip as the elders of the church of jesus christ of latter day saints were generally doing he called upon brother B Y hampton of the hampton hampto house and asked for entertainment entertain anent without charge brother hampton Haan readily con dented to take care of him he next called at the temple barbor barber shop with a similar representation and asked for a shave and shingle on the same terms which was readily complied with and he was asked to come again he next called upon brother rother Bi henry dinwoodey and aed pre benting sen ting himself as bea before ote asked tor for means to pay hla his fare on the ma road going north whereupon arb brother dinwoodey handed him out the naione moped yi needing a mainspring in his watch he ailed upon brother john darnea vind find son and introduced himself as be flore and they chear cheerfully fully repaired his watch he then called upon col thomas G webber of at Z C M X L I 1 and in the same guise asked for a pair of shoes which col webber generously grave gave him having a tooth which needed filling he called at the dental parlors of dr pred fred clawson whom he convinced atter after some difficulty that he was not an old friend and school mate but really a minister of the gospel from tennessee having EL a similar name the doctor readily consented to his having his tooth filled without money or price thus it was proven that the latter day saints were as generous as kindhearted kind hearted as ready to help the stranger of another religion as were the good people of the southern states and tor for that matter of any other country having put these people to the test in other words having weighed them in the balance and found them not wanting in each case he fully explained his motive and who he wals waa to their mutual delight and when the elder returned their gifts or declined to receive the favors granted him without proper remuneration in each case as I 1 understand the brethren insisted that what they had done was in good faith on their part and he was welcome to the same believing that an elder who had spent two years and upwards on a mission laboring without purse or scrip would be likely to stand aland almost as much in need of such help as would the strange minister whom he had personated persona ted NOW some of us are a little more fortunate than others for instance I 1 have several doors and beggars come to all of them and if ever a beggar was turned away from one of my doors I 1 never knew it I 1 have always and so have my family contributed dated food and such clothing as we could spare to every one who came asking for it last summer a poor boy came to my house I 1 happened to be out of doors doom around the corner of the house I 1 heard the voice of a man I 1 looked and he was sitting on a box I 1 heard that he was murmuring and cursing and swearing I 1 stepped out and I 1 said my friend what to Is the matter with you he pointed to hla his feet and bald baid look at my feet the remnants of shoes which he had on them were too small for him he had worn them through the soles and his feet were out upon the ground they were aliste blistered ed and inflamed and painfully sore he said he had bad been driven out of davis county by the officers of the law and was told that if he did not get out of the county he would be put in jail jaal tor for vagrancy and he had come here and asked for food and the people who had given him food had not invited him into the house now I 1 said my friend why do you swear about it it seems to me that a man in your circumstances ought to pray rather than swear it would be much move more becoming in you to humble yourself and appeal to the lord for fer a fittje assistance from him rather than to curse and swear as I 1 have heard you do I 1 said to him this is my home this is my family who live here I 1 have a very large family faintly and I 1 have all I 1 can do to provide for them so far as I 1 can find or provide labor for my children they are out at work indeed some of them are at work who ought to be going to school notwithstanding all this we are willing to help you or any other person so far as we can who comes to us in need but I 1 dont like anyone any one to come upon my premises and use profane language or curse and swear now I 1 advise you never to swear again hold sacred the name of the lord and do a little praying and rn ill promise you you will get along better in this world than you have done I 1 then called my cifes attention to the condition of this poor boy and she prepared him a good warm bath gave him a clean undershirt and a pair of socks and a pair of boots and a good breakfast and sent him on his way this is the way we treated this poor creature but we do not treat them all that way we could not afford to give all that come boots and socks and clothes and baths for we have not enough to go round but we have always managed to give something to the poor and refuse no one who asks for food I 1 believe this is the general sentiment and character of the latter day saints I 1 think all the mormon people are kindly disposed and are generous toward the poor and unfortunate and that there is not a latter day saint under the sound of my voice or anywhere that would not divide his portion with his fellow creature in case of need I 1 have this testimony to bear to the latter day saints president cannon asks whether I 1 would advise where men come asking for food that they be invited to do a little work for it I 1 should most decidedly be in favor of asking a man who had plenty of time on his hands and nothing else and who had physical strength to devote a little of his time and strength by way of compensating for that which he received but you want to watch them a little I 1 am not talking no now w ot the latter day saints who seek for employment there are very few lat ter day saints who have to beg indeed I 1 know of none and I 1 am sorry there di are re any professing to be latter day saints who do beg there ought not to be any latter day saint beggars the beggars that we have are those that are not of us and they are sometimes very wicked in their hearts ind not at all grateful at times for what they receive I 1 have seen men go away from my door with good bread and butter in their hands good enough for any king to eat for my folks make good bread and good butter as good as I 1 ever ate on earth and ana when out of the gate they have thrown it into the street it was not food they wanted they wanted money for what that they might go to some gambling hell or to some drinking saloon of course they are responsible for that we can only judge by appearances and by the of the good spirit within os and it is better to give to a dozen that are unworthy than to turn way away a empty one worthy person there is another phase of this question that I 1 want to refer to there is such a thing as encouraging idleness and fostering pauperism among men men and women ought not to be willing to receive charity unless they are compelled to do so to keep them from suffering buffering every man and woman ought to possess the spirit of independence pen dence a self sustaining spirit that would prompt him or her to say when they are in need 1 I am willing to give my labor in exchange for that which you give me no man ought to be satisfied to receive and to do nothing for it after a man is brought downto down to poverty and Is under the necessity of receiving aid and his friends give it him he should feel that it is an obligation under which he is placed and when the lord should open his way he would return the gift that is the feeling we should cultivate in our hearts to make us a free and independent people the cultivation of any other feeling or spirit than this is calculated to make paupers haupers pau pers to degrade and bring mankind down to beggary which is a most wretched condition for men to be in it to is a bad thing for men to think the world owes them a living and all they have todo to do to is to beg or steal to get it when it comes to this class of people I 1 am very much of the mind expressed once by dr johnson when a beggar came to him and asked alms and insisted th that aa the doctor should be generous in heln belp ing him for said he doctor y yon know that I 1 must live but th the d doctor said 1 I dont see the least n necea aces sity for it when a man becomes 5 parasite living upon the charity of hla big I 1 friends I 1 confess it is hard to see the necessity for him to live he to Is no good to any one I 1 speak this waw only of such as are able bodied such W as have their faculties and can devote these to some industry to some t ful labor I 1 dont usei refer to the crippa cri nolte to those who are anfee enfeebled bled by age be ft cause |