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Show PIS. J9S. F. SMITH SPEAKS ON CHURCH .FifES Salt Lake, April 7. Declaring that 'none of the tithing or other revenues of the church has stuck to my fingers or those of others in authority," President Presi-dent Joseph F, Smith presented a financial fi-nancial report of expenditures made during tho fourteen years of his administration ad-ministration at the opening session of the eighty-sixth annual general conference con-ference of the Mormon church in the Tabernacle yestorday morning The report covered a period from 1901 to December 31, 1915, and listed expenditures expen-ditures totaling nearly ?17,000,000, or more than $1,000,000 a year. At the close of the year 190G, he said, tho million-dollar bonded indebtedness indebt-edness and interest of the church had been naid. maklne a total wnpnrtltiim for this item of .$1,200,000. There had been paid out during the past fourteen years for-church schools the president said, a total of $3,714,-455. $3,714,-455. Repairs, improvements, operation, maintenance and building of temples during thnt time had cost $1,109,499 For building stake and ward meeting meet-ing houses and amusement halls there had been expended $2,007,733. Preserving Memorials. For real estate and buildings, mission mis-sion house and meeting house purposes purpos-es In Europe the president said the church had spent $2C6,236 during his administration. For the same purposes purpos-es in the United States the expenditure expendi-ture had been $292,795 For agricultural agricul-tural colleges and for meeting houses In New Zealand and Samoa, he said, the church had spent $78,000. For tho maintenance and operation of missions both in the United States and foreign countries during this period per-iod the church had expended $2JG25,-32S. $2JG25,-32S. A total of $161,000 had been spent, he said, on the Joseph Smith Memorial Memor-ial farm and monument; the Joseph Smith farm at Palmyra, N Y , for real estate covering Adain-Ondi-Ahman. the center stake of Zion, in Missouri; for the Carthage, 111 , Jail, and for real estate at Independence, Jackson county. coun-ty. Mo In Salt Lake City, for real estate and buildings surrounding the temple block and for new buildings erected on this property the church, he said, had paid Out $1,555,000. For the construction and equipment of the Dr W. H Groves Latter-day Saints hospital in Salt Lake the church had spent $000,000. The 'largest item, aside from education, educa-tion, he noted, had been charity. The church, during his administration, had paid out to the poor, through all channels, chan-nels, ho said, the sum of $3,279,900. Tho grand total of these expenditures expendi-tures listed by President Smith is $10,929,946 Membership Increases. President Smith also made an Interesting Inter-esting report on the increase in the church membership during the past fourteen years There was a net Increase In-crease of 1S7 733 souls, said the president, presi-dent, and during that time hero have been organized twenty-two stakes, 202 wards and six missions. There were now, he said, seventy-two stakes of Zion, 797 wards and" twenty-two missions. Continuing, he said that there had been erected and remodeled 465 meeting meet-ing houses in the stakes, besides branch and mission meeting houses There had been 1,468,437 baptisms performed for the dead in the temples, he said. Concerning the work of church socl eties, the president said that membership member-ship of the Relief society had increased increas-ed 34 per cent; the Sunday school 40 per cent; tho Young Men's Mutual Improvement association 23 per cent; the Young Ladles Mutual Improvement Improve-ment association 27 per cent; the Primary association 39 per cent and the religion classes 85 per cent. Reveres Predecessors. President Smith, speaking with deep feeling, declared that he knew ho was standing not only In the pres ence of God and His Son, but also In the presence of Joseph Smith, the prophet, and Brigham Young, John Taylor, Wilford Woodruff and Lorenzo Snow, as well as other leaders of the church who had passed away. The head of the church declared that he did not believe, as some did, that God was a spirit only and that he filled all of space He said he did not believe that a person, as he believed be-lieved God to be, could fill all oi space at once. That, ho declared, was a physical and theological impossibility. impossibil-ity. But, he said, the power of God extended to every place in the universe uni-verse and was absolute. President Smith said that It had been his duty all his life to preach the gospel, and he urged upon the people peo-ple of the church the teachings of the gospel as given to them by the constituted con-stituted authorities. He commanded obedience to the laws of God and to the authorities set up by the Mormon church. "None of ub is big enough or independent enough," he declared, "to Ignore the ordinances of the church," The president concluded his address by reading the statement to show what had been done with the church's income during his administration. He congratulated the people on the fact that the authorities had been able to accomplish these things through the generous support of the members in general, and urged them to keep up their work. Abstinence from the use of alcoholic alcohol-ic drinks, tobacco, tea and coffee was urged strongly for Latter-day Saints at the afternoon session of the general gen-eral conference by Francis M. Lyman, president of the council of the twelve apostles. In addition to Apostle Lyman, Ly-man, a strong address, dealing largely with doctrinal matters over which there Is oftentimes some controversy among members of the Mormon church, was delivered by C. W. Penrose, Pen-rose, second counselor to President Smith. Apostle Lyman also made a plea that all saints exert theraselvcB to provide labor for all members of the church who are needy. The afternoon session was called to order a few minutes after 2 o'clock by President Smith, and tho choir sang the hymn, "God Moves in a Mysterious Mys-terious Way." The invocation was offered of-fered by Elder Arthur Winter, and was followed by the singing of "Our Mountain Home So Dear" by tho choir. President Penrose commented, in opening his nddress, on the words of President Smith spoken at the morning morn-ing session. He rejoiced at the progress prog-ress made by the church In tho past fourteen years, as shown by the report re-port read by tho president. The time would come, he said, when the gospel as preached by the church would abound everywhere and error would give way. Elucidates Doctrine. The speaker then mentioned the fact that communications frequently came to him personally, or to the first presidency, asking for the explanation explana-tion of certain doctrines o f the church. Many times, ho said, these were on matters that were perfectly simple and which should be understood under-stood thoroughly by all good members of the church. He then dwelt at length on the trinity and on Adam, the father of the human race. He denied that there was anything in the teaching of the church that should cause saints to believe they were to worship Adam. The doctrines of the church, he said, plainly indicated that God the Father was the one to be worshipped, aud not Adam. Following the address of President Penrose, a duet was sung by Geneva Harris and James H Nellson, the selection se-lection being "Stay Thou With Me." President Lyman of the council of apostles opened his disccurse by urging urg-ing tho necessity of providing employment em-ployment for all people of the church No matter how prosperous were the majority, he said, there were always some who needed work. He urged that those with means In the various industries extend these industries so as to provide employment for moro people. Instead of buying products from other states, said President Lyman, Ly-man, the people of Utah should be furnishing products to those states Trusted Men Faithful. Referring to the report presented at the morning session by President Smith the speaker made special mention men-tion of the excellence of the work dono by those who had been placed In positions of trust and authority, both at home and in the mission fields. Since he was twenty years of age, the speaker said, he had been In close touch with those who labored In the priesthood and the societies of tho church, and he said he could bear testimony to tho truth of all that President Smith had reported. Seldom, Sel-dom, indeed, he said, did the church find that its confidence had been misplaced. mis-placed. There were very few in authority au-thority who were ever dismissed for transgression of the laws of the church, he declared. Incidentally, said President Lyman whilo he was listening to the report of President Smith, ho recalled the fact that his administration had been about the same length as the one of the Prophet Joseph Smith. He noted, too, that each administration had been different than the preceding ones. He called the administration of the present church executive "the administration of building and establishment estab-lishment of church cchools." He pointed with special pride to the great work, too, that had been done In the mission field, and of the large sum spent both by the church and the misslouaries themselves In maintaining maintain-ing the mission field. Abstinence Is Urged. The conclusion of President Lyman's Ly-man's address was what he termed a warning against the use of strong drink, tobacco and tea and coffee. The use of these stimulants, ho said, was dangerous, extravagant and destructive de-structive to life. Furthermore, he said, they had a tendency to produce poverty and wastefulness. "If theso things were let alone by our people, and tho money wasted on them turned to proper use," advised the speaker, "everybody would be properly clothed and properly housed. Every dollar of liquor, tobacco, tea and coffee money should be saved. The law of the church against these things has been pointed out many times, and It should not bo forgotten. Tho church leaders for many years havo set examples In this regard that should be followed by all the saints." President Lyman said he feared there was au increasing tendency toward to-ward these extravagancies, and he urged that the young, especially, be warned against them. He advised that children be taught early in life always to save something, no matter how small the amount might be. By abstaining froni liquor, tobacco, tea and coffee, he said, they could easily save money, and also benefit themselves them-selves by the abstinence. At the conclusion of President Lyman's Ly-man's discourse ApoBtle Heber J. Grant presented the names of the general authorities of the church and asked that they bo sustained. The vote was unanimous in the affirmative. affirma-tive. There were no changes in the list of authorities. Apostle Grant also read the report of the general auditing committee of the church, which announced that the committee had carefully examined all accounts of the church and found them to be In excellent order The report praised the authorities in charge of the accounting for their efficient methods, and also noted that the funds in every case had been judiciously judi-ciously expended. The members of the general auditing committee are W. W. Kiter, H. H. Rolapp, John C. Cutler, Joseph S. Wells and Heber Scowcroft oo |