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Show I ! 'JOSEPH F. SMITH MAKES I AN ELOQUENT PLEA FOR i PATRIOTIC LOYALTY TO II. S. H J SALT LAKE, April 7. An eloquent H t plea for patriotic loyalty to the United H States and its government, Which has B declared a state of war existing be- H tween this nation and Germany, was B voiced by President Joseph F. Smith, H . and struck the keynote for subsequent speakers, including Anthon H. Lund H and C. W. Penrose of the first presi- H dency, at yesterday's opening session H of the eighty-seventh annual confer- Hj ence of the Church of Jesus Christ of H Latter-day Saints in the tabernacle. 1 More than 12,000 persons attended H V the first session, beginning at 10 a. m., 1 constituting what is declared to be a new record in the history of the conferences. con-ferences. Even a larger throng was H present at the afternoon services. The V great auditorium was packed. Many fl stood in the side aisles and the door- H ways were almost Jammed. With few H ; exceptions all the authorities of the H ; church wore present. H As the session opened members of H stake and ward choirs, by request, H ' flocked into the tabernacle choir sec- H tion. Both choir and congregation, H under the leadership of Prof. A. C. S"" Lund, sang the hymns. Prof. J. J. McClellan was at the organ. Swept by Patriotism. The great audience was brought to PPH its feet in a wave of patriotism when H a medley of national airs, played on H the organ, reached its climaj: with H "The Star Spangled Banner" After H the opening hymns, "Come, Come, Ye J Saints" and "O Say, What Is Truth," H witli prayer by Elder Edward II. An- H derson. President Smith launched di- H rectly into the principal theme of his H address. President Smith said: H "In this church there is no distinc- H tion of nationalities. We are all mem- H bers of the church and true Ameri- H can citizens. Those who come to us Hi from lands abroad as converts also H come with the full Intention of becom- H ing loyal citizens. H "We are living In critical times. PPpHI From what is visible today, none can H foretell what will occur tomorrow. But H) we need not be anxiously concerned H about this. For If we do our duty as H members of the church, as honorable H men and women, and as citizens of H this great land, we need not fear par- H' ticularly what tomorrow may bring H forth. PPpHI "I want to say to nil Latter-day H, Saints who enlist that when they be- H" come soldiers they must not forget H that they are also soldiers of the cross H ministers of life, not of destruction H and death defending the Just liber- H ties o'f mankind. May I not exhort H them to maintain above all things the H .' spirit of humanity, lovo and pele- H making, and not to demolish the prin- Hi ciples wo believe In peace and good- Hv will toward all mankind. H' Must Do Their Duty. H i i "Let Utah soldiers be men of hon- H 1 or. Let them do their duty with an H ft eye singlo A the good aimed at the PPPH i betterment of the world and not with PPPPJ bloodthirsty desire to destroy. If we PPPH can help t the oppressed, aid the de- H spondent'j and sorrowing, uplift and H ) ameliorate the conditions of mankind, PPPB ( It is an essential part of our religion j to do Hl President Smith declared the Mor- H'' nion church organization to be perfect. H ' In case of critical conditions, he said, Hli Its leaders could send forth a call for Ht aid that would reach into the four Hr corners of the world, bringing returns H i on the morrow without costs. Every H dime contributed to aid the oppressed, H needy and suffering persona, ho as- Iserted, would reach those for whom it yaB intended. He-exhorted members to teach their children to honor and obey the laws of i God and .the United States and to hon- b 'rr and, support .those who stood at the H y jielnvofrbothHchurohtand country with H Arue'Amerlcanvloyalty. K "We have need of a careful -course of prudence, economy and industry," he declared, "with reference to the necessities ne-cessities of life. We have had a long winter, extending far Into the lap of spring. We may have a very short period for the raising of crops, and we should realize that we are dependent on the soil. Economy Is Urged. "I understand the authorities at Washington have asked the Utah Agricultural Agri-cultural college to prevail upon the people of Utah to economize, to produce, pro-duce, to save and to store up supplies and even to assemble the sinews of war, if actual warfaro should come." Apparently referring to the German-people, German-people, though not naming them, President Smith declared: "We must not condemn them. The people are innocent. It is their leaders, lead-ers, those who do Injustice and oppress op-press them, who are to blame." President Smith for a moment branched into a personal testimony as to the honor and integrity of the lead, ers of the church from Brlgham Youiiyj down to the present time. He said he had been associated intimately with them and bore- testimony they were true, virtuous, pure men; men of God; men above reproach, except that wickfd men say a practice which in itself was as pure and true as any principle of the gospel. It was a crime in the eyes of lecherous men that Brigham Young should have more than one wife. But they were his wives and his children. Pie cared for them. He suffered persecution and others havo suffered. But that is a thing of the past. "Today some of us," he said, "are condemned because we do not abandon the wives we had before the church capitulated to the laws of'fhe land and gave up polygamy. I should like to say to all the world .that if any man deserves de-serves to be damned it is the man who would abandon the mother of his children." He bore his testimony that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, begotten in the likeness and Image of his Father. It is hard to get people to understand this, he said, because the nondescrlp God the world believes in could not beget a son like this the Savior of the world. Statistics Are Given. Before concluding, President Smith read statistics showing some of the most Important expenditures of the church organization during 1916, as follows: New church administration building, 5864,502; temple at Cardston, Alberta, Canada, $209,C69; temple In Hawaiian islands, ?60,520; support of missions paid out of tithes, $213,610; property and mission house in Brooklyn, $51,-802.; $51,-802.; South African mission property, $9,333; additional property at Independence, Inde-pendence, Mo $6,000. new chapel in St. Louis, 56,400; charities to the poor, 5308,951; church schools, $365,832; maintenance and improvement of Thomas D. Dee Memorial hospital, $33,587 ward and stake meeting houses, $177,736. At the close of the year 1916 there were 819 wards and seventy-three stakes of Zlon, and there were twenty, one missions with 1,335 missionaries In the field, including 18S women... A considerable increase Is shown in the labors of our people in the temples. tem-ples. During the year 1916 419,257 ordinances wore performed in our temples. 88,000 in excess of the previous pre-vious year. This is the largest in the history of the church. Capacity is Reached. The Latter-day Saints hospital has reached Its full capacity Inthe accommodation accom-modation of patients. The Dee hospital hospit-al also has been running at its full capacity. Since our last conference the Idaho stake has been organized, with Nelson J. Hogan as president. Eight new wards also havo been organized. Elder Sylvester Q. Cannon has been appointed yposident of Pioneer stako. and Elder S. Norman Lee president of Box Elder stako. Elder Hyrum W. Valentine, president presi-dent 6f flhe Swiss and German mission, mis-sion, has succeeded in getting home safely, and Elder Angus J. Cannon has taken his place. Since our last conference President Francis M. Lyman of the council of the twelve apostles has passed away, and Elder Ileber J. Grant has been appointed president. Elder Stephen L. Richards, Jr., has been appointed a member of the council. |