Vol. VII. The Glory of God is Intelligence. No. 5k
IMPROVEMENT ERA.
Organ of Young Men's Mutual Improvement Association*.
PUBLISHED BY THE GENERAL, BOARD.
Joseph F. Smith, ) Wjlf/.,« Hbbrr J. Grant, i Businen
Edw. H. Aicdbrsou, ( 'S0110™- Thos. Hull, j Managers.
Entered at the Post Office, Salt Lake City, Utah, as Second Class Matter.
MARCH, 1904.
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
Portrait of Joseph Bull , Frontispiece
The Probability of Joseph Smith's Story Elder B. H. Roberts 321
The Flood-time of Energy 33P
The Celtic Maiden. A Story of Ancient Britain Prof. Willard Done 332"
A Friend's Influence is Worth More than Gold 33f>
Joseph Smith as Scientist. V Dr. John A. Widtsoe 33T
Suggestive Thoughts for the Mildly Skeptical Dr. J. X. Allen 345.
My Love. A Poem Ruth May Fox 34$
The Jew— His Past, Present and Future. A Sketch J. M. Sjodahl 35 0>
Counsel to Boys Engaged in Isolated Labor Elder M. F. Cowley 364
Talks to Young Men. V— "The Same is Damned" 367
Public Workers — Joseph Bull 370i
Some Leading Events in the Current Story of the
World— War in the Far East— Attitude of the
United States — Sympathy of the United States
in the Present War — New York and Religion
— The Panama Canal— Will Congress Do It? Dr. J. M. Tanner 37&
Editor's Table -A Senseless Campaign President Joseph F. Smith 382:
Questions and Answers — Concerning the
Creation — The Kinderhook Plates — The
Kingdom of God— Copyrights 385
Notes 388
Our Work— Preliminary Programs Prof. Willard Done 389
To the Reader — Reviews 392
Events of the Month 393*
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JOSEPH BULL, Born, January 25, 1832; died, January 11, 1904.
IMPROVEMENT ERA
Vol. VII. MARCH, 1904. No. 5.
THE PROBABILITY OF JOSEPH SMITH'S STORY.
BY ELDER B. H. ROBERTS. I.
By the probability of Joseph Smith's story, I mean, of course, the probability of the truth of his story concerning the coming forth of the Book of Mormon — of Moroni revealing its existence to him — of Moroni delivering to him the plates and Urim and Thummim — of his translating the record by the gift and power of God, by means of the Urim and Thummim — of his returning the plates to Moroni, who to this day, doubtless, has them in charge.
I am aware of the fact that the miraculous is usually regarded with suspicion; that such a thing as the ministration of angels in what are called these "hard and scientific times" is generally scouted by most of those who make any pretensions to science; that a school of scholars has arisen whose main principle in the search of truth is that the miraculous is the impossible, and that all narra- tives which include the miraculous are to be rigidly rejected, as implying credulity or imposture; that even professed believers in the Bible, who accept as historically true the Bible account of the ministration of angels, insist that the age in which such things occurred has long since passed away and that such ministra-
322 IMPROVEMENT ERA.
tions are not to be expected now.* But on this subject the word of God stands sure. According to that word there have been min- istrations of angels in times past; and there will be such ministra- tions to the last day of recorded time. As to the ministration of angels in the past, according to holy scripture, the reader will call to mind the circumstance of angels together with the Lord, visiting Abraham at his tent-home in the plains of Mamre, and partaking of his hospitality; of the appearance of angels to direct the flight of Lot from one of the doomed cities of the plain; of Jacob's physical contact with the angel with whom he wrestled until the breaking of the day; of the angel who went before the camp of Israel in its march from bondage, and scores of other in- stances recorded in the Old Testament where heavenly personages •co-operated with men on earth to bring to pass the holy purposes of God.
Of instances in the New Testament, the reader will recall the ministration of the angel Gabriel to Zacharias, announcing the future birth of John the Baptist; of the angel who appeared to Mary to make known the high honor bestowed upon her in becom- ing the mother of our Lord Jesus; of the appearance of Moses and Elias to the Savior and three of his disciples, to whom they minis- tered; of the angel who rolled away the stone from the mouth of the sepulchre, and announced the resurrection of the Savior; of the men in white (angels) who were present at the ascension of Jesus from the midst of his disciples, and announced the fact that the time would come when that same Jesus should come again to the -earth in like manner as they had seen him go into heaven; of the angel who delivered Peter from prison, and a dozen other instances Avhere angels co-operated with men in bringing to pass the purposes •of God in the dispensation of the meridian of time.
With reference to the angels who in ages future from that in which the apostles lived ministering to men and co-operating to bring to pass future purposes of God, the reader will recall the saying of the Savior concerning the gathering together of the elect in the hour of God's judgment: "and he shall send his angels with
*See "Life of Jesus," Renan, (E. T.) Introduction; also "New Wit- nesses," vol. I, chapter 1. •
THE PROBABILITY OF JOSEPH SMITH'S STORY. 323
a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other;"* he will recall, also, the promise in Malachi concerning the same times: ' 'Behold I will send you Elijah the prophet before the com- ing of the great and dreadful day of the Lord: and he shall turn the'hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse ;"f he will recollect the promised coming of the angel to re- store the gospel in the hour of God's judgment: "And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come : and wor- ship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fount- ains of waters ;"$ also the angel who will declare the fall of Babylon, "And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication. And the third angel followed them, saying with a 'loud voice, if any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God."§ "And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power, and the earth was lighted with his glory. And he cried might- ily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit."|| The reader of the scriptures, I say, will readily recall all these ministrations of angels; as also the promise of the ministra- tions of many other angels, in bringing to pass the great things of God in the last days, even to the gathering together in one all things in Christ.**
It cannot be held as unscriptural, then, when Joseph Smith claimed that by the ministration of angels he received a revelation from God — a dispensation of the Gospel.
Then, again, whatever the position of unbelievers in the Bible may be with reference to Joseph Smith translating the Book of
*Matt. xxiv: 31. f Malachi iv: 5, 6. | Revelation xiv: 6, 7. §Rev. xiv: 8, 9, 10. || Rev. xviii: 1-3. **Ephesians i: 9, 10.
324 IMPROVEMENT ERA.
Mormon by means of Urim and Thummim, or "Interpreters,'5 as they were called by the Nephites, surely believers in the Bible cannot regard such a claim as impossible or improbable, since it is matter of common knowledge that the High Priest in ancient Israel possessed Urim and Thummim, and by means of them received divine communications. I am not unmindful of the fact that a diversity of opinion obtains respecting Urim and Thummim of the scriptures, of what they consisted, and the exact use of them, but this I think may be set down as ascertained fact; they were placed in the breast-plate of the High Priest, and were a means through which God communicated to him divine knowledge — the divine will.*
* The reader will find the above data concerning Urim and Thummim in the following passages: Exodus xxviii: 29, 30; Leviticus viii: 8; Numbers xxvii: 21; Deuteronomy xxxiii: 8; I Samuel xxviii: 6; Ezra ii: 63; Nehemiah vii: 65. He will also find an excellent article on the subject in Smith's Dictionary of the Bible, (Hackett edition) vol. 4, pp. 3356-3363; also in Kitto's Encyclopedia of Biblical Literature, vol. 2, pp. 900-903. Josephus' description of Urim and Thummim is as fol- lows: "I will now treat of what I before omitted, the garment of the high priest: for he (Moses) left no room for the evil practices of (false) prophets; but if some of that sort should attempt to abuse the divine authority, he left it to God to be present at his sacrifices when he pleased, and when he pleased to be absent. And he was willing this should be known, not to the Hebrews only, but to those foreigners also who were there. But as to these stones, which we told you before the high priest bore on his shoulders, which were sardonyxs, (and I think it needless to describe their nature, they being known to everybody) : the one of them shined out when God was present at their sacrifices; I mean that which was in the nature of a button on his right shoulder, bright rays darting out thence; and being seen even by those that were most remote; which splendor yet was not before natural to the stone. This has appeared a wonderful thing to such as have not so far indulged themselves in philosophy, as to despise divine revelation. Yet will I mention what is still more wonderful than this: for God declared before- hand, by those twelve stones which the high priest bore on his breast, and which were inserted into his breastplate, when they should be vic- torious in battle; for so great a splendor shone forth from them before the army began to march, that all the people were sensible of God's being present for their assistance. Whence it came to pass that those Greeks
THE PROBABILITY OF JOSEPH SMITH'S STORY. 325
Since this kind of means, then, was used by prophets in ancient Israel, it should not be matter of astonishment, much less of ridi- cule, or a thing to be regarded as improbable that when a colony of Israelites were lead away from the main body of the people, a similar media for obtaining the will of the Lord, and for translat- ing records not otherwise translatable, should be found with them. So also respecting Joseph Smith's claim to having found what he called a "Seer Stone," by means of which he could translate. That cannot be regarded as an impossibility or even an improbability by those who believe the Bible ; for, in addition to the Hebrew litera- ture giving an account of Urim and Thummim in the breastplate of the high priest, it is well known that other means were used by inspired men of Israel for obtaining the word of the Lord. That most excellent of Bible characters, Joseph, the son of Jacob, blessed in his boyhood with prophetic dreams, and possessed of the divine gift of interpreting dreams, the savior of Israel in times of famine, and a wise ruler for a time of Egypt's destiny,used such media. When the cup was found in the mouth of Benjamin's sack, Joseph's steward said to him: "Is not this it in which my Lord drinketh, and whereby, indeed, he divinethV Joseph himself said, when his perplexed brethren stood before him, "What deed is this that ye have done? Wot ye not that such a man as- 1 can certainly divine?"* The fact of ascertaining the word of the Lord by means of this "divining cup" cannot be explained away by sug- gesting that Joseph merely referred to an Egyptian custom of divining; or that the steward repeated the words which Joseph had spoken to him merely in jest.f As remarked by a learned writer on this subject — "We need not think of Joseph, the pure, the heaven-taught, the blameless one, as adopting, still less as basely pretending to adopt, the dark arts of a system of imposture."! I
who had veneration for our laws, because they could not possibly contra- dict this, called that breastplate The Oracle. Now this breastplate and this sardonyx left off shining two hundred years before I composed this book, God having been displeased at the transgression of his laws (Antiquities of the Jews, bk. Ill, ch. viii.)
* Genesis xliv: 5-15. f Such is the Roman Catholic explanation of the matter, see note on the passage, Gen. xliv: 5-15, in Douay Bible. | Smith's Dictionary of the Bible, Art. Urim and Thummim.
326 IMPROVEMENT ERA.
agree with that view. It is a reality sustained by Bible authority that there exists media through which divine revelation may be obtained, and hence to the Bible believers the claim of Joseph Smith concerning "Urim and Thummim," and the "Seer Stone," by means of which, through the inspiration of God, he translated the record of the Nephites, is not impossible nor even improbable. But what shall we say to that very large number of people who do not believe the Bible? How shall we so appeal to them as to secure their attention in these matters? Addressing himself to those who questioned at least the likelihood of the resurrection, Paul asked: "Why should it be thought a thing incredible with you, that God should raise the dead?" So say I respecting those who do not believe in the Bible, but pride themselves on accepting and believing all those things established by the researches of men — by science — why should it be thought a thing incredible with them that angels should visit our earth in order to communicate knowl- edge not otherwise, perhaps, obtainable. Or why should it be thought a thing incredible with them that media should exist through the aid of which inspired men may be assisted in translat- ing records not otherwise translatable. They live in the midst of ascertained facts respecting the universe, that such a thing as communication between the inhabited worlds of that universe ought to be looked upon as a thing so rational that to doubt its probability would be esteemed as folly. They live in the midst of such achievements of man's ingenuity, and in the daily use of such marvelous instruments invented by men for the ascertainment of truth, that surely they ought not to stumble at accepting at least as possible, and even as probable, the existence of media possessed of the qualities ascribed by Joseph to the transparent stones he found with the Nephite plates, — Urim and Thummim — and the "Seer Stone," which he sometimes used in translating.
A word as to the first proposition — viz., men live in the midst of ascertained facts respecting the universe that such a thing as communication between inhabited worlds ought to be regarded as a reasonable probability. Of the change of view respecting our own earth and its relations in the universe, I have already spoken.* Indeed, I may say that with some attention to details I
* New Witnesses, vol. I, chs. xxviii, xxix, xxx.
THE PROBABILITY OF JOSEPH SMITH'S STORY. 327
have considered the transition from the conception of the earth as the centre of the universe, with the sun, and moon and all the stars brought into existence for its convenience, or beauty, or glory, to- the conception of the earth as one of the smaller planets of a: group moving regularly about the sun as their centre, and the probability of each fixed star being the centre of such a group of planets. The ascertained existence of millions of other suns than ours, evidently the centres of planetary systems being granted, the view that these planets are the habitation of sentient beings seems a concomitant fact, so probable that one is astonished, if not a little provoked, at that conservatism which hesitates to accept a hypoth- esis so reasonable in itself, and so well sustained by the analogy of the existence of sentient beings on our own planet. The astron- omers tell us some of these fixed stars — these suns that are probably the centre of planetary systems — have existed for hundreds of thousands of years, for so distant are they from us in space that it would require that period of time for their light to reach our earth, hence they must have existed all that time. It is evident, then, that they are many times older than our earth; so, too, are the planets that encircle them. From this conclusion to the one that the sentient beings that doubtless dwell upon these planets are far in advance of the inhabitants of our earth, intellectually, morally, spiritually and in everything that makes for higher devel- opment and more perfect civilization, is but a little step, which rests on strong probability. From these conclusions, again, to the conceived likelihood of the presiding intelligence of some of these worlds to which our earth may sustain peculiar relations of order or affinity — having both the power and the inclination to communi- cate from time to time by personal messengers, or other means, to chosen men of our own race, — but for the benefit or good of all, — is but another step, not so large as the others, by which we have been led to this point, and one that rests also upon a base of strong probability. And this is the phenomena of the visitation of angels and revelation testified of in the scriptures. Such phenomena are mistakenly considered supernatural and uncanny. They are not so really. They are very matter of fact realities; perfectly natural, and in harmony with the intellectual order or economy of a uni- verse where intelligence and goodness govern, and love unites
328 IMPROVEMENT ERA
the brotherhood of the universe in bonds of sympathetic in- terest.
In view of these reflections, why, I ask, should it be thought a thing incredible with scientific men that there should be such phenomena as the visitation of angels, or other means of communi- cation, among the many planets and planetary systems which make up the universe? Surely it will not be argued that it is impossi- ble for sentient beings to pass from world to world, because man in his present state is bound to earth by the force of gravitation, and that the same force would doubtless operate upon the inhabit- ants of other worlds, and bind them to their local habitation as we are bound to ours. The beings whom we call angels, though of the same race and nature with ourselves, may pass, and doubtless have passed, through such physical changes as to render them quite in- dependent of the clogging force called gravitation. We may not , therefore, place the same limitations upon their powers in thi? kind as upon man, in his present physical state.
As for other means of communications from intelligences of other worlds to our own, they will not be regarded as impossible in the pres- ence of the achievements of men in such matters. By means of mag- netic telegraph systems, man has established instant communication with all parts of the world. Not the highest mountain ranges, not deserts, not even ocean's wide expanse, have been sufficient to bar his way. He has made the earth a net-work of his cables and telegraph lines, until nearly every part of the earth is within the radius of instant communication. In 1896, the National Electric Light Association celebrated the triumphs of electricity by holding a national electrical exposition in New York City. The occasion was the completion of the electric works at Niagara Falls. For ages, that mighty cataract had thundered out the evidences of its mighty power to heedless savages and frontiersmen; but modern man looked upon it, and by the expenditure of five million dollars, harnessed it, applied its forces to his contrivances, made it gener- ate electric force which lights the cities, drives the street cars, and turns the wheels of industry for many miles around; and even transmitted its force to New York City, four hundred and sixty miles distant. It was on that occasion that Governor Levi P. Morton, upon the declaration being made that the exposition was
THE PROBABILITY OF JOSEPH SMITH'S STORY. 329
open, turned a golden key by which four cannon were in- stantaneously fired in the four quarters of the republic, one in Augusta, Maine, one in San Francisco, one in front of the public building at St. Paul, and another in the public park in New Orleans. This discharge was accomplished by a current of elec- tricity generated at Niagara, and transmitted over the lines of the Postal Telegraph Cable Company. Later in the course of the exposition, a message was sent all over the world, and returned to New York within fifty minutes. The message was:
God created nature's treasures; science utilizes electric power for the grandeur of the nations and peace of the world.
The reply, also sent over the world, was:
Mighty Niagara, nature's wonder, serving men through the world's electric circuit, proclaims to all people science triumphant and the benefi- cent Creator.
The distance traversed by each of these messages was about twenty-seven thousand five hundred miles, touching nearly all the great centres of population in the world, and that within the al- most incredible time of fifty minutes !
Again, in 1898," on the occasion of California's Golden Jubilee, that is, her semi-centennial celebration of the discovery of gold in the state, William McKinley, then president of the United States, seated in his office at the White House, in Washington, D. C, pressed an electric button which rung a bell in the Mechanic's Pavilion in San Francisco, and formally opened the mining exposition, though the president was distant about three thousand miles. The press dispatches, at the time of the event, gave the following graphic de- scription of the event just related:
By an electric sensation, as indescribable as the thrill of the dis- coverer's cry of "gold," the president of the nation sent from Washing- ton the signal which announced the opening of the fair. As the bell clanged its clear note, and the Great West was for an instant connected with the distant East, a hush fell on the gathered thousands; then, moved by a common impulse, the vast throng burst into cheers. Close following on the touch which sounded the sweet-toned bell came the greeting of President McKinley, announcing "the marking of a mighty epoch in the history of California." About him, over three thousand
330 IMPROVEMENT ERA.
miles away, stood the representatives of the state in Congress, their thoughts flying quicker even than telegraphic message to the people gathered in the great pavilion. And so, united by the material ties of the electric wire, and the subtle powers of thought, the East and the West were held for a few brief moments by a community of good wishes.
Wonderful as all this is, it is now eclipsed by wireless tele- graphy— now passed beyond its experimental stages, and rapidly coming into the practical commerce of the nations. Man is no longer dependent upon a network of wires and cables for means of communication. The atmosphere enveloping the world affords suf- ficient means for conducting vibrations made intelligible by the instrument of man's invention; and today, even across the surface of the broad Atlantic, messages are transmitted by this means as easily as by means of the cable lines. So delicate and perfect are the receiving instruments, that from the roar of our great cities' traffic, the message is picked out of the confusion and faithfully registered.
The argument based on all these facts, of course, is this: If man with his limited intelligence, and his limited experience, has contrived means by which he stands in instant communication with all parts of the world, why should it be thought a thing incredible that God, from the midst of his glory, from the heart of the universe, may be within instant means of communication with all parts of his crea- tions. Especially since it is quite generally conceded, by scientists, that all the fixed stars and all the planetary systems encircling them, float in and are connected by the ether, a substance more sub- tle and sensitive to vibrations than the atmosphere which sur- rounds our planet, and suggests the media of communication. To all this, however, I fancy that I hear the reply of the men of science : "We do not deny the possibility or even the probability of communication from superior intelligences of other planets, we simply say that up to the present time there is no convincing tes- timony that such communications have been received." This, however, is a miserable begging of the whole question; and an unwarranted repudiation of the testimony of those who have borne witness to the verity of such communications. The testimony of Moses and the prophets, of Jesus and the Apostles, and of Joseph Smith and his associates, may not thus be put out of the reckon-
THE PROBABILITY OF JOSEPH SMITH'S ST0R1. 331
ing. The character rof these witnesses, their service to mankind, what they suffered and sacrificed for their testimonies, make them worthy of belief; and, since in the nature of things in the universe, there is nothing which makes their testimony improbable, but, on the contrary, much that makes it very probable, it is not beneath the dignity of scientists to accord to their statements a patient investigation.
(to be concluded.)
THE FLOOD-TIME OF ENERGY.
How prodigal most young people are of their physical and mental forces! How little they appreciate their value ! On every hand we see young men and women squandering their vital energy, as if a perpetual supply were insured, — as if the fountain of youth would never run dry. They fling away their force as wastefully as the waters of a spring flood overflow into the surrounding country. But, when the flood-tide of youth is past,— when they begin to feel the dryness of age, — they realize the preciousness of what they squandered so recklessly. In some placet where the water supply is abundant in spring, the streams dry up completely in summer. The only possible way of securing power to work the mills in such places is to store the water of the spring floods by means of dams. Even so the great floods of mental and physical force come to us in the spring of ryouth. The drain upon them begins in middle or later life. If men had a higher regard for their energy, there would be less occasion for the report that when they reach middle life employers cannot use them. — Selected.
THE CELTIC MAIDEN.
A STORY OF ANCIENT BRITAIN. BY PROFESSOR WILLARD DONE.
CHAPTER V.
We now return to Deems. As he escaped from the impera- tor's tent, and from the restraints of military service, all the wild recklessness of his nature asserted itself. He determined to satisfy his grudge against Claudius, and at the same time to har- rass and thwart the imperator's plans as much as possible. He had long been possessed with an unaccountable vindictiveness against the Celtic maiden, and, at the same time, a passion for her beauty. He determined to attack Claudius at his most vulnerable point, by jeopardizing the honor of the girl.
He found plenty of congenial spirits among his new compan- ions. The day on which he joined them was spent in organizing them into a more efficient corps of fighters; the night, in boister- ous revelry. During the night, they were joined by a large number of soldiers, whose desertion from the Roman army was inspired by that of Decius. Thrown on their own resources entirely, the party, now increased many times in number, was forced to seek broader fields for foraging. Accordingly, on the following day, they set out in search of a winter rendezvous, to be used as a base for their marauding excursions.
Avoiding the large British villages, they plundered the smaller ones, detailing the slaves who had fled with them to carry the booty. They were traversing a dense wood, dark with hanging
THE CELTIC MAIDEN. 333
moss, when they suddenly encountered a group of Britons. The leader was a man of middle age, whose handsome face bore traces of deep and long-continued sorrow. Among his followers was a young man of striking personality. These two seemed drawn to each other by the bond of a common feeling and purpose, and to share the leadership of the band. They were determined men, one of the scattered armies of Britons pledged to resist to the death the Roman conquest of their island.
At the sight of Decius and his men, the Britons, though much fewer in number, prepared to fight. In vain Decius tried to con- ciliate them, not desiring to risk a conflict so soon, even with an inferior force. The Britons made a violent attack, and the Romans defended themselves bravely. Decius came to a hand-to-hand con- flict with a young Briton. So evenly matched were they, that the outcome was long in doubt. Gradually, however, the Briton forced Decius back. At the same time, the other Celts were giv- ing way before the superior Roman force, and he was becoming separated from them. The older man saw his danger. "Kenneth," he called, "come here." But it was too late. Several of the Romans came to the rescue of Decius, and surrounded the Briton. He fought savagely against overwhelming members. All the others, except the leader, had retreated into the woods. This man hesitated a moment, and then rushed to Kenneth's assistance. Their struggle was vain. They were soon overpowered, and the Roman swords were at their throats. But Decius commanded his followers to make them prisoners, and spare their lives. After a brief rest, the Romans were again on the march, carrying their prisoners with them.
In the early morning of the following day, they came to the plain which the Druids had reached the night before, and viewed the stone cairn from the edge of the wood. A certain solemnity and mystery, coupled with strange sounds within the stone circle, convinced Decius that mystic rites were being solemnized. He looked astonished at the two Britons, but they betrayed no knowl- edge of the mystery. Fiercer and fiercer became the shouts and tumult. Smoke arose from the center of the cairn. Soon a woman's shrieks mingled with the other sounds. The Romans rose as one man, and rushed toward the stone circle, shouting as they
334 IMPROVEMENT ERA.
ran. The sounds within suddenly ceased, and all openings were instantly manned in resistance of the Roman attack. It was a formidable task that confronted the attacking party. Strong, de- termined men, well armed, swarmed to the defense of every open- ing. Only the spears and swords of the Romans were available, and the use of those weapons was seriously hampered. Decius seemed everywhere present, displaying the most reckless bravery.
But he saw that the fighting would be useless unless a wider breach could be made in the walls. At his command, some trees were felled, and used as battering-rams. Carried on the shoulders of a score of men, these timbers were fiercely hurled against the upright stones. Again and again the rush was made. At length, two of the upright stones, with their caps, fell inward with a crash. Decius sprang over them, followed by his men. Fighting their way through the swarm of defenders, they reached the inner circle, and rushed inside. They were entranced with what they saw. The beautiful maiden, robed in pure white, her golden hair falling about her shoulders, stood near the altar stone. The gar- lands of mistletoe still lay near her feet, while the Druid priests stood about in reverential attitude. Fires burned beneath wicker- cages, prepared for the sacrifices.
But Decius had no eyes for anything but the beauty of the girl. Vaguely he felt that her life had been endangered, and he was determined to avenge the attempted wrong. Detecting his purpose, she placed herself between him and the Druid priests, and stood there immovable. At that moment, the two British prison- ers, who had been allowed to escape in the melee, entered the inner circle. The older man looked for a moment at the girl, and then sprang forward, exclaiming, "Genevra, my child, my child!" wonderingly she looked at him for a moment, and then ran joy- ously into his arms. "Father," she murmured, "at last, at last!"
Kenneth came timidly forward, and was greeted with a glad smile of welcome. Decius gave a quick order to his men and the two Britons were dragged away and bound. The girl turned to- ward him with flashing, angry eyes.
"Why is this?" she asked.
"They are my prisoners," he answered, — "as I am yours," he added in an insinuating tone.
THE CELTIC MAIDEN. 335
Contemptuously she turned away, and thereafter avoided him. She knew only too well the view he took of her worth and status as a slave. Having seen to the safety of the priests, who had made their escape by a private passage, she went to her father, and remained as close to him as possible.
Decius realized that it would not be safe for him to remain there. It was clear to him that in a few hours a sufficient force of Britons could be gathered to overpower his little party. There- fore, he gave orders for an immediate departure. He carried the three with him. Under pain of immediate death, he ordered the two men to guide him and his party to a safe place, from which the surrounding country could be raided.
That night they camped near the edge of a dense wood, on the bank of a swift stream. A strong guard was placed around the tent where the male prisoners were kept, while Decius himself guarded the tent occupied by the girl. He had a sinister motive in this, and she suspected it, and took precautions. She was not sur- prised at the beginning of the third watch, to see him stealthily enter her tent. She had not slept, and all her senses were keenly alert. He was somewhat disconcerted to see her standing in the farther corner of the tent. By the dim light of a taper, he could see her look of indignation at the intrusion. But mastering his sur- prise and temporary embarrassment, he assumed a tone of flattery. Its only effect was to increase her indignation. He realized that the wall of reserve could not be broken down in that way. There- upon he became stern and defiant, "You are in my power," he said, "and I shall make terms, not plead them. I am not used to thwarted wishes. My will is never vanquished. What I desire, I have, and that speedily. Cost what it will, no desire goes ungrati- fied. Know this, then, from the beginning, that the will of a bar- barian slave will be bent to the will of a Roman noble."
She looked at him unflinchingly.
"But," he sarcastically added, "y°u have doubtle=s bent to the will of the Roman Claudius often enough to read my meaning without further words."
Her eyes flashed angrily, "I know your meaning, base Roman, but not by experience. You speak of Claudius. He is my master, I his slave. I have not been more than that to him, nor he to me.
336 IMPROVEMENT ERA.
Nor has he attempted baseness. Ignoble though he may have been with others, he has been all that is noble to me. My will has been subservient to him — my body and soul, never. They are my own, and subject only to my will and to God's."
Her dignified serenity exasperated Decius. He advanced to- ward her. "By the gods, I will not be thwarted!" he cried. "You shall yield entirely to my will!"
"Stop!" she commanded. "Advance no nearer." She drew a dagger from her robe. "This I took from the body of a Druid priest, knowing that if I fell into such vile hands as yours, it would be needed."
"Give me the weapon, rash girl," he said.
"Come no nearer!" she repeated. "My soul and body, thanks be to the true God, are pure. I will trust my unstained body to the earth that gave it, and my soul to Him who sent me here, before you shall approach me. When a Christian maiden must choose be- tween death and dishonor, she hesitates not one instant. Back, or I strike!"
She pointed the dagger at her breast, and as she did so, her face was lifted to God as if to crave his blessing upon the deed she might be forced to do. With a muttered curse, mingled with a threat, the baffled libertine left the tent. (to be concluded.)
A FRIEND'S INFLUENCE IS WORTH MORE THAN GOLD.
It would be interesting to trace the influence of friendship in the careers of the successful men of this country. Many of them owed their success almost entirely to strong friendships. "Men are bound together by a great credit system," says a writer, "the foundation of which is mutual respect and esteem. No man can fight the battle for commercial success single-handed against the world; he must have friends, helpers, supporters, or he will fail."
"What is the secret of your life?" asked Elizabeth Barrett Browning of Charles Kingsley. "Tell me that I may make mine beautiful, too." He answered: "I had a friend." — Success.
JOSEPH SMITH AS SCIENTIST.
BY DR. JOHN A. WIDTSOE, DIRECTOR OF THE AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION, LOGAN, UTAH.
V.— THE NEW ASTRONOMY.
From the dawn of written history, when the first men, watch- ing through the nights, observed the regular motions of the moon and stars, humanity has been striving to obtain a correct under- standing of the relation of the earth to the heavenly bodies.
First it was believed that the sun, moon and stars revolved in circles around the earth (which for a time was supposed to be flat instead of spherical). Then the great Greek philosopher, Hippar- chus, after observing the movements of the heavenly bodies, sug- gested that the earth was not exactly in the middle of the circles. Three hundred years later, Ptolemy discovered a number of facts concerning the movements of the sun, moon and planets, which were unknown to Hipparchus, and which led him to suggest that the sun and moon move in circles around the earth, but that the planets move around the earth in circles, whose centres again move around the earth. This somewhat complex theorv explained very well what was known of astronomy in the days of the ancients, and, in fact, the views of Ptolemy were quite generally accepted for 1300 years.
About 1500, A. D., Copernicus, a Dutch astronomer, having still more facts in his possession than had Ptolemy, concluded that the simplest manner in which the apparent movements of the sun, moon, and planets could be explained, was to assume that the sun s the center of the planetary system, and that the earth, with the moon and planets, revolves according to definite laws around the
338 IMPROVEMENT ERA.
sun. This theory, backed by numerous confirmatory observations, was generally accepted by astronomers, and really did explain very simply and clearly many of the facts of planetary motion.
Fifty years after the death of Copernicus, the celebrated as- tronomer, Kepler, proposed extensions and improvements of the Copernicus doctrine, which made the theory that the planets re- volve about the sun more probable than ever before. He sug- gested first that the planets move around the sun in closed curves, resembling flattened circles, and known as ellipses. By assuming this to be true, and assisted by other discoveries, he was also able to state the times required by the planets for their revolutions around the sun, and the velocity of their motions at different times of the year. Later investigations have proved the great laws pro- posed by Copernicus and Kepler to be true; and from their days is dated the birth of modern astronomy.
After the laws of the motions of the planets had been deter- mined, it was only natural that men should ask themselves what forces were concerned in these motions. The ancient philosophers had proposed the idea that the sun attracts all heavenly bodies, but the suggestion had not been accepted by the world at large. How- ever, after the discoveries of Kepler, the English philosopher, Newton, advanced the theory that there is in the universe an at- tractive force which influences all matter, to the limits of known space. He further proved that the intensity of this force varied directly with the product of the attractive masses, and inversely, with the square of the distances between them — that is, the greater the bodies, the greater the attraction; the greater the dis- tance between them, the smaller the attraction. This law of gravi- tation has been verified by repeated experiments, and, taken in con- nection with the astronomical theories of Copernicus and Kepler, has made celestial mechanics what they are today.
By the aid of the law of gravitation, many astronomical pre- dictions have been fulfilled. Among the most famous is tre fol- lowing incident:
In the early part of the last century, astronomers noticed that the motions of the planet Uranus did not agree with those derived from calculations based upon the law of gravitation. About 1846, two investigators, M. Leverrier of France, and Mr. Adams of
JOSEPH SMITH AS SCIENTIST. 339
England, stated, as their opinions, that the discordance between theory and observation in the case of the motions of Uranus, was due to the attraction of a planet, not yet known, and they calcu- lated by means of the law of gravitation, the size and orbit of the unknown planet. In the fall of 1846, this planet was actually dis- covered and named Neptune. It was found to harmonize with the predictions made by the astronomers before its discovery.
During the days of Newton, the question was raised if the celestial bodies outside of the solar system obey the law of gravi- tation. Among the stars, then, are some which are called double stars, and which consist of two stars so near to each other that the telescope alone can separate them to the eye. In 1803, after twenty years of observation, William Herschel discovered that some of these couples were revolving around each other with var- ious angular velocities. The son of William Herschel continued this work, and many years later, he discovered that the laws of motion of these double stars are the same as those that prevail in the solar system.* This result indicated not only the universality of the law of gravitation, but also the probability that all heavenly bodies are in motion.
Then, early in the nineteenth century, a new method of re- search began to be developed, which was destined to form a new science of astronomy. It had long been known that white light when passed through a glass prism is broken into a colored spect- rum, with colors similar to those observed in the rainbow. Now it was discovered that when white light passes through vapors of certain composition, dark lines appear in the spectrum, and that the position of the lines varies with the chemical composition of the vapors. By the application of these principles, it was shown, towards the middle of the last century, that the chemical compo- sition of the heavenly bodies may be determined. Later, it was discovered that by noting the positions of the dark lines in the spectrum, it could be known when a star or any heavenly body is moving, as also the direction and amount of its motion. These un- expected discoveries led to a study of the heavens from the spect-
* History of the Inductive Sciences, Whewell, 3rd ed. Vol. I, pp 467-469.
340 IMPROVEMENT ERA.
roscopic point of view, which has resulted in a marvelous advance in the science of astronomy.
It has been determined that all heavenly bodies are in motion, and that their velocities are great compared with our ordinary conceptions of motion. Most of the stars move at the rate of about seven miles per second, though some have a velocity of forty- five miles, or more. Many stars, formerly thought to be single, have been resolved into two or more components. The rings of Saturn have been proved to consist of small bodies revolv- ing about the planet in obedience to Kepler's law.* Clusters of stars have been found that move through space as one body, as possible counterparts of the planetary system.f It has been dem- onstrated, further, that the sun itself, with its planets, is moving through space at a very rapid rate. Professor Simon Newcomb, perhaps the greatest astronomer of the day, says, "The sun, and the whole solar system with it, have been speeding their way to- ward the star of which I speak (Alpha Lyrse) on a journey of which we know neither the beginning nor the end. During every clock-beat through which humanity has existed, it has moved on this journey by an amount which we cannot specify more exactly than to oay that it is probably between five and nine miles per sec- ond. The conclusion seems unavoidable that a number of stars are moving with a speed such that the attraction of all the bodies of the universe could never stop them."$ In brief, the new astronomy holds that all heavenly bodies are in motion, and that the planetary system is but a small cluster of stars among the host of heaven; further, it has weighed the stars, measured the intensity of their light, and determined their chemical composition, and it affirms that there are suns in the heavens, far excelling our sun in size and lustre, though built of approximately the same elements.
Sir Robert Ball expresses his views as follows: "The group to which our sun belongs is a limited one. This must be so, even
* See C. G. Abbott, Report of Smithsonian Institution, for 1901, pp. 153-155.
f Light Science for Leisure Hours, Proctor, pp. 42-52.
$ The Problems of Astronomy, S. Newcomb, Science, May 21, 1897.
JOSEPH SMITH AS SCIENTIST. 341
though the group included all the stars in the milky way. This un- numbered host is still only a cluster, occupying, comparatively speaking, an expressibly small extent in the ocean of infinite space. The imagination will carry us further still — it will show us that our star cluster may be but a unit in a cluster of an order still higher, so that a yet higher possibility of movement is suggested for our astonishment."*
Another eminent astronomer expressed the same idea briefly but eloquently: "It is true that from the highest point of view the sun is only one of a multitude — a single star among millions — thousands of which, most likely, exceed him in brightness, magni- tude, and power. He is only a private in the host of heav- en."f
And still another student of the stars propounds the following questions: "Does there exist a central sun of the universe? Do the worlds of Infinitude gravitate as a hierarchy round a divine focus? Some day the astronomers of the planets which gravitate in the light of Hercules (towards which constellation the solar system is moving) will see a little star appear in their sky. This will be our sun, carrying us along in its rays; perhaps at this very moment we are visible dust of a sidereal hurricane, in a milky way, the transformer of our destinies. We are mere playthings in the im- mensity of Infinitude."!
It is not strange that men who have learned to look at the universe in this lofty manner should go a step farther, beyond the actually known, and suggest that some of these countless heavenly bodies must be inhabited by living, thinking beings. Sober, thoughtful truthseekers, who never advance needlessly a new theory, have suggested, in all seriousness, that other worlds than ours are peopled. For instance, "What sort of life, spiritual and in- tellectual, exists in distant worlds? We can not for a moment sup- pose that our little planet is the only one throughout the whole universe on which may be found the fruits of civilization, warm
* The Story of the Sun, R. S. Ball, pp., 360, 361.
t The Sun, C. A. Young, p. 11.
X Popular Astronomy, C. Flammarion, p. 309.
342 IMPROVEMENT ERA.
firesides, friendship, the desire to penetrate the mysteries of crea- tion."*
Such, then, is in very general terms the view of modern as- tronomy with reference to the constitution of the universe. Most of the information upon which this view rests has been gathered during the last fifty years.
Joseph Smith was doubtlessly impressed with the beauty of the starry heavens, and, in common with all men of poetical nature, allowed his thoughts to wander into the immensity of space. How- ever, as was shown in article I, he had no known opportunity of studying the principles of astronomy, or of becoming familiar with the astronomical questions that were agitating the thinkers of his day. Naturally, very little is said in his writings that bears upon the planetary and stellar constitution of the universe; yet enough to prove that he was in perfect harmony with the astronomical views developed since his day.
First, he believed stellar bodies are distributed throughout space. "And worlds without number have I created."f "And there are many kingdoms; for there is no space in which there is no kingdom."! He is further in harmony with modern views in that he claims that stars may be destroyed, and new ones formed. "For, behold, there are many worlds that have passed away by the word of my power."§ "And as one earth shall pass away, and the heavens thereof, even so shall another come."||
At the time that Joseph Smith wrote, there was considerable discussion as to whether the laws of the solar system were effec- tive with the stars. The Prophet had no doubts on that score, for he wrote, "And unto every kingdom is given a law; and unto every law there are certain bounds also and conditions."**
Likewise, his opinions concerning the motions of celestial ob- jects were very definite and clear. "He hath given a law unto all things by which they move in their times and seasons; and their courses are fixed; even the courses of the heavens and the earth, which comprehend the earth and all the planets. The earth rolls
* The Problems of Astronomy, S. Newcomb. f Book of Moses, 1 : 33. X Doctrine and Covenants, 88 : 37. § Book of Moses, 1 : 35. || Ibid, 1 : 38. ** Doctrine and Covenants, 88 : 38.
JOSEPH SMITH AS SCIENTIST. 343
upon her wings, and the sun giveth his light by day, and the moon giveth her light by night, and the stars also giveth their light, as they roll upon their wings in glory, in the midst of the power of God."*
In another place the same thought is expressed. "The sun, moon or stars; all the times of their revolutions; all the appointed days, months, and years, and all the days of their days, months, and years, and all their glories, laws, and set times, shall be revealed. "f
The two revelations from which these quotations are made, were given to the Prophet in 1832 and 1839 respectively, many year3 before the fact that all celestial bodies are in motion was understood and accepted by the world of science.
The accepted conception that groups or clusters of stars form systems which revolve around some one point or powerful star, was also clearly understood by Joseph Smith, for he speaks « f stars of different orders with controlling stars for each order. "And I saw the stars that they were very great, and that one of them was nearest unto the throne of God ; and there were many great ones which were near unto it: and the Lord said unto me: These are the governing ones; and the name of the great one is Kolob be- cause it is near unto me — I have set this one to govern all those which belong to the same order as that upon which thou stand- est."t That the governing star, Kolob, is not the sun is evident, since the statement is made later in the chapter that the Lord showed Abraham "Shinehah, which is the sun." Kolob, therefore, must be a mighty star governing more than the solar system; and is possibly the central sun around which the sun with its attendant planets is revolving. The other great stars near Kolob are also governing stars, two of which are mentioned by name Oliblish and Enish-go-on-dosh, though nothing is said of the order of stars that they control. The reading of the third chapter of the Book of Abra- ham leaves complete conviction that Joseph Smith taught that the celestial bodies are in great groups, controlled (under gravitational
* Doctrine and Covenants, 88 : 43, 45. f Doctrine and Covenants, 121 : 30, 31. % Book of Abraham, chapter 3.
344 IMPROVEMENT ERA
influence) by large suns. In this doctrine, he anticipated the world of science by many years.
It is perhaps less surprising to find that Joseph Smith be- lieved that there are other peopled worlds than ours. For instance, "The reckoning of God's time, angel's time, prophets' time, and man's time, is according to the planet on which they reside,"* which distinctly implies that other planets are inhabited. Another passage reads, ''The angels do not reside on a planet like this earth, but they reside in the presence of God, on a globe like a sea of glass and fire."f
While the idea that the planets and stars may be inhabited is not at all new, yet it is interesting to note that Joseph Smith taught as an absolute truth that such is the case. Probably no other philosopher has gone quite that far.
These brief quotations serve to show that the doctrines of the Prophet of the Laoter-day Saints are in full accord with the views that distinguish the new astronomy. It is also to be noted that in advancing the theories of universal motion among the stars, and of great stars or suns governing groups of stars, he anticipated by many years the corresponding theories of professional astrono- mers.
In various sermons, the Prophet dealt more fully with the doctrines here set forth, and showed more strongly than is done in his doctrinal writings, that he understood perfectly the far-reach- ing nature of his astronomical teachings.
Did Joseph Smith teach these truths by chance? Or, did he receive inspiration from a higher power?
* Doctrine and Covenants, 130 : 4.
f Loe. cit, v. 6 and 7. See also Doctrine and Covenants, 88 : 61.
SUGGESTIVE THOUGHTS FOR THE MILDLY SKEPTICAL.
BY DR. J. X. ALLEN, OGDEN, UTAH.
The reasons assigned by skeptics for doubting the existence of a Supreme Ruler of the universe are so many and varied that it would be impossible for me to attempt meeting them all in the brief space usually occupied by contributors to this journal. Neither do I intend to quote scripture to those who doubt its in- spiration. My object is to suggest a few thoughts for the conr sideration of thinkers. .
First. There is unlimited space.
Second. There is unlimited time.
Third. There is unlimited intelligence. 'From due consider- ation of these three propositions, I conclude that there must be a
Fourth. Namely, unlimited power, wisdom and benevolence.
The first proposition, I admit, is not demonstrable; but it is a hypothesis universally admitted. Should we say, There is a limit to space, the question would very naturally arise: What is there on the other side? I think we may consider this proposition set- tled, especially as I address myself to thinkers only.
That there is unlimited time may not be so readily consented to. Of course, there is no one known universal measurement of time. Bat I opine that no well-read thinker will question the state- ment that all known, as well as all conceivable, parts of the uni- verse have tims, although their measurements are varied. This second proposition is much of the same nature as the first. Time is simply a measure of eternity. We cannot conceive of either a beginning or an ending.
Perhaps it would not be amiss to call attention to a few of
346 IMP BO VEMENT ERA .
the various times of which we are cognizant. With us the civil day is from midnight to midnight. The astronomer's day is from high noon to high noon; while the scriptural day is from sunset to sunset: "And the evening and the morning was the first day," etc. A day on this earth is about twenty-four hours, while a day on the sun is some twenty-five times as long: while a day on Mars is but forty minutes longer than with us. Jupiter, although thir- teen hundred times larger than the earth, has a day but five- twelfths as long.
This persistence of time is deducible from two ascertained facts: namely, the indestructibility of matter, and the universal- ity of law and order.
From spectral analysis, philosophers conclude that the con- stituent elements of all worlds are pretty much the same, and that these elements are non-perishable.
There is a oneness everywhere in substance and in the laws of motion.
From these two propositions, we infer the third; namely, there is unlimited intelligence.
Everywhere the same laws of attraction and repulsion obtain. There is universal order, no confusion. The same laws govern all worlds.
From the preceding statements, it is reasonable to conclude that one and the same creator or architect has control of the whole. The oneness of the universe is detectable, not only in the anatomy of all the heavenly bodies, but also in their physiology, show- ing that they are presided over by one conscious, intelligent mind.
Although I promised not to quote scripture, I think it would not be amiss to give a quotation from Cicero, as translated in Rol- lin's history:
We ought, above all things, to be convinced that there is a Supreme Being who presides over all the events of the world, and disposes every- thing as Sovereign Lord and Arbiter: that it is to him mankind are in- debted for all the good they enjoy: that he penetrates into, and is con- scious of whatever passes in the most secret recesses of our hearts: that he treats the just and the impious according to their respective merits: that the true means of acquiring his favor, and of being pleasing in his sight, is not by employing riches and magnificence in the worship
THOUGHTS FOR THE MILDLY SKEPTICAL. 347
that is paid to him, but by presenting him with a heart pure and blame- less, and by adoring him with an unfeigned, profound veneration.
This Roman scholar and philosopher, though not cognizant of the numbered worlds revealed by the instruments of precision called into requisition by modern astronomers, could see a oneness of design, a unity of arrangement, that precluded the possibility of chance.
Discord, disorder, irregularity, contradiction and inconsistency may be the result of chance; but order, harmony, beauty, and con- sistency, when universal and persistent, must be and of necessity are the productions of infinite intelligence, wisdom and goodness.
Tnis universality of law, commonly spoken of as the law of nature, is considered and spoken of by many as being the "Great First Cause," — self-originated and self-perpetuated; while more deeply reflecting minds conclude that, of necessity, there must be a something at the back of and beyond nature. Can there be a shadow independent of substance, or a result without a cause?
One is almost induced to regard the doubting of the existence of an uncreated spirit of infinite intelligence and wisdom beyond nature, as savoring, if not of insanity, at least of a degree of men- tal imbecility. Instance: Recently an old friend of mine, a skep- tic by nature and a lawyer by profession, came into my office and said:
"Doctor, I cannot see any need that we have for a God. Everything is governed by law, the planets move in their orbits by law, and the whole of the animal and vegetable kingdoms are governed and perpetuated by law. What is the need or use of a God?"
Doctor: "True, the mineral, the animal and the vegetable kingdoms are all governed by law. Is not this city governed by law?"
Lawyer: "Why, yes, certainly we are governed by law, or we would be in a bad fix if we were not."
Doctor: "Is not the state governed by law?"
Lawyer: "Of course it is, or it would not be a state; it would be simply a mob, a rabble."
Doctor: "Are not the United States governed by law?"
348 IMPROVEMENT ERA.
Lawyer: "Why, of course they are. We could not live in the absence of law."
Doctor: "Well, seeing that the city, the state and the nation are governed by law, what need have we of a mayor and city coun- cil? What need for a governor and legislature? What need for a president and congress, seeing that everything and everybody are governed by law everywhere? Why not dispense with all these useless and expensive appendages, and live in perfect free- dom; free from taxes and all restraint?"
Lawyer: "Look here, what is the matter with you?"
Doctor: "What is the matter with you? You are the enigma. Do you know of any laws that have not some intelligent author- ship? Do you not think that there is and must be a conscious intelligence at the back of every beneficent law?"
Lawyer: "Well, I declare, I never looked at it in that light before. I must take time to consider your, to me, new style of arguing the question."
MY LOVE.
(For the Improvement Era).
0 where shall I turn to find my love,
For whom I have wandered long? From the northern to the southern sea, Beloved, I have sought for thee,
To hearken to thy song.
1 have sailed the ocean's broad expanse,
In search of thee, love of mine; Through mountain glen and wildwood shade, O'er burning sands, my feet have strayed;
For thee my soul doth pine.
Fhave searched the temples of heathen lands,
The Vatican's solemn halls, Through all the churches of Christendom; And still my weary feet do run
To find thy sacred walls.
MY LOVE. 349
At last, at last, I have found thee, love!
With thine arms extended wide To enfold me in their fond embrace; A holy smile illumes thy face,
Like that of a blushing bride.
Thy gracious bearing and dignity
Portrays an exalted birth; Thy splendor, like a radiant star, Sends forth transcendent gleams afar,
To gladden all the earth.
How fair thy brow, my beauteous queen,
And chaste as the virgin snow; Thine eyes emit so tender a light, Beneath their glance there is no night,
1 revel in their glow.
Thy lips are soft as the dew-kissed rose
Bending to the new-born day; Thy voice, as the melody of rills, Inspires my soul, my pulses thrills,
And lures my heart away.
I found my love in the mountain tops,
O'erlooking the western main; Where the stately pines and joyous breeze Waft the story over the leas —
Of my fair lady's fame.
There the god of day adorns her head
With a crown of burnished gold; With flowers and grain her lap doth strew; Her feet laves in the briny blue
That gems her mountain hold.
Her hands, dainty as the sego flower,
Holds bounteous gifts for me; Sweet love, thy love I can ne'er repay, — But I would linger near alway; —
Bid me abide with thee.
Ruth May Fox.
THE JEW, HIS PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE.
A SKETCH.
BY J. M. SJODAHL, ASSOCIATE EDITOR OF THE DESERET NEWS.
The problems presented by the presence of the descendants of Israel among the nations of the earth, are among the most interest- ing and important. That the preservation of the Hebrews as a distinct race is providential, and not accidental, it would be puerile to deny. It is evident that the history of the world is concentrating around the destiny of the once chosen people. The dispensation of dispersion is nearing its end; a dispensation of gathering is clearly percept- ible among the various races of the earth. All are being sifted. And the various groups are being knit together. The general tendency is toward pan-Slavism, pan-Germanism, pan-Anglo- Saxonism, pan-Scandinavism, pan- Hellenism, pan-Latinism. There also is a pan-Hebrewism, which, when developed, will become the center around which the world's families of nations will be grouped. The world is being remodelled, for the time when "the law shall go forth from Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem." That is, in brief, the Hebrew problem. It is one in which the world is interested. The proper solution of it is the regeneration of all the institutions that go to make up society and governments.
A glance at the history of the Hebrews, their past and present struggles and achievements, and their future hopes, is, there- fore, both interesting and instructive.
There are at present, according to the best estimates, almost ten million four hundred thousand Jews in the world. Of these
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1,168,948 live in America, mostly in the United States; in Europe there are 8,581,772; in Asia, 318,677; in Africa, 362,432; and in Australasia, 17,040— a total of 10,448,869.
The exact distribution of the race is by Prof. Richard Gott- heil, in The World's Work, given as follows:
AMERICA.
United States 1,136,240
€anada 16,432
Mexico 1,000
Central America 2,300
Argentine Republic 7,015
DutchGuiana 1,250
Venezuela and Costa Rica. 711
Brazil 2,000
Rest of South America... 2,000
1,168,948
EUROPE.
Austria-Hungary 1,994,378
Belgium 12,000
Bosnia 5,845
Bulgaria 28,000
Denmark 4,080
England, etc 179,000
France 86,885
Germany 586,948
Greece 8,350
Holland 103,988
Italy 44,037
Luxumburg. 1,200
Norway and Sweden 3,402
Portugal 700
Rou mania (eastern) 6,982
Roumania 229,000
Russia 5,189,401
Servia 5,100
Spain (with Gibraltar)... 4,500
Switzerland 12,551
Turkey 75,295
Cyprus and Malta 130
ASIA.
Palestine 60,000
Causasus 58,471
Siberia.... 34,477
Central Asia 12,729
Asia Minor and Syria 65,000
Persia 35,000
India 22,000
Arabia 15,000
China and Japan 2,000
Turkestan and Afghan- istan 14,000
318,677
AFRICA.
Morocco 150,000
Tunis 45,000
Algeria 57,132
Egypt 25,300
Tripoli 10,000
Abyssinia 50,000
South Africa 25,000
AUSTRALASIA.
New South Wales.
Queensland
Tasmania
New Zealand
Victoria
South Australia ... West Australia.....
8,581,772 The same author says regarding their occupations:
362,432
6,447 733 107
1,611
5,897 786
1,459
17,040
It is a common fallacy to think that the well-to-do Jews are all bankers or merchants, the poor Jews all small traders and street hawk- ers. That very many do earn their livelihood in this manner is beyond
352 IMPROVEMENT ERA.
all cavil; the laws and usages of the Middle-Ages made this the only means of existence for them, and modern legislation in eastern Eu- ropean countries has tended to conserve inherited customs. But this is only a part of the truth. Even under most adverse circumstances the Jews have gone into every walk of life, and have engaged in every man- ner of work. In 1893 the number of Jewish artizans in Russia was 395,942. In Roumania the statistics of 1892 show that there were at least 18,015 Jewish artizans, making up with their families a round 100,000. In 1S99 there were 4,082 artizans among the Jews of Algiers. Still more interesting is the fact that Jewish agriculturists are not as infrequently met with as supposed. In 1899 in Russia there were 278 Jewish agricultural colonies with a population of 63,223; and 11,984 working outside the colonies. In Palestine there are 4,450, and in the Argentine Republic 4,885 Jewish farmers. .1
It is most singular to contemplate the fact that ever since the overthrow of the Jewish polity by Nebuchadnezzar, the Jews have been the object of animosity in the world. Anti-Semitism is by no means a modern sentiment. Alexander the Great and his suc- sessors encouraged the policy of dispersion, and Jewish colonies were soon found in the larger cities of Persia, Asia Minor and Egypt. The Roman Caesars followed the same policy. The Jews continued to disperse. Thousands of them, settled in Rome, while others were driven out to the conquered provinces. And every- where they had to maintain themselves in the midst of opposition that sometimes burst forth in uncontrollable flames of persecution. More than once they were banished from Rome. Frequently they were the objects of the ill will of the populace, and where they became most numerous, they were hated the most. They were compelled by this very fact to disperse. Says the late historian, Mommsen:
How numerous even in Rome the Jewish population was already be- fore Caesar's time, and how closely at the same time the Jews even then kept together as fellow-countrymen, is shown by the remark of an author of the period that it was dangerous for a governor to offend the Jews in his province, because he might then certainly reckon on being hissed after his return by the populace of the capital. Even at this time the predominant business of the Jews was trade. At this period, too, we encounter the peculiar antipathy of the Occidentals toward this so thoroughly Oriental race and their foreign opinions and customs. This
THE JEW. 353
Judaism, though not the most pleasing feature in the nowhere pleasing picture of the mixture of nations which then prevailed, was neverthe- less an historical element developing itself in the natural course of things which Caesar, just like his predecessor Alexander, fostered as far as possible. * * They did not, of course, contemplate
placing the Jewish nationality on an equal footing with the Hellenic or Italo-Hellenic.
But the Jew who has not, like the Occidental, received the Pan- dora's gift of political organization, and stands substantially in the re- lation of indifference to the state; who, moreover, is as reluctant to give up his sense of national idiosyncrasy, as he is ready to clothe it with any nationality at pleasure and to adapt himself, up to a certain degree, to foreign habits — the Jew was, for this very reason, as it were, made for a state which was to be built on the ruins of a hundred living polities, and to be endowed with a somewhat abstract, and, from the very outset, weakened nationality. In the ancient world also Judaism was an effective leaven of cosmopolitanism and of national decompo- sition.
With the advent of Moslem influence, the position of the Jew became, if possible, less tolerable than before. The Mohamme- dans despoiled them most unmercifully. During the eighth and ninth centuries they evidently were crowded northward in great numbers, for tradition has it that they became so numerous and in- fluential in Russia that the question of adopting Judaism as the national religion was seriously considered by the Muscovites. But this was not to be.
So-called Christian rule has been most cruel toward the Hebrews. When the Christians became predominant in Constan- tine's empire, laws were made that closed all offices to the Jews, and prohibited the erection of synagogues. During the reign of Charlemagne, the state rather protected Jews, but the church be- came a bitter persecutor. This sentiment finally prevailed in the state, too, and Shakespeare's Shylock became the image of the Jew, impressed upon the public mind. In the thirteenth century, Jews in Europe were compelled to wear a yellow badge. They were shunned as lepers, and had to live in Judengassen. As for busi- ness, they were confined to the second-hand clothes stores. Even upon their marriage, restrictions were placed designed to check the growth of the race. Often they suffered at the hands of the
354 IMPROVEMENT ERA.
mob. But they grew, notwithstanding all, in numbers and influ- ence, and they became the great money-lenders of the western world. But the hatred against them also grew in intensity, with the growth of their prosperity. Sometimes they were swept away as by a cyclone of persecution; now from one country, and then from another. Thus in 1290, A. D., England drove out the Jews by decree. They were not readmitted till the time of Cromwell. France followed England's example in 1395, A. D. Spain deported them in 1492, A. D., and Portugal rid herself of them in 1495, A. D. These exiles found their way to Germany, Austria, Poland and the adjoining countries. The sentiment against the race has been perpetuated to our present time, notwithstanding the revolu- tions fought for "liberty, equality, and fraternity." The outrages at Kishineff, the persecutions in the Balkan states, the French anti- Dreyfus agitation, and numerous other recent incidents, are fresh in memory. They all prove that anti-Semitism is by no means dead.
It is remarkable that this sentiment should be chronic to every age. It is not because the Jews are morally, or intellectu- ally inferior to any other people. The Jews have, on the contrary, a brilliant record in history. They have dictated the policy of continents. They have wrested from nature some of her most precious secrets. They have thrilled the hearts of man by song, mu-ic, and oratory. They have held audiences spell-bound while interpreting human emotions, upon the stage.
If we turn the leaves of history, we cannot fail to notice Judas MacabaBus, the notable patriot and soldier; Josephus, the calm and lucid historian; Disraeli, the creator of an empire; Rothschild, the true Napoleon of finance; Moses Montefiore, the philanthropist, Elisa, Rachel, and Sarah Bernhardt, the actresses; Sonnenthal, the dramatist; Heinrich Heine, the poet and pupil of Schlegel; Israel Zangwill, the author; Lombroso and Nordau, the students of the secret causes of crime; Mendelssohn, the musical genius. These are only a few representative Jews. We have not mentioned in this connection the law-givers, poets, heroes, prophets, seers, apostles of sacred history; nor the infinitely greatest of all, the Captain of our Salvation. Profane history and the present day record, furnish a cloud of witnesses to the great fact that the
THE JEW. 355
Jewish race is still capable of the leadership among the nations of the earth. Throughout these long centuries they present to the wondering world the picture of the triumph of intellect over the most adverse circumstances. Why, then, the hatred?
Only one answer is really possible to this question. It is providential. In the first place, persecution has been the means of preserving their nationality and their religion. In Russia, in Roumania, and in other places where they are . ostracized and driven from pillar to post, they keep the traditions of their fathers more scrupulously than elsewhere. They are more particular about the observance of the Sabbath, their prayers, etc. In this country, where they have full liberty, there is more carelessness about religious matters. The tendency is strong to amalgamation with gentiles. Persecution seems to have been necessary for the preservation of the race in the midst of the nations of the earth. It has certainly also had the effect of strengthening the Jews, as a peo- ple, for the role they are still to play in the world. And this role is indicated by the author of the Epistle to the Romans, in the fol- lowing well known question: "For if the casting away of them is the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead?"
And this leads us to a brief contemplation of the future of this people. Nothing is more certain than this, that they, accord- ing to divine word, are to be gathered and given a standing as a nation, with their own country and government, and with a peculiar mission full of power and glory.
Joel, one of the most ancient and highly revered prophets of the Hebrew dispensation, closes his prophetic writing with this positive declaration of a final restoration of the Jews and their country:
And it shall come to pass in that day, that the mountains shall drop down new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the rivers of Judah shall flow with waters, and a fountain shall come forth of the house of the Lord, and shall water the valley of Shittim. Egypt shall be a desolation, and Edom shall be a desolate wilderness, for the violence against the children of Judah, because they have shed in- nocent blood in their land. But Judah shall dwell forever, and Jeru-
356 IMPROVEMENT ERA.
salem from generation to generation. For I will cleanse their blood that I have not cleansed: for the Lord dwelleth in Zion (Joel 3: 18-21).
Amos, another of the most ancient of the Hebrew seers, an- nounces divine judgments upon the states surrounding Judea, and against the two divisions into which the Hebrews fell after the reign of Solomon. He warns them of the calamity about to over- take them through the invasion of the Assyrians, but beyond this destruction he sees future restoration to glory. After the people have been sifted among the nations of the earth, they will be again raised to more than former glory. This is the burden of his prophecies. He concludes as follows:
And I will bring again the captivity of my people of Israel, and they shall build the waste cities, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof; they shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of them. And I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be pulled up out of their land which I have given themr saith the Lord thy God (Amos 9: 14, 15).
The Prophet Hosea, a contemporary of Amos and an Israelite by birth, speaks more particularly about the dispersion and final conversion and re-establishment of the so-called ten tribes. Here are some of his remarkable predictions delivered more than seven centuries before Christ:
For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and without an ephod, and without teraphim. Afterward shall the chil- dren of Israel return, and seek the Lord their God, and David, their king; and shall fear the Lord and his goodness in the latter days (Hosea 3: 4, 5).
The ephod here spoken of was an article of dress belonging to the uniform of the Hebrew priest. It was made of linen, and the ephod of the chief priest was embroidered with various colors. One part of this dress covered the breast, while the other fell over the back, and the two parts were clasped together upon the shoulders with large gems, upon which were engraved the names of the twelve tribes. It was further fastened with a girdle of "gold, blue, purple, scarlet, and fine twined linen." The teraphim were most probably images to which the people paid superstitious
THE JEW. 357
reverence in their homes. The prediction, therefore, was that Israel shocld be scattered for many days, for a long time, and be deprived . of both public and private worship. Not forever, though. Only for "many days." The same prophet declares:
Then shall the children of Judah and the children of Israel be gath- ered together, and appoint themselves one head, and they shall come up out of the land: for great shall be the day of Jezreel (Hosea 1: 11).
The Prophet Isaiah speaks in the same strain:
Break forth into joy, sing together, ye waste places of Jerusalem: for God hath comforted his people, he hath redeemed Jerusalem (Isaiah 52: 9.)
For Zion's sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth (Isaiah 62: 1.)
Thou shalt no more be termed Forsaken; neither shall thy land any more be termed Desolate: but thou shalt be called Hephzi-bah [my de- light is in her], and thy land Beulah [married, indicating union between God and his people]: for the Lord delighteth in thee, and thy land shall be married (Isaiah 62: 4. See also chapters 65 and 66).
The Prophet Micah declares,referring to the exaltation of the people of God in the latter-days:
In that day, saith the Lord, will I assemble her that halteth, and I will gather her that is driven out, and her that I have afflicted; and I will make her that halted a remnant, and her that was cast off a strong nation: and the Lord shall reign over them in Mount Zion from hence- forth, even forever. (Micah 4: 6, 7).
The Prophet Daniel, speaking of the last days, says :
And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book (Dan. 12: 1).
Scores of scripture passages might be quoted. The Bible student may be referred to the following, which should be read with their context:
358 IMPROVEMENT ERA.
1. Concerning the gathering of the Hebrew race. Isa. 11: 11; 27: 12, 13; 43: 5, 6; 49: 11, 12; Zeph. 3: 10; Zech. 8: 7, 8; 10: 8-10.
2. This gathering precedes the acceptance of Jesus as the king of the earth: Isa. 1: 26; 60: 70; Jer.23: 4; 30: 8, 9, 21; Ezek. 34: 23, 24; 37: 24, 25; Obad. 21; Zech. 14: 5, 9; Ps. 22: 27, 28.
3. Further prophetic declarations are to the effect that the Jews restored will be prosperous, and be a blessing to all the earth. Palestine shall become exceedingly fertile, and Jerusalem shall flourish. Before this, however, there will be wars and desolation. Isa. 34; Joel 3: 1-10; Zeph. 3: 8, 9. Ezek. 28: 25, 26; Hag. 2: 21-23; Jer. 30: 7-10; II Chron. 15: 3-7.
In view of these prophecies, the movement that has occupied the attention of many Jews the last few years, and which is known as Zionism, becomes exceedingly important. No matter how we view it, whether we consider it a beautiful dream or a practical scheme, it is the most remarkable Jewish movement of the age. It must be reckoned with. And perhaps it is not, after all, more impossible than was the exodus from Egypt.
The chief leader of this movement is Theodore Herzl, of Vienna. M. Herzl sprang into prominence from the humble posi- tion of an obscure journalist, by publishing a little book, Die Judenstaat, in which Zionism was outlined. No better idea of this modern Moses, as he has been called, can be given, than by his own autobiography, in which he says in part:
I was born in 1860, in Budapest, in a house next to the synagogue,
where lately Rabbi denounced me from the pulpit in very strong
terms, because forsooth I am trying to obtain for the Jews more honor and freedom than they enjoy at present. On the front door of the house in the Tabakgasse, where I first saw the light of (his world, twenty years hence a notice will be posted up, with the words, "This house to let."
I cannot deny that I went to school. First of all I was sent to a Jewish preparatory school, where I enjoyed a certain authority because my father was a wealthy merchant. My earliest recollection of that school consists of a caning which I received from the master because I did not know the details of the exodus of the Jews from Egypt. At the present time a great many schoolmasters want to give me a caning because I recollect too much of the exodus of Egypt.
THE JEW. 359
At the age of ten I went to the Realschule. Lesseps was then the hero of the hour, and I had conceived the idea of piercing the other isthmus, that of Panama. But I soon lost all my former love for log- arithms and trigonometry, because at that time a very pronounced anti- Jewish tendency prevailed at the Realschule. One of our masters explained to our class the meaning of the word "heathen" by saying, '"To that class belong the idolators, Mohammedans and Jews." After this peculiar definition I had enough of the "Realschule," and wanted to become a classical scholar. My good father never constrained me into a narrow groove for my studies, and I became a pupil of the gym- nasium.
But for all that, I had not yet quite done with Panama. Many years later, as the Paris correspondent of the Neue Freie Presse, it became my duty to write about the notorious incidents of that scandalous episode in the history of France. At the gymnasium which was called the Evangelisches Gymnasium, the Jewish boys formed the majority, and therefore we had not to complain of any "Judenhetze." In the upper seventh I wrote my first newspaper article — of course, anonymously, otherwise I would have been kept in by the headmaster.
While in the highest class in the gymnasium, my only sister died, a girl of eighteen: my good mother became so melancholy with grief that we removed to Vienna in 1878.
During the "shiva" week (week of mourning) Rabbi Kohn called on us and asked me what were my plans for the future. I told him that I intended to become an author (ein Schriftsteller), whereupon the rabbi shook his head.
In Vienna I studied law, took part in the stupid students' farces, including the wearing of a colored cap of a "verbindung"' until this as- sociation one fine morning passed a resolution that no Jews should henceforth be received as members. Those who were members already they kindly permitted to remain in the "verbindung."
I said goodby to these noble youth and began to devote myself seriously to work.
In 1884, I took my degree as doctor juris and entered the Gerichts Praxis (an unsalaried appointment in the law courts as a judicial clerk under the supervision of a judge).
I held this appointment in the law courts of Vienna as well as in Salzburg. In Salzburg the work seemed to be much more attractive, the scenery in and around the town being most beautiful. My office was in an old castellated tower, just under the belfry; the chimes sounded sweetly pretty to me three times every day.
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Of course I wrote much more for the theatres than for the law courts. In Salzburg I spent some of the happiest hours of my life. I would have liked to stay there in the beautiful town, but, as a Jew, I could never have advanced to the position of a judge. I therefore bade goodby to Salzburg and law business at the same time. Again I caused a great deal of worry to the rabbi in Budapest, for instead of going in for a real profession or for an art, I began to travel and to write for newspapers and for the theatre. A great many of my plays were performed at different theatres, some with great applause, others fell flat. Until this minute I cannot understand why some of my plays met with success while others were hissed off the stage. However, this difference of the receptions of my plays taught me to disregard altogether whether the public applauded or hissed my work. One's own conscience must be satisfied with one's work, all the rest is immaterial. I disown at present all my plays, even those which are still applauded at the Burgtheater (Imperial Court Theatre in Vienna). I don't care any longer for any of them.
In 1889, 1 married. I have three children, a boy and two girls. In my opinion my children are neither ugly nor stupid. But of course I may be mistaken.
While traveling in Spain, in the year 1891, the Neue Freie Presse made me the offer to become its correspondent in Paris. I accepted this position, though I detested and despised politics up to that time. In Paris I had occasion to learn what the word politics means, and I ex- pressed my views in a little book, "The Palais Burbon." In 1895, I had quite enough of Paris and returned to Vienna.
During the last two months of my residence in Paris, I wrote the book, "The Jewish State," to which I owe the honor of having been asked by you for some biographical data of my humble person.
The story of the book that became the beginning of modern Zionism is particularly interesting, M. Herzl says:
I do not recollect ever having written anything in such an elevated frame of mind as that book. Heine says that he heard the wings of an eagle beat over his head while writing certain verses. I do believe that "something also beat" above my head, while I wrote that book. I worked at it every day until I was completely exhausted; my only relaxation in the evening consisted in listening to Wagner's music, more especially to "Tanhauser," which opera I went to hear as often as it was performed. Only on those evenings when there at the opera I felt doubts about the correctness of my thoughts. •
THE JEW. 361
At first I had conceived the idea to write my pamphlet concerning the solution of the Jewish question for private circulation only among my friends. The publication of these views did not enter into my plan until later. I did not intend to commence a personal agitation for the Jewish cause.
Most people will be surprised at present when they hear of this former resolution. I considered the whole matter as only fit to be acted on, and not to be talked about.
Public agitation should only become my "ultima ratio," if my private advice was not listened to or not obeyed. When I had finished my book, I asked one of my oldest and best friends to read the manu- script. While reading it he suddenly commenced to cry. I found this emotion quite natural, as he was a Jew, and I also cried several times while writing the book. But to my dismay I found that he gave quite a different cause for his tears. He thought that I was gone mad, and being my friend, my misfortune made him very sad. He ran away with- out saying another word.
After a sleepless night, he came back to me the next morning and besought me to "leave the matter alone," as everybody would consider me crazy. He was excited to such a degree that I promised him every- thing to calm his feelings. He then advised me to consult Nordau as to whether my plan was the conception of a responsible person- "I shall ask nobody," was my reply, "if my ideas make that effect upon a cultivated and devoted friend of mine, I abandon my plan."
I then passed through a very serious crisis— I can only compare it to the throwing of a red-hot body into cold water. Of course, if that body happens to be iron, it becomes steel by the process.
My friend, of whom I spoke above, had to make up my accounts, for telegram disbursements. When he gave me the account consisting of an immense array of figures, I saw at a glance that he had cast up the sums incorrectly. I drew his attention to that fact, and he commenced to do the sums over again. Only after a third or fourth effort his sums agreed with mine.
This fact gave me back my confidence in myself. If I was able to "do sums" more correctly than he, my reason could not have left me completely.
On that day my troubles with the "Judenstaat" commenced. During the two years and more since that time, I had experienced many, many sad days, and I am afraid many more sad days will still fol- low.
In 1895, 1 began to keep a diary; five stoat volumes have been
362 IMPROVEMENT ERA.
filled already. Should I ever publish them, the world will' be surprised to learn what I had to endure; who were the enemies of my plan, and on the other hand, who stood by me.
But one thing I consider as certain, beyond a doubt, the movement will last. I do not know when I shall die; but Zionism will never die. Since the days at Basle the Jewish people have again a popular repre- sentation; consequently the "Judenstaat" will arise in its own country.
Israel Zangwill, the popular Hebrew author, is now one of the enthusiastic believers in Zionism. But even before he identified himself with that movement, he said of its great leader:
A majestic Oriental figure, the president's — not so tall as it appears when he draws himself up and stands dominating the assembly with eyes that brood and glow — you would say one of the Assyrian kings, whose sculptured heads adorn our museums, the very profile of Tiglath-Pileser. In sooth, the beautiful face of a kingly dreamer, but of a Jewish dreamer, who faces the fact that flowers are grown in dung. A Shelley beats in the air his luminous wings in vain; our Jewish dreamer dreams along the lines of life; his dream but discounts the future, his prophecy is merely fore-speaking, his vision prevision.
He talks agriculture, viticulture, subvention of the Ottoman empire, both by direct tribute and indiscreet enrichment; stocks and shares, railroads, internal and India; natural development under exploitation — all the jargon of our iron age. Let nob his movement be confounded with those petty projects for helping Jewish agriculturists into Pal- estine! What! improve the sultan's land without any political equiva- lent guaranteed in advance! Difficulty about the holy places of Chris- tianity and Islam? Pooh! extra-territorial.
A practiced publicist, a trained lawyer, a not unsuccessful comedy writer, converted to social self-consciousness by the "Flep Fleps" of Vienna, and hurried into unforeseen action by his own paper scheme of a Jewish State, he has, perhaps, at last — and not unreluctantly — found himself a man as a leader of men.
In a congress of impassioned rhetoricians he remains serene, moderate; his voice is for the most part subdued; in its most emo- tional abandonments there is a dry undertone, almost harsh. He quells disorder with a look, with a word, with a sharp touch of bell. The cloven hoof of the Socialist peeps out from a little group. At once "The congress shall be captured by no party!" And the congress is in roars of satisfation.
THE JEW. 363
M. Zangwill further says about Dr. Herzl's great plan:
Dr. Herzl's movement is a movement for the integration of the scattered forces of Israel, and the expression of this unity by a national politically guaranteed home in Palestine, that may serve as a shelter for the homeless and oppressed, and a beacon for those prosperously sheltered elsewhere.
Like so many other agents in this epical drama, Dr. Herzl started with no partiality for Palestine. His book, "Die Judenstaat," published in 1887, which was intended to be his sole contribution to the national migration it preached, is willing to accept Argentine equally. But he, too, has been set on the road toZion, even as he has been transformed willy-nilly from a writer into a man of action of the first order. It is the best sign of the progress of his cause that his book is already obsolete. Yet in a sense all his ideas have become realities. The annual congress is the embryo of a National Parliament. The Jewish company of the brochure is the Jewish Colonial Trust of reality, while its Constitutional Council represents the projected Society of Jews. In a brief five years, he has piloted his scheme through storms of abuse and hostility from every class of Jews till the vaporings of a visionary have become a political possibility, discussed at four great international congresses, approved by the German emperor, not disapproved by the czar, favorably considered by the sultan of Turkey, the ruler of Palestine; worked for by societies throughout Europe, and America, and South Africa; cap- italized by a hundred and thirty thousand shareholders, and constituting the greatest Jewish movement since the foundation of Christianity.
There is the Jew, then, looking back upon a history of many centuries, which pass before our view as an ugly dream; but awakening and finding the brightest prospects for the future. "Zionism," says Dr. Herzl, "will never die." None are better aware of the obstacles to its realization than are the Zionists themselves. But to the eye of faith, there are no obstacles. Speaking from a merely human point of view, it looks as if centuries would be re- quired to prepare the way for the re-habilitation of the Jewish state; but it is God's work; not that of man. And the Lord can accomplish in a day what we would judge to be the work of a thousand years, just as he can delay for a thousand years what we would think could be done in a day. Because we are apt to forget this truth, we often fail to understand God's dealings with his children.
COUNSEL TO BOYS ENGAGED IN ISOLATED
LABOR.
BY ELDER M. F. COWLEY, OF THE QUORUM OF THE TWELVE APOSTLES.
While in attendance at one of our stake conferences, we observed on the streets a large number of boys smoking cigarettes. This not only at one time, but also between meetings and before the opening of the forenoon sessions. In commenting upon this pernicious habit, it was said that the ward in question and one other in the stake were notorious for cigarette smokers, a large percentage of the boys and men being guilty of this de- moralizing practice. Upon inquiry as to the cause, the answer was that many of the boys and young men followed the vocation of sheep-herding, and were thus thrown into a measure of seclusion, away from home and the benefits of an elevating and refining influence which usually attends home- life; and away from the social, spiritual and intellectual influences which attach to every well-regulated ward throughout the Church. Such influences are ever needed for the protection and for the welfare of the young.
Because, like Abel and David, a boy is the shepherd of a flock, it does not follow that he must learn evil habits. The fact, how- ever, that he does, is proof of human weakness, and of the effects of environments over the human mind. The mind insists on being active in channels either for good or ill, and should, there- fore, be taken away and protected from sinful thoughts which lead to evil deeds. Perhaps no evil is more prevalent and popular with the boys than cigarette smoking, and very few things result
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in greater harm to body and mind. Tobacco is a narcotic poison. It is claimed by physicians, men who have studied the human body, that the effects of tobacco are bad however it is used, in the pipe, the cigar, or in chewing; and worst of all is the bad effect of it in a paper cigarette. The paper itself is injurious, and adds to the evil of the tobacco.
It would not seem a difficult task to convince young men that the tobacco habit is very injurious to them; and yet, the fact that so many are guilty of this practice would indicate that large numbers are not thus convinced, or they would not so grossly violate their convictions of right. The fact exists, nevertheless, that the tendency to evil is so strong, and the force of character in man so lacking, that human beings rush madly down the road to ruin quite conscious of being on that road. The world of men recognizes, by the testimony of human experience, the demonstrations of science, and teachings of learned men, that the tobacco habit is a great evil. In addition, Latter-day Saints are taught of God, by direct revelation that tobacco, strong and hot drinks, and ex- cessive use of animal food, are not good for man. Tobacco, the Lord says, "is not good for the body, neither for the belly, and is not good for man, but is an herb for bruises and all sick cattle, to be used with judgment and skill."
That Latter-day Saints will disregard these divine words, indicates a lack of sincere conviction or devotion to their own professions. The Latter-day Saints, while suffering, from a natural point of view, the same evil results as others suffer arising from violating the Word of Wisdom, are under much greater condemnation, because the injunction to observe this law is from God, and not from man, and is given as a principle to be ob- served by all members of the Church; a rule of faith and practice "adapted to the capacity of the weak and weakest of all Saints who are or can be called Saints." By this language is conveyed the idea that any who may say that they cannot observe this principle are unworthy to be called the Saints of God. That the revelation was given first, not by commandment to be made a question of fellowship to those who fail in its observance, but as a word of counsel, a matter of wisdom, etc., does not justify the Saints in treating it with less respect than a direct commandment.
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When the Lord expresses his will, and points out what would please him, it is indeed an ungrateful and unwhorthy servant who will violate the Father's will and counsel, simply because it is not given by direct commandment. The word of the Lord to us is: "It is not meet that I should command in all things, for he that is compelled in all things, the same is a slothful and not a wise servant; wherefore he receiveth no reward" (Doctrine and Cove- nants 58: 26). Then follows: "Men should be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of their own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness."
We are, however, reminded that many years ago President Brigham Young, the mouth-piece of the Lord to this people, presented the Word of Wisdom as being now a commandment for our observance. We had been borne with for a long time, and had taken advantage, probably, of God's mercy, and the confidence he had reposed in our love and devotion to our heavenly Father. He has given us to understand, later, through his prophet, that this law must be observed, or be followed by the same divine disapproval ar.d condemnation as is the violation of any other of his statutes.
Much of the tobacco habit, on the part of the young, is due to the bad example set them by their elder brethren. Young men should learn the truth, and be governed by it, no matter what may be the evil example of others, and regardless of who they may be who set the example of wrong-doing. Where young men are engaged in herding sheep, or at other isolated labor where idleness is possible, they should be determined to read good books, to engage in refining conversation, and to entertain pure and elevating thoughts. By this course, by the exercise of faith in the Lord, and by humble prayer, there will be little or no inclination to indulge in those vile habits that enervate the body, deaden the intellect, and drive from our young men the companion- ship of the Holy Spirit.
TALKS TO YOUNG MEN.
V.— "THE SAME IS DAMNED."
Men rise the higher as their task is high, The task being well achieved. — George Eliot.
Something over a year ago, I read in the Improvement Era that" the young men of this community had, on the whole, lost the vitality of their fathers, that they could not be trusted to do a bit of work requiring skill and brains, and that their places had to be filled by men who were in every essential particular their in- feriors, but who could be depended upon.
I must confess that when I read this, I was sorely tempted to fling the magazine across the room, for printing what I considered to be a foul slander. "It is a falsehood," I said; "and there can be no excuse for publishing it. The writer of it is a crank, a pes- simist, an enemy of our young men." From that day on, I deter- mined to find out to what extent it was true. I talked with peo- ple about the question; I enquired of employers; I observed the young men whose capacity I had every day the opportunity of measuring. And the upshot of it all was, that I found more truth in the statement than formerly I could possibly have been made to believe.
These strictures applies, of course, only to a certain class of young men among us. But this class is altogether too large, and, for aught I know, is growing. These young men are always on the lookout for "soft snaps." They shun difficulties. They abhor hard wdrk. They swarm our business colleges, studying how to become bookkeepers and stenographers. (Not that I would be un- derstood as implying that all bookkeepers and stenographers are shirkers; for as a class they are honorable enough, when they en-
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ter their profession from right motives). And they meantime lie about dreaming of great things to come by and by. If they are attending school, they study just enough to pass the examinations by the skin < f their teeth. If they are tradesmen, they find out only enough about their trade to get along in it. They are con- tent with the shallowest mediocrity. They never exert themselves to the utmost of their power. They never reach out beyond them- selves. They never know the joy of sounding the depths, of trying their strength, of doing things well. They do not look into the future in search of a gauge of their conduct. They take liter- ally the scriptural saying: "Sufficient unto the day." They have a mortal dread of responsibility. "I can't" is ever on their lips and in their hearts. After a time they get into a rut, as the last paper declared, and run down hill.
But enough of picking flaws. What can these young men do to help themselves? The best answer to this question is found in the fifty-eighth section of the Doctrine and Covenants. Read it, boys, and get it by heart; it is a marvelous passage:
Verily I say, men should be anxiously engaged- in a good cause, and do many things of their own free will, and bring to pass much righteous- ness; for the power is in them, wherein they are agents unto themselves. And inasmuch as men do good they shall in nowise lose their reward- But he that doeth not anything until he is commanded, and receiveth a commandment with a doubtful heart, and keepeth it with slothfulness, the same is damned.
The lesson here, then, is, court responsibility and independence of character; be earnest and anxi-ous in what you do if it is a good cause. Without responsibility there can be no genuine growth, no development of individual power. Conversely, the greater the individual responsibility, the greater the power. If this needed proving, we would only have to point to our young men who perform foreign missions. Who would be so hazardous as to predict that this youth, who cannot utter five consecutive and in- telligible sentences at his farewell party, would in two years, by any process whatever, be able to interest a large audience for an hour or an hour and a half? And yet we see this wonderful trans- formation on every hand. Why is it? Simply because, humanly
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speaking, he has accepted a task that was higher than he thought he could perform, and achieved that task well; that is, exerted his powers to the uttermost. This exertion, repeated, brought strength. And we see the effect — a miracle of power.
But this class of young men want to do something important now; they want to pass over the insignificant steps that lead to greatness. To preside over a small meeting in their ward is too trifling for them; they want to head an army, or to be president of the United States. And what would they do if they were placed in a position of great responsibility? Lose their heads, make themselves ridiculous, and be crushed by its terrible weight. The apprentice at carpentry is not given the highest kind of work to do at first. He must do a multitude of less im- portant things before he can be trusted to do that. The great commander must come up through a variety of "insignificant" de- grees before he is fit to lead. Preside over your small meetings first, then the presidency of big audiences may come; perform well your part on the program now, then you may be able after a while to sway immense throngs by your eloquence; keep your small store, and afterwards you may be given charge of larger concerns, by and by. But if you don't do now the little things well, the time will never come when you will be given the chance to do great things.
Never, then, shirk a responsibility. Always do as you are asked, if you sacrifice not your honor. Never mind the future, if you take real care of the present; the future will find a place for you. If the task is hard, so much the better. Performing it well will insure you strength to some higher task, which, "being well achieved," will in time raise you, till in future what once seemed im- possible will be simple. This is the only secret of growth. On the contrary, if you do not improve the opportunity to carry trust and responsibility, you will receive little or no growth. Your powers will remain the same, if they do not actually diminish. For he that is a slothful servant, the same is damned.
PUBLJC WORKERS.
JOSEPH BULL.
Among the public workers of our community during the past half century was the late Elder Joseph Bull, of Salt Lake City, whose death occurred on the 11th of January, 1904. It was in January, 1852, that he began to work for the Church publishing house — the Deseret News — and it was January, 1904, that he per- formed his last day's work for that same institution, and a few days later went to his rest. There were several intervals during this period of fifty-two years in which he was not engaged at the Church publishing establishment, but most of this time was spent in the mission fields abroad, in which service he labored for more than eight years. Practically his whole life, after his first coming to Utah, was given to public service. This long term of activity entitles him to honorable mention among those whose lives are briefly sketched in these papers.
Joseph Bull was a native of Leicester, England, where he was born January 25, 1832. His parents were Daniel and Eliza- beth Burdette Bull. After receiving a common school education, he engaged to learn the printing business, at the age of fourteen. The firm to which he was apprenticed failed before his time ex- pired, but the qualifications he had thus far developed helped him to obtain a situation in a leading printing establisment in Birming- ham. He remained at this latter place until the end of the year 1850. In the meantime he had become interested in the teachings of the Latter- day Saints, and in February, 1848, when sixteen years old, united with the Church.
His object in leaving his situation in Birmingham was to gather with the Saints in Utah, and on the 6th of January, 1851,
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he sailed from Liverpool with a company of Saints bound for New Orleans. The ship on which he embarked collided with a schooner in the Irish channel, and was disabled. This made it necessary for the vessel to go under repairs, and for this purpose it was run into Cardigan bay, where it remained three weeks. Owing to this delay, it did not reach New Orleans till March 14.
From New Orleans, Brother Ball went by steamer to St. Louis, and from there to Council Bluffs. There he worked in the office of the Frontier Guardian, a paper published at that time by Apostle Orson Hyde. He walked from Council Bluffs to Utah, and drove a herd of cattle the whole distance, receiving hia board in payment for his services as driver.
It was on September 15 that he arrived in Salt Lake City. He labored that fall at whatever he could find to do, assisting masons and plasterers, and getting wood from the canyons. He did not expect to find work at printing in those early days of Utah's set- tlement, but expected to turn his attention to farming when the season opened. Early in January, 1852, he undertook with others to dig a drain ditch in Bountiful, then known as Sessions' Settle- ment, Davis county. While at this work, Dr. Willard Richards, editor of the Deseret News, sent for him, and engaged him to work in the office of that paper. The legislature was in session, and help was needed to get out the printing required. He not only worked as a compositor, but also as a pressman, and even made printing inks for special purposes.
Three years after his arrival in Utah, Brother Bull became a married man. He wedded Miss Emma Green, formerly of Birming- ham, England. Six months later he was called upon a mission to California, with Elders George Q. Cannon and Matthew P. Wilkie to print the Book of Mormon in the Hawaiian language, and to pub - lish the Western Standard, a weekly newspaper 8in the interest o the Church. Between June, 1855, and January, 1856, the work of printing two thousand copies of the Book of Mormon was com- pleted by these' three men. The first number of the Standard was issued February 23, following. Elder Bull was appointed president of the San Francisco conference of the Church, and later — in July, 1857 — was called to fill a mission to the Sandwich Islands to publish a newspaper in the Hawaiian language. When about to
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start for this new field of labor, a call was made for the elders to return to Utah, owing to the coming of Johnston's army. He reached Utah in January, 1858, and resumed his labors in the Deseret News office.
Besides his labors in the mechanical department of the news- paper, Elder Bull frequently made trips through the territory in the interest of the business, and once made a trip to San Francisco to procure a supply of paper. This journey of nearly three thousand miles, going and returning by the southern route, was made by team in a little over three months, and by covering the distance so expe- ditiously he prevented the paper from suspending publication. Later on he made periodical business trips both east and west for the News, and became familiarly known among those with whom he did business as the "Mormon newspaper man." In August, 1860, he was installed as foreman of the printing department of the News, but soon afterwards he was on his way to Europe to fill an- other mission. He reached Liverpool, England, on the 12th of December. He was first sent to preside over the Bedford con- ference; then, in 1863, to occupy a similar position in the Leeds district, comprising the Sheffield, Leeds and Hull conferences. He also labored in the Millennial Star office, and superintended the publication of several of the Church works.
After an absence of four years he returned home, and also to his former position in the printing establishment. In the fall of 1866, he was released for a time from his position as foreman on the newspaper to take charge of the publication of the Juvenile Instructor, which had been started at the beginning of that year by Apostle George Q. Cannon. Again he was assigned to his place in the printing department of the News, and for a period of about ten years acted as purchasing agent and advertising solicitor in connection with his other duties. In the fall of 1877, Elder Bull started on another mission to England, accompanied by his wife. This time he was absent about two years. Besides laboring in the Birmingham and Liverpool conferences, he superintended the printing of several of the Church publications. Returning home, he again took up his labors at the office of the Deseret News, pre- ferring to stay with this establishment, although having had, at several times, offers of employment in other places. Soon after
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the opening of the Salt Lake Temple he was engaged therein, and his wife also became one of the workers there.
On October 24, 1895, his wife died of pneumonia, after a brief illness. Elder Bull married again in January, 1897, the lady of his choice being Miss Zina V. Hyde, daughter of the late Apostle Orson Hyde. After a few years' service in the Salt Lake Temple, he again took to the printing business in the pioneer establishment of Utah, where he remained, as already stated, until within a few days of his death.
Elder Bull's life was an exceedingly active and useful one. He was full of energy, and loved his work, in which he took a great deal of pride. He was not ashamed of the fact that he was a working man, and did what he could to dignify labor. He qualified himself in his profession, and added to this qualification the highly valuable quality of trustworthiness. He was thorough and reli- able, and could always be depended upon to carry to a successful finish whatever he undertook to do. It was these principles in his character that made him so useful in his chosen occupation; and it is these principles that make men valuable in every useful pursuit. A man may have brilliant natural talents, but unless he cultivates with those talents the habits of industry and perseverance, and es- tablishes a character for reliability, his native ability is of little avail.
SOME LEADING EVENTS IN THE CURRENT STORY OF THE WORLD.
BY DR. J. M. TANNER, SUPERINTENDENT OF CHURCH SCHOOLS.
War in the Far East.
The announcement that the Japanese had attacked the Rus- sian fleet at Port Arthur and badly damaged three Russian war ships was the first declaration of war by Japan against Russia. The early naval engagement had a telling effect in favor of Japan, whose first move was to disable and endanger the efficiency of the Russian fleet. This was necessary in order that the Japanese might move their land troops undisturbed into Korea and Man- churia.
For months, a diplomatic controversy has been going on be- tween Russia and Japan, and all the time both nations have been pushing on vigorously preparations for war. Throughout all the diplomatic procedure, there has been a striking contrast between the methods of the Japanese and the Russians; the former have acted in a prompt, decisive and open manner; the latter have de- layed their answers, consumed all the time possible, and have been indirect and evasive in all their dealings. The terms of the pro- posed negotiations have not been given to the public, and only such information as could be obtained through the worming of the press agents, and on "reliable authority," has come to the public.
Towards the close of the negotiations, the Czar of Russia came out with strong declarations of his determination to preserve peace, and yield, as far as national pride would possibly permit, to the demands of Japan. No doubt the Czar sincerely hoped for peace; but though he is autocrat of all the Russias, he is still
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more or less subject to the predominant influence of leading Rus- sians who really belong to what is styled the war party of that country. But that is really Russian policy, — to ask for everything at the outset, and stop with what she really wants; and no doubt the Czar was really ready to make important concessions to Japan, in order to avert a war, and yield to the pressure of her ally, France.
So far as the outside world is permitted to know the terms of Russia's offer before the outbreak of the war, the situation was about as follows:
1— Russia was prepared to grant Japan all the latter asked for in Korea. 2 — Russia was ready to acknowledge Chinese sov- ereignty in Manchuria, and to respect all treaty rights made be- tween China and foreign nations with respect to trade in Manchu- ria. 3 — Russia was willing to embody the terms of propositions one and two in a formal treaty. 4— Russia gave assurance that she would not initiate war, even though Japan should occupy Korea.
These propositions contained all that Japan had been con- tending for, but there was a string to the "April fool wallet," by which the Japanese clearly foresaw that all these treaty rights could be snatched away from Japan at the moment the latter stooped to pick them up. Russia tacked on to her very literal concessions an inventory setting forth Russia's interests and rights in [Man- churia. The recognition of these inventorial rights would really place Manchuria in complete control of Russia, and place that Chinese province in about the same position that Egypt is today. Turkey nominally governs Egypt, but only nominally. So the Japanese clearly foresaw in the Russian inventory what they hon- estly believed to be a trick. At the same time, the Russians were moving their troops forward to occupy the most important posi- tions for strategic purposes. The movement, therefore, of the Russian navy and land forces came so near the point of a challenge to war that the Japanese felt that a moment's time could not be lost, and struck a staggering blow to Russia, without waiting for the formal declaration of war, although it is said that the Russians made the first attack upon the Japanese at Chemulpo fort, in west- ern Korea.
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It may be asked, Why are the Japanese so insistent about Manchuria? Their answer is, "Because we have the lion's share of trade in that rich Chinese province." The Japanese have an old grudge that arose in 1895, after the defeat of China by Japan. By the treaty of Simonoseki, China ceded the possession of south- ern Manchuria to Japan. Russia, backed by Germany and France, informed Japan that it would not do for any country to interfere with the integrity of China, or make territorial annexation, and that Japan must give up southern Manchuria. The Japanese were forced to yield, and a little later to see the Russians themselves take possession of Manchuria. It was much the same with Port Arthur.
Practically, all Korean resources are under the control of the Japanese, who own and control two railroads in that kingdom. Under the pretext of getting a timber concession along the Yalu river, the Russians began their encroachment upon Korea. From that moment, the Japanese honestly believed they foresaw as com- plete an absorption of Korea by Russia as the latter's absorption of Manchuria had been. Korea is an absolute necessity to Japanese enterprise and commercial expansion. For Japan, the situation has become desperate. The Japanese have been quiet but firm in their determination; their self-control under the most trying ordeal has won the admiration of the world. With them the war means a life-and- death struggle. The independence of Korea is just as much a "Monroe doctrine" to the Japanese, as the independence of the South American republics is to the United States.
The Attitude of the United States.
John Hay, our Secretary of State, immediately upon the outbreak of the war between Japan and Russia communicated to the Great Powers a note asking that they join in a declaration to Russia and Japan that under no circumstances, whatever might be the outcome of the war, would either of those countries be per- mitted to infringe upon China's sovereignty over Manchuria. The note will be quite agreeable to Great Britain; and Germany is said to look upon it in a favorable light; France, the ally of Russia, will probably take no action in the matter; and even Russia dis-
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claims any intention to interfere with China's sovereignty in this province.
Manchuria is of vital interest to the United States, as it is one of the most flourishing Asiatic markets for our exports. American commerce over the Pacific is now guarded with the utmost jealousy, and the reason for our jealousy will appear in the fact that within the last ten years our exports to Asia have increased from sixteen to fifty- five million dollars annually. In Oceanica the increase has been from eleven to thirty- seven mil- lion, so that our exports to Asia are greatly in excess of what they are to South America. These rapid strides in our foreign trade with eastern Asia have given rise to the jealous anxiety with which American interests are guarded in Manchuria.
Sympathy of the United States in the Present War.
So far as newspapers afford us an accurate barometer, the. sympathy of this country i3 decidedly with Japan, and there are special reasons why Japan has our sympathy. It may be said that it is not because we love Japan more, but because we love Russia less. There has been, it is true, a traditional friendship between the United States and Russia since the war of the Rebellion; but that friendship, until we came to meet Russia in China, was never put to the test; and since the year 1900, the march of events has been in the direction of an alienation of sentiment between this country and Russia.
In 1900, the Great Powers made the march upon Pekin where their representatives were under the attack of Chinese mobs dur- ing the Boxer rebellion. During the march of the allied armies, up the Peiho river, we had an opportunity to compare the Japanese and Russian soldiers. If all reports be true, the Russian soldiers were guilty of inhuman excesses, and flagrant violations of every principle of humanity and justice. Innocent men and woman were ruthlessly shot down, and outrages perpetrated upon Chinese wo- men by the Russian s ldiers that sent a chill of horror throughout the civilized world. On the other hand, the Japanese soldiers were orderly, well behaved, and humane. They were among the best soldiers of that expedition, and much was said in their praise.
When the foreign representatives at Pekin were rescued, and
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order was established in the Chinese empire, the Great Powers agreed that China should not be dismembered, and that the differ- ent nations of the world should enjoy equal commercial opportuni- ties in the celestial empire. The troops of all the Great Powers but Russia were withdrawn. Russia was building railroads in Man- churia, and developing commercial affairs in that country; so, under one pretext or another, that nation not only kept her sol- diers in Manchuria that were there to quell the Boxer rebellion, but kept on shipping in more. This aroused the suspicion of the Powers, and a formal treaty was finally decided upon by which Russia was to begin the withdrawal of her troops from the prov- ince of Manchuria, on the 8th day of October, 1903. This written pledge has not been kept, and the Powers realize that the excuses which Russia offers for still maintaining her armies in Manchuria are not substantial, and that what Russia really intends to do is to take permanent possession of that valuable Chinese province. The. United States has not, therefore, felt that Russia was dealing honorably, and in accordance with the terms of a written treaty.
Another source of irritation to the people of this country was the conviction aroused, only a short time ago, that Russia was really interfering with the treaty we are entering into with China. It may be said that for months past Russia was the most influ- ential foreign power at Pekin. We are making a treaty with China by which we are to enjoy commercial privileges throughout its em- pire, including Manchuria. The powers that were making a treaty similar to us had long felt the disadvantage to commerce that arose out of the old Chinese likin tax: that every province, and certain large cities, charged a tax on all foreign goods that came into them, or even passed through them. These likin taxes were an un- certain factor. It was not always known just what these would be, and the merchant, therefore, who would do business in the in- terior of China, never knew just what taxes would be levied upon his goods before they reached their destination. In the place of this likin tax, China was to put an additional seven and a half of advalorem duty upon the goods at the port of entrance. This treaty was agreeable to China; it was acceptable to the United States; and ratified by the Senate, and yet we awaited for a long time the
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ratification of the treaty by China. The suspicion grew in this country that some third party, influential at the court of Pekin, was preventing the Chinese government from acting; and it was not until the suspicion fell upon Russia, and considerable temper was shown in this country, that China ratified the treaty which it was believed Russia was hindering.
Japan is more vitally concerned in the contention that Man- churia must remain a province of the Chinese empire than we are; and Japan has felt that unless something be done, and done at once, Russian diplomacy and aggression would not only make Man- churia a Russian province, but would also place Korea under Rus- sian control.
Many of our newspapers have said some very sharp things about the policy of Russia, and Russian papers have answered with a considerable show of temper. Our Executive department has been perfectly frank in telling Russia about some things that Rus- sia is doing which this country does not like; and now our Secre- tary of State is sending a note to the Great Powers asking that they join us in a note to Russia to the effect that whatever may be the military outcome of the struggle between Japan and Rus- sia, the Great Powers will permit neither to annex either Man- churia or Korea. The probabilities are that whether the Great Powers join us or not, we shall insist that Manchuria remain a prov- ince of the Chinese empire.
We have' a very large Jewish constituency in this country; and the fact that our government interceded in behalf of the Jews, in their protest against Russian brutality, has done much to alien- ate the former friendly feelings of Russia toward this country. These are some of the reasons, perhaps the most important ones, why our sympathies are with Japan.
New York and Religion.
For years, New York has been the center of the commercial life of the United States. But this wonderful city offers to this country problems in religion that are no less interesting than those of her commerce. Religious controversy and religious power are centering more and more in our great commercial metropolis. The following list of church membership affords a comparison of
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relative numerical strength of the great religious denominations of that city:
Catholics, enrolled, 984,800; Catholics, out of church, 265,200; Protestants, enrolled, 1,152,650; out of church, 741,080; Jews, 675,000.
Among the Protestant churches, a comparison will show a surprising preponderance in the Episcopal church, as that church leads the list with 88,263. The large membership of the Luther- an church, namely 45,745, can be largely accounted for by the presence of so many Germans of that denomination in New York. The following list shows the relative membership of the various Protestant denominations:
Protestant Episcopal, 88,263; Methodists, all bodies, 48,133; Lutheran, 45,745; Presbyterian, all bodies,45,526; Baptist, all bodies, 37,627; Reformed Dutch, 23,059; Congregational, 18,653; all others, 24,784.
It is very evident that such a large church membership is ac- companied by great wealth. The property in New York exempt from taxation exceeds in value $200,000,000. It is easily seen how New York is rapidly gaining in religious ascendency in the United States. Wealth and membership are two powerful factors in religious influence; so that New York is as easily the metropolis of the different religious denominations as it is in the commerce of the United States. The study, therefore, of the religious problem of that great city is attracting the attention of those who are following the religious forces in the history of our country.
The Panama Canal.
For the past month, the ratification of our treaty with Panama has been held up in the Senate by its opponents. Mr. Gorman, the leader of the minority, undertook to solidify the Democrats in the Senate in opposition to the treaty. Its ratifica- tion required the vote of two-thirds, sixty senators. The Repub- licans had but fifty-four. The legislatures of Mississippi, Louis- iana, and Florida instructed their senators to vote for the treaty. These Gulf states are ardently in favor of it, so it was early seen how impossible it would be for the Democrats in the Senate to successfully unite in opposition to the treaty. Other Southern
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states, by their commercial clubs and governors, were quite pro- nounced in favor of the canal, and the adoption of the treaty with Panama. This division in the Democratic party gave the fullest assurance of its ratification. Its opponents, however, in their surrender, are endeavoring to make their defeat as agreeable as possible by the introduction of some slight, and not very material, amendments. The amendments now can mean nothing more than delay, so that the country is beginning to look upon the early construction of this great waterway as a foregone conclusion.
Will Congress do it?
A recent movement has been set on foot by the Grand Army of the Republic to secure a pension for every man who has served his country in the Civil War. This movement is said to have the indorsement of President Roosevelt and a number of leading Republicans. It is not possible to say now just what additional expense such a pension law would entail upon the federal govern- ment. Various estimates have been given out; however, it is safe to say that it might increase our expenditures at the rate of $60,000,000 a year. At present our annual pensions amount to $140,000,000 in round numbers; this would make the total for pensions $200,000,000 per year.
The Grand Army of the Republic is a numerous and powerful organization whose demands cannot easily be brushed aside. Should the party in power thus enlarge its pension list, its oppo- nents will not be slow to make the accusation that the additional $60,000,000 was simply a stupendous campaign fund, so that pen- sion extravagance may be an additional issue in the coming campaign. At present the demand for this enlarged pension is wholly within the realms of speculation, and people are asking themselves, Will Congress do it? It is hardly likely that the party in power will care to increase its annual burdens so enormously at the opening of a presidential campaign.
EDITOR'S TABLE.
A SENSELESS CAMPAIGN-
Just now there seems to be a general, united uprising of the religious denominations against the Latter-day Saints. The excuse for the turmoil is the election of Hon. Reed Smoot to the Senate of the United States, — not by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter- day Saints, but by the Legislature and people of the sovereign state of Utah. Every woman's organization in the country is up in arms; churches and religious societies are all vigorously united in a crusade against the Church of Christ. Petitions have come from all parts of the country to overwhelm the Senate, asking for the expulsion of Senator Smoot from that body. The whole cam- paign is generaled by a coterie of ministers. Back of the agi- tators, hiding behind them, stand these "shepherds of the flocks," dabbling in dirty politics in the name of purity, with all their might and strength.
Is the campaign justified? The charges against Mr. Smoot are that he is a polygamist, and especially that he is an active officer in the church to which he belongs, and to which it is alleged he acknowl- edges allegiance superior to that which he owes to the United States government. The first charge is generally conceded to be false, even by the misled petitioners and their agitating ministerial generals. The only charge, then, is that he is a "Mormon," and, being so, the question is, whether he is prohibited from holding office under the government; whether belief in his religion is irreconcilable with American citizenship; whether he owes his church an allegiance which is in conflict with his allegiance to the government of our country.
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Happily in this country there is religious freedom, and it is well that it should be so, otherwise toleration would die; hence, that Senator Smoot is a Latter-day Saint is no disqualification. His religious belief is no more the business of the Senate or the American people, or the ministers and their adherents, than is the religious belief of Senators Dubois, McComas, Depew, or Hoar.
Personally, he is a good, conscientious, able, temperate man, quite the peer of the petitioners and their generals in moral purity and social standing: hence this does not stand in his way. His religion and personality, under these conditions, cannot act as a bar. He is a law-abiding citizen of the United States, and of the state in which he was elected — truthful, moral, upright, with no tarnish on his name. He was elected in the proper way to his honored position, and there was not the least shadow of doubt or suspicion cast on the method of his election. There was no money or other undue influence used, and no person can truthfully accuse him or the legislature which elected him, of any fraud or irregu- larity. His was among the cleanest elections, if not the cleanest elec- tion, in the whole country, held to elect men to the exalted office of Senator of the United States. His religion teaches loyalty to God, to government, and all those virtues which go to make up the personality of the senator, a belief in which is surely not irreconcilable with true American citizenship.
All churches claim to be divinely appointed, and place God above country, and any man who renders true homage to God, cannot break the law, for he lives above it. No man can be a good Latter-day Saint and not be true to the best interests and general welfare of his country. After all these years, it is folly to say that the Church is antagonistic to the national government. The part which our people took in the Mexican and Spanish- American wars should be enough to eternally brand such statement false. The allegiance claimed from its members by the Church does not prevent a member from being a loyal citizen of the na- tion. It rather aids him; fidelity to the Church enables a man better to entertain patriotic allegiance to his nation and country. There is nothing required of a Latter-day Saint that can in any way be construed to militate against loyalty to the nation, and for that reason Senator Smoot is under no obligations to the Church
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that can come in conflict with his fealty to country. It is plain that the campaign of the ministers is unjustified.
Why, then, do they carry it on? It is to fight the Church to which Senator Smoot belongs, over his head. The fact that he holds the priesthood is gall and wormwood to them. They fight him to get an opportunity to oppose the .work of the Lord. And they antagonize the Saints because they believe in revelation, and choose to worship God in the way that Christ commanded when he estab- lished the Church upon the earth; and for the further reason that the Saints refuse to acknowledge these priests as spiritual leaders. For these reasons they combine together and seek to place the Latter-day Saints under a political ban. They are unjustified. The Church is not in politics. It did not elect Senator Smoot. Its mission is to preach the gospel of Christ; to help the needy; to do good to all men — not to control politics. The Latter- day Saints entertain individual views as to politics, to which they have a right; and are entitled to them as much as the peti- tioners are to theirs. The Saints do not vote as one party, and do not even combine politically to fight their enemies, — a course which the ministers and their congregations have not only recently pur- sued in Utah, but which they are now pursuing in seeking to stir up political frenzy in Congress and the nation, by accusing the Saints of disloyalty, treachery, and all manner of unworthiness, when the facts are that their history proves them to have been loyal, honest and worthy, in every test to which they have been subjected.
Furthermore, it is a ridiculous farce to ask Congress to in- vestigate and report upon the moral condition of a church, in order to determine whether a United States Senator, against whom no wrong can be found, and who was regularly elected, is entitled to his seat in the Senate. If the laws are broken by individuals of the Church, such individuals are amenable to the laws; but what bearing their shortcomings may have upon the seating of a senator from the state in which they live, only the enemies of the Church appear to comprehend. Justice and common sense can see no related connection.
It is a dangerous precedent which the agitators are seeking to establish. If the Latter-day Saints are proscribed today, what
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sect will next be assailed by the spirit of proscription? If a com- bination of church people shall succeed this year in placing a ban upon Senator Smoot because he is a Latter-day Saint, what evi- dence have we that this religious combination shall not next year place a similar ban upon an adherent of some other unpopular denomination? To what will the efforts of this religious league, in the nation, lead? What will be the result? What the end?
One thing is certain : this determination of its enemies to make war on the Church, while it may result in temporary disad- vantage, annoyance, petty persecution, and bitter hatred, will in the end, when the truth concerning us shall be laid bare, as it will- be by investigation and time, result in growth, benefit and blessing to the work of .God. In this truth, the missionaries abroad, the young people at home, and the members of the Church in general, may find consoling comfort.
Joseph F. Smith.
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS.
Concerning the Creation.
A correspondent writing from Menan speaks of the order of creation, and objects to a statement in the Junior Manual on this point. It must be stated that the text of the manual is very short, and teachers are expected to add facts not always found in the text, but to be obtained from other authorized books upon the subject. The correspondent is undoubtedly correct in his state- ment, and the text of the manual should be interpreted to conform with the views held by the Prophet Joseph, in the Pearl of Great Price. Here is the letter:
"I was looking over the manual for the junior class of the li. I. A. this evening, and noticed in the first paragraph this state- ment: 'Last of all came beasts, insects, and animal life generally, with man to crown the whole work of creation.' The order of creation here put forth is the order given in the first chapter of Genesis, and if we were to stop here, this would seem to be quite correct. But when we take up the second chapter, beginning
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at the 4th verse, the order of creation is reversed, and man is made the first of animated beings:
" 'These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens, and every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew; * * * and there was not a man to till the ground.'
"Now, as I understand the first chapter, it relates the order of the spiritual creation of all things, and the second chapter that of the temporal, or earthly creation. If we take this view of this Bible narrative, then it is in accord with what the Lord has revealed in our days, as follows:
" 'And now, behold, I say unto you that these are the generations of the heaven and of the earth, when they were created, in the day that I the Lord God made the heaven and the earth, and every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew. For I the Lord God, created all things of which I have spoken, spiritually before they were naturally upon the face of the earth. For I the Lord God, had not caused it to rain upon the face of the earth. And I the Lord God, had created all the children of men; and not yet a man to till the ground; for in heaven created I them; and there was not yet flesh upon the earth; neither in the water, neither in the air; but I, the Lord God, spake, and there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground. And I, the Lord God, formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul, the first flesh upon the earth; the first man also; nevertheless all things were before created; but spiritually were they created and made according to my word.' — Pearl of Great Price, pp. 7-8."
The Kinderhook Plates.
Certain bell-shaped plates are said to have been discovered in a mound, in the vicinity of Kinderhook, Pike county, Illinois, by Robert Wiley, in 1843, and taken to Joseph Smith. Now, I wish to ask: 1. Were these plates translated by Joseph Smith? 2. If so, what were their contents? 3. Where are they? 4. Are they considered of any value in confirming the Book of Mormon? 5. Is there anything about them in any of the Church works?
1 and 2. Near Kinderhook, in Pike county, Illinois— between fifty and sixty miles south and east of Nauvoo— on April 23, 1843, a
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Mr. Robert Wiley, while excavating a large mound, took from said mound six brass plates of bell shape, fastened by a ring passing through the small end, and fastened with two clasps, and covered with ancient characters. Human bones together with charcoal and ashes were found in the mound, in connection with the plates which evidently had been buried with the person whose bones were discovered. The plates were submitted to the Prophet, and speak- ing of them in his journal, under date of May 1, 1843, he says: "I have translated a portion of them, and find they contain the history of the person with whom they were found. He was a descendant of Ham, through the loins of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and that he received his kingdom from the Ruler of heaven and earth."
3. The plates were later placed in a museum in St. Louis, known as McDowell's, which was afterwards destroyed by fire, and the plates were lost.
4. The event would go very far towards confirming the idea that in very ancient times, there was intercourse between the eastern and western hemispheres; and the statement of the prophet would mean that the remains were Egyptian. The fair implication, also, from the prophet's words is that this descendant of the Pharaohs possessed a kingdom in the new world; and this circumstance may account for the evidence of a dash of Egyptian civilization in our American antiquities.
5. The whole account of the finding of the plates, together with the testimony of eight witnesses, besides Mr. Wiley, who were acquainted with the finding of the relics, as also the statement from the prophet's history, is found in the Millennial Star, vol. 21: pp. 40-44.
The Kingdom of God.
Is the Kingdom of God, referred to in "Articles of Faith," pp. 376-7, set up at the present time?
The writer is referred to an article in No. 4, Vol. 7, Improve- ment Era, entitled, "The Church and Kingdom of God," by the First Presidency. As to Copyrights.
1. How long does a book copyright last? 2 Is it assignable?
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3. May any person print the book at the expiration of the copy- right?
1. A copyright may be secured for 28 years. It may then be renewed for a period of 14 years. 2. The owner of the copyright may assign it, and in case of his death, his heirs are entitled to his rights. 3. At the close of 42 years, or 28 years, in case renewal is not made, any person may publish the work.
NOTES.
To live long it is necessary to live slowly. — Cicero.
The gods have given us a long life, but we have made it short. — Seneca.
Old age seizes upon an ill-spent youth like fire upon a rotten house. — South.
A coward can't stand defeat. It is only a brave man or woman who can turn a defeat into a triumph.
Do but gain a boy's trust; convince him by your behavior that you have his happiness at heart; let him discover that you are the wiser of the two; let him experience the benefit of following your advice and the evils that arise from disregarding it, and fear not that you will readily enough guide him. — Spencer.
People are beginning to see the first requisite in life is to be a good animal. The best brain is found of little service if there be not enough vital energy to work it, and hence to obtain the one by sacrificing the source of the other is now considered a folly — a folly which the eventual failure of juvenile prodigies constantly illustrates. Thus we are discover- ing the wisdom of the saying that one secret in education is "to know how wisely to lose time." — Spencer.
Nothing else is worth so much to you as your unqualified endorse- ment of yourself. The approval of the "still, small voice" within you, which says to every noble act, "That is right," and to every ignoble one, "That is wrong," is worth more to you than all the kingdoms of the earth. It matters little what others may think about you, or what the world may say; it makes no difference whether the press or the public praises or blames; it is by your own honest judgment of yourself that you must stand or fall. — Success.
OUR WORK.
PRELIMINARY PROGRAMS.
This subject is one of considerable importance, and one that is some- what new to the present generation of mutual improvement workers, with the exception of the trial of it made this year and during the season of 1902-3. It is first necessary to have brought before us the object of the organization of the Mutual Improvement Association. Roughly speaking, there were three purposes to be accomplished by this organ- ization. One of these is the development of religious faith, knowledge and action. The second is the securing of general culture outside of theological work. The third is the development of proper social inter- course and recreation.
The first of these purposes has of late years been given very great prominence, indeed almost to the exclusion, one may say, of the other two. We have been giving our attention almost exclusively to the de- velopment of religious faith, knowledge and action. Now, this field is not the only field, by any means, that is covered by our association work. It is expected that as much as possible shall be done along the line of general culture, and that we shall study other than theological subjects. It is the purpose to enter upon this other part of our field by means of these preliminary programs.
At the time of the organization of this association, debating and literary societies were springing up all over the Church. The young people were running wild almost in the direction of these things. They were getting almost beyond restraint in some of those particulars, and it was partly for the purpose of checking this tendency toward going outside of the Church for these things that the Mutual Improvement organizations were instituted. Although the writer was but a small boy at the time these things were brought into existence, he can remember very distinctly the attempt that was then made to make this general
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culture a very prominent feature; and we all remember, no doubt, that debating, under certain circumstances, was a part of the work. Essay writing was another part, and there were association papers, contribu- tions to which were furnished by the young men. There were other lit- erary selections, as well as musical selections — all in addition to the work that was done along theological lines. We remember, also, that when the first manual was published, something like thirteen years ago, that features other than theological work were introduced in it. It in- cluded scientific, historical and literary work, for the purpose of giving to the young men this broad culture. But of late years, we have confined ourselves — and I think wisely, because of the peculiar circumstances that confronted us — almost entirely to the theological part; and with what success, the revivifying of these associations bears testimony. We know that it has been a most successful movement that has been instituted and carried through during the last few years.
But now we desire to depart from this exclusive work, and make our work a little more general, and begin again to occupy the field we practically abandoned a few years ago, viz., the field of general culture and social enjoyment. The general culture feature, and the religious feature, should be attended to in our weekly meetings. It is upon the subject of these programs, which are beginning to occupy this other field, that I desire to say a word. It is advisable and very necessary that some work be done along the line of general culture.
These preliminary programs should consist, as I understand the in- tention of the Manual committee, of as much work as we can secure within the brief time allotted along these general lines. Literary work, for example; literary reading and working are both neglected very largely by the mass of our young people. There are not many of our young people that can read properly; that can take the great authors and fully appreciate their works; that can delve into the productions of the brightest minds in the world's literature, and understand and appre- ciate those productions to the fullest extent. The reason for this is that part of the education of the mass of the young people has not been developed as highly as we hope to see it developed in the future. We have devoted our time too exclusively to our theological work. We have been placed, it appears, under the necessity of doing this. We have looked upon ourselves as having a special mission, and we have a special mission, to reform the religious world and to give the truth to the world in place of the error that they have. And while we have been doing this, I believe we have neglected, to a certain extent, our reading. We are not so familiar with the leading authors of English and American litera-
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ture, and the translations from the German and French, as we should he. It is the intention, therefore, of these preliminary programs to intro- duce gradually the works of these authors, in a fragmentary way, it is true; but a fragmentary introduction to the work will lead the mind toward the other writings which that author has produced. If we place before you a choice selection from some of Irving's works, you will be- come interested in Irving, and will want to find more of his writings. So with other American and English authors. By this introduction you will become interested in their work, and you will be prone to read further outside of the association meetings. Wot only so, but you will be filled, to a certain extent, with literary zeal yourselves, and those of you who have some talent in the direction of writing will be led to write, basing your style -very largely upon the style of those authors whom you read. By this reading and writing you will be able to secure a culture which is very necessary and profitable, and very enjoyable indeed. Essay writing is introduced, therefore, for the purpose of cultivating this skill in liter- ary work.
Then in music. There may be a scarcity of musical talent in some associations; but there is always some musical talent to be found there, and that can be cultivated; and not only will those who have that talent thus bring it to the front and make it a source of profit and enjoyment, but others will be led to cultivate their talent. The singing of solos, duets, trios, quartets, etc, will be encouraged. The organization of a glee club, or quartet, or some other musical body of that kind, will be en- couraged. In some of the larger communities, perhaps, an orchestra can be made up of some of the young men. In some wards we find brass bands; let them be encouraged by our associations. In this way we will accomplish two objects: we will increase the musical talent, and we will give to the people who have not that talent the enjoyment and profit that naturally come from listening to good music.
In other directions, also, our preliminary programs will serve a good purpose; but I emphasize these to show you the general tendency, and the other things can be thought of. You will be led into scientific re- search, into historical research, into an understanding of current histor- ical events, and into all those fields of research which will give to you a culture and a wider and broader knowledge than you have now. That is one purpose of these preliminary programs. Another purpose is, to bring into the associations those young men who perhaps will not be interested in theological work alone. Young men sometimes will come into our associations to listen to a varied program who will not come to listen to one subject alone. They can thus be taken off the devil's ground, as one
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has expressed it, and brought upon the Lord's ground, and there we can begin to exercise our influence upon them. — Willard Done.
TO THE READER.
We thank the many readers of the Era who forwarded replies to our request to name the article in the February number that inter- ested them most. The compliments received were very gratifying, and the suggestions valuable. To those of our friends who failed to respond, we extend the invitation for this number. In replying, be sure to state your age. We have some choice matter for future issues; among it, "Kentucky Bell," and "The Adventures of a Pioneer."
One feature in the replies we noticed with regret. It was this, that they all came from persons over 20 years of age. Is it possible we have nothing in the Era to interest the young people between 15 and 20?
To test this we specially invite the young men between those ages to send us a card answering this question:
WHAT INTERESTS YOU IN THE MARCH ERA?
In replying be sure to state your age.
Another Point: We will send free, any book, to be selected by himself, illustrating his choice of reading, to the young man between the ages of 15 and 20 years who will give us the best suggestion on what style of literature interests him most, and that will, at the same time, be appropriate for the Era. Please answer this question:
WHAT DO YOU READ?
The book " " illustrates my choice.
Address: Editors Era, Salt Lake City, Utah, 216 Templeton Bdg.
REVIEWS.
Those associations which have completed the manual, or will complete it before the end of the season, are advised to spend the remaining time in review. This may be done either by general lectures, or by class exercises.
EVENTS OF THE MONTH.
Local.— January, 1904.
Southern States Mission. — Number six of volume one, of the Elder's Journal, a monthly publication of the Southern States Mission printed at Atlanta, Ga., epitomizes the work of the two hundred elders in that field for the year 1903. In the ten states covered by the mission, there are eleven conferences as follows: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Middle Tennessee, East Tennessee, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina, and Virginia:
"Reports from the Conference Presidents show that, with the 834 members added to the Church during the year, we now number 8,729 souls. There have been 9,746 meetings held, part of which have been out of doors, but a large majority in schoolhouses and private residences. According to our reckoning, 25,287 families have been visited in tract- ing, and 23,433 more on special invitation of the head. Conversations on the gospel have been recorded to the number of 123,808, books dis- tributed 23,075, and tracts, 153,493."
Utah Sugar.— The thirteenth season of the Lehi sugar factory closed the day before last Christmas, the product of the central plant at Lehi, and the auxiliary plants at Springville, Provo and Bingham Junc- tion, for the season being within 500 pounds, 23,000,000 pounds, made from 96,910 tons of beets, the largest tonnage in the factory's history. The run lasted about 100 days, with an average of nearly 1,000 tons per day, the highest record being 1,278 tons of beets sliced and 3,275 bags of sugar sacked. The beets were grown by 1,695 farmers in Salt Lake, Utah, Wasatch, Sanpete, Sevier and Juab counties, on 8,168 acres of land, which would bring the average yield up to about twelve tons per acre, though many fields yielded over twenty tons per acre. About $410,000 was paid to the farmers for beets, the price being $-1.75 per ton for those deliv- ered in the sheds at the cutting stations, this price being reduced where a railroad haul was necessary.
Died. — In Kanarra, Thursday, December 31, 1903, John Steele, a
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pioneer of Utah and a member of the Mormon Battalion, born near Bel- fast, Ireland, March 21, 1821, ordained a priest Nov. 5, 1843, emigrated to Nauvoo, July, 1845. He made the first last and pair of shoes in the Salt Lake Valley, and was the father of the first white child born in Utah, so it is claimed. On Jan. 31, 1851, he moved to Parowan, was ordained a high priest on May 12, 1852, and set apart as first counselor to President John L. Smith of the Parowan Stake. — In Nephi ward, Maricopa Stake, Arizona, Saturday, January 2, 1904, Bishop Samuel Openshaw, born Lan- cashire, England, November 1, 1833. — In Manti, January 5, Mrs. Will- iam Luke, who crossed the plains with a hand cart company in 1856. — In Richmond, Cache Co., Friday, January 2, Cornelius Traveller, one of the settlement'0 oldest and most respected citizens. — On Friday, 8+h, in Brigham City, Stephen Wight, a faithful and respected member of the Church.— In St. George, 9th, John M. Lytle, born Feb. 25, 1829. He was a veteran of the Walker Indian War. — In Castle Dale, Tuesday, January 12, Hen in g Olsen, for many years the bishop of that place. — In Spring- ville, 12th, Mary Lyman Johnson, a pioneer of the place. — On the 13th, Eliza Louisa Cox who crossed the plains in Edmond Ellsworth's hand- cart company, in 1856. — In Payson, Thursday, 14th, Mrs. B. G. S. Simon, a veteran of Kirtland and Nauvoo, born December 1, 1824, in New York, and baptized by Truman Waite, October 24, 1834. — In Salt Lake City, Sunday, 17th, Andrew Allen, counselor in the bishopric of Rockland. Idaho, after an operation for appendicitis. — In Wanship, Summit Co., January 29, Rachel Young Frazier, born Ohio, March 23, 1836, came to Utah in 1848. Her husband Thomas L. Frazier was a member of the Mormon Battalion.
New General Manager. — W. H. Bancroft, who came to Salt Lake as vice-prest. and general manager of the 0. S. L. Ry., in 1897, was chosen at Omaha, 14th, general manager of the Union Pacific railroad, and began his duties on the 15th. He was born at Newberry, Ohio, in October, 1840; he has been in the employ of the Michigan Southern as telegraph operator; the Erie, and Kansas Pacific as chief clerk and dis- patcher; and in 1872 went to the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe as assistant superintendent. He was also with the St. Louis, Lawrence and Western Missouri, Kansas and Texas, and Denver and Rio Grande of which he was appointed receiver and general superintendent in 1886. His success has been phenomenal as a railway man, and his faithfulness and ability have brought him to one of the highest positions in railway circles.
Richfield Divided. — On Sunday, the 17th, Elders George Teasdale and Hyrum M. Smith attended conference in Richfield, and under instruc-
EVENTS OF THE MONTH. 395
tions divided the ward into three wards, ordaining bishops as follows: 1st ward, Heber Christensen; 2nd ward, Virginius Bean; 3rd ward, George William Coons.
End of the Strike. — On the 24th, just two months from the time of call to service, the last of the N. G. U. troops were discharged, and re- turned home from the coal strike region, where peace now reigns. In the order of dismissal, Gen. John Q. Cannon complimented the men for having done their duty so well to the state, in the face of such trying circumstances, and for the sacrifices they made in performing their service to the state.
New Stake Organized. — The 52d stake of Zion was organized at Idaho, at a quarterly conference of the Bingham Stake, held in Iona, January 30 and 31. It was named Blackfoot, and was taken from Bing- ham, the dividing line being just north of Shelley, five miles north of the base line. Elder Elias S. Kimball was chosen president of the Blackfoot stake, with Lorenzo R. Thomas, first, and Don C. Walker, second, coun- selors. Elder Kimball was born in Salt Lake City, May 3, 1857, and is the son of Heber C. and Christeen Golden, Kimball. He became a pioneer of Bear Lake in 1876, and in 1884 filled a mission under John Morgan, in the Southern States, over which mission he succeeded his brother J. Golden, as president in 1894, presiding for four years. He was later appointed chaplain by Pres. Wm. McKinley, of the engineer corps under Capt. Wil- lard Young, serving ten months, mostly in Havana, Cuba. He is well pre- pared, morally, spiritually, and educationally to well fulfill the duties of his new calling.
February, 1904.
Return of President Francis M. Lyman.— President Francis M. Lyman returned on the 1st from a two and a half years mission to Eng- land as president of the European mission. He reports that at the pres- ent time there are five hundred and ninety-seven missionaries from Zion, five of whom are women. These labor mainly in Britain, Scandinavia, Germany, Switzerland and the Netherlands, but are found also in Ice- land, Austria and Hungary, Palestine and South Africa. Since his ar- rival, May 17, 1901, seven hundred and forty missionaries have regis- tered in Liverpool, and six hundred and eight have departed for home. Three missionaries died: Christian W. Christofferson, Richmond, Utah, died August 23, 1901, at Silkeborg, Denmark; Henry Robert James, Logan, Utah, died at Liege, Belgium, October 10, 1901; Gottfried Knutti, Montpelier, Idaho, died at Zurich, Switzerland, August 19, 1903. Seven missionaries fell from honor and virtue, and these were stripped of every
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vestige of authority and excommunicated from the Church. During his presidency, 5,193,824 tracts, and 184,085 books were distributed, and there were 4,018 baptisms in the European mission. He estimates that the cost of the mission — counting a monthly expense of $17.00 /or each missionary, and his production at home at $300 per annum — is annually $350,000; and as that mission represents only a little over one-third of what is being done in the world, the total drain for missionary work on the Latter-day Saints is probably one million dollars per annum. He per- sonally visited Africa, Palestine, Greece, Italy, France, Finland, Russia and Poland, and dedicated these lands to the preaching of the gospel; and since then, a mission is established in Africa, and Elder Mischa Mar- kow has gone into Russia to declare the message. President Lyman is looking and feeling well, and is already in the harness doing work for the Church and Mutual Improvement Associations at home. Every reader of the Era will join us in extending a hearty welcome to the active and energetic president of the Twelve.
Smith Family Reunion. — On the 9th a reunion of the Smith Fam- ily Association was held at the Bee Hive house, in honor of Patriarch Hyrum Smith, the day being the 104th anniversary of his birth. Be- tween two and three hundred members of the family assembled on the occasion, spending a very enjoyable afternoon and evening. A splended program was rendered, including remarks by President Joseph F. Smith, Elder John Henry Smith, and Frederick M. Smith who is a grandson of the Prophet Joseph, and who represented the Iowa branch of the family. Sentiments in relation to the Patriarch Hyrum Smith and his wives, Jer- usha Barden and Mary Fielding Smith, were also given by Hyrum M. Smith, George A. Smith — in behalf of Patriarch John Smith — and by Miss Sarah Harris.
The family is descended from Robert Smith, who emigrated to America from England, in 1638, and shortly afterwards bought a large tract of farming land in Ipswich, now Boxford township, Essex county, Massachusetts. He was the father of ten children, whose descendants are now scattered over the United States, many of them holding prom- inent positions of various kinds throughout the nation. The Prophet Joseph and Patriarch Hyrum are of the sixth generation, their fathers being Joseph, Asael, Samuel, Samuel and Robert.
In Utah there are four numerous branches of the family, descend- ants of four of the sons of A?ael —Joseph, Asael, Silas and John being their names, the first and oldest branch of the family in Utah being rep- resented by President Joseph F. Smith, Patriarch John Smith and Samuel H. B. Smith. The second branch is represented by Elias A., and Jesse
EVENTS OF THE MONTH. 397
M. Smith; the third by Silas S., and Jesse N. Smith, and the fourth by John Henry and his son George A. Smith.
These four branches, which are now scattered over the states of Utah, Idaho, Colorado and the territory of Arizona, number many hun- dreds, and are very closely bound together in their feelings and sympa- thies. A few years ago a family organization was effected, with Presi- dent Joseph F. Smith, president, and Patriarch John Smith, Elders John Henry, Silas S., and Elias A. Smith, a board of directors, and Edith A. Smith, secretary. Since that time several family gatherings and "Temple days" have been held. The great desire of the family is to gather as many of the names of their dead as possible, and to do the work for them in the Temple. On the 10th, the day following the re- union, members of the family assembled at the Salt Lake Temple and performed the necessary ordinances for a large number of their dead.
Grand Irrigation Scheme.— A. F. Doremus, state engineer of Utah, has prepared a plan showing the proposed enlargement and utilization of the water supply for Cache, Utah, and Salt Lake valleys. The plan is prepared under direction and authority of the Arid Land Reclamation Fund Commission of which Engineer Doremus is chairman. It contem- plates an interception channel across the headwaters of Strawberry, Cur- rant and other smaller creeks in the Uintah Reservation, to divert them into a reservoir in Strawberry Valley, thence by a three mile tunnel through tbe mountains west into a branch of Diamond Creek, which empties into the Spanish Fork river, from whence it is taken by canal from near Cas- tilla: first by a branch to a district overlooking the southern end of Utah county; second, the main distributing channel, along the base of the Wasatch mountains, on an average of about three hundred feet above the settlements on the east side of Utah county, to the Jordan Narrows. At the latter place the main channel continues along the base of the Wa- satch mountains, about three hundred feet above the valley, past Salt Lake City to Ogden and Brigham, and thence to where it empties into the Bear river, above Collinston: a branch extends across the Narrows, along the east side of the Oquirrh range, past Garfield beach, into Tooele county.
The scheme also contemplates a thirty mile High Line canal from near Gentile Valley, taking waters of the Bear on the west side of Cache over the country to cover the lower part of Malad Valley, as well as the western portion of Cache, as far south as the river. This includes the tapping of the head waters of the Blackfoot, with a reservoir in the Blackfoot Basin, to empty by short canal and natural branch into the Bear where it curves south on its way to the Lake. The map shows also
398 IMPRO VEMEN T ERA.
intercepting canals for the making of a reservoir of Bear Lake. In addi- tion, the scheme is to restrict the Salt Lake to a district south of the Lucin Cut-off to avoid the great evaporation going on in the northern arm of the Lake; also to confine the Utah Lake to a smaller area to avoid waste by evaporation. Hon. F. S. Richards and Engineer Doremus visited Washington, returning in the middle part of February, to present the subject before the Government Engineers who, it is stated, approve the scheme which will cost many millions and open to cultivation vast areas of arid land.
Domestic— -January, 1904.
Emigrants to America. — During the year 1903, there were 619,980 immigrants, steerage passengers, arrived in New York, as against 547,- 197 in 1902. The year of 1902 was a record-breaking year, the increase over 1901 having been about 139,000. As was the case last year, the heaviest immigration was during May, 92,861 steerage passengers being admitted at New York. Almost as many came in April.
George Francis Train Dead.— This noted character died in New York on January 18th. He was buried in Greenwood cemetery on the 21st; he was about 75 years old.
Navy Appropriations. — The House Bill, January 29, for the Navy will carry a large appropriation. Secretary Moody suggests the con- struction of one battle ship, one armored cruiser, three protected cruis- ers and four fast scout cruisers. The Department plans to spend ulti- mately $12,000,000 upon the naval station at Guantanamo Bay, and $9,000,000 for a similar station at Subig Bay, near Manila. It is also pro- posed that $1,500,000 be spent for a fortitied coaling station on Kiska, one of the Aleutian islands. Utah people should remember the promise of Secretary Moody that on certain conditions, he would name one of the navy ships Utah. He appears in a good way to get his money.
February, 1904.
New Secretary of War. — On the 1st Elihu Root retired from the Cabinet, and W. H. Taf t, succeeded him as Secretary of War. On the 3d, Mr. Root was present as a guest of honor at a dinner given in New York by 250 of his fellow members of the Union League Club. In the course of an eloquent speech, he defended Prest. Roosevelt against the criticisms of persons who said he was not "safe," commending him as "the greatest conservative force in Washington for the protection of property and our institutions." He said further:
EVENTS OF THE MONTH. 399
Men say he is not safe! He is not safe for the men who wish to pros- ecute selfish schemes for the public's detriment. He is not safe for the men who wish the Government conducted with greater reference to cam- paign contributions than to the public good. He is not safe for the men who wish to drag the President of the United States into a corner and make whispered arrangements which they dare not have known by their constituents. He is great because he is so just and fair. I would rather have my boys taught to admire as the finest thing in our life the honesty and frankness, the truth and loyalty, the honor and devotion of Theodore Roosevelt, than to have them have all the wealth of this great metro- polis.
In the Philippines. — On the 1st, Governor Wright was inaugurated as governor of Manila, and announced that he would follow the princi- ples of Governor Taft, his predecessor. The latter, in his report to the commission says the number of friars in the island on Dec. 1, was two hundred and forty six as against 1,013 in 1898. He says of the Catho- lic Church:
Whatever may happen during the first few months of the coming of the American Bishops, it is certain that the spirit of the American Catho- lic church is so different from that of the Spanish church from a politi- cal standpoint that the influence of the Spanish friars will gradually wane, and that of the American Bishops become controlling, bringing about that which we so much desire, the Americanizing of the Roman Catholic church in the Philippines.
W. C. Whitney Dead. — On the 2nd William Collins Whitney, sec- retary of the Navy 1885-9 died, aged 62 years.
The Baltimore Fire.— On the 7th and 8th one of the most de- structive fires in the history of our country raged in Baltimore. The fire destroyed a district three quarters of a mile long and four blocks wide, containing some of the finest structures in the city. Help was called from surrounding cities, and at one time four hundred streams were pouring upon the fire, but with little effect. The lo^s is conservatively estimated at from $75,000,000 to $125,000,000. Remarkable to say, there was no loss of life.
Marcus Alonzo Hanna. — The Republican leader, political organ- izer, statesman, and United States Senator, died in Washington at 6:40 p. m. on the 15th. He was born Sept. 24, 1837, in New Lisbon, Ohio; educated at Western Reserve College; became clerk in his father's gro- cery in 1861, and later its manager, upon the death of his father. In 1864, he married the daughter of his partner, D. P. Rhodes, and later organized the law firm of M. A. Hanna & Co. He became interested in the iron trade, and soon became the head of the Globe Iron Works Co.,
400 IMPROVEMENT ERA.
and a large ship owner on the lakes. In 1896, having become active in politics, he was made chairman of the Republican Nat. Com., and was in March that year appointed to the U. S. Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Hon. John Sherman. He was elected in 1899 to the succeeding long and short terms, expiring in 1905, and was re-ap- pointed chairman of the Republican National Committee, at the conven- tion of 1900.
Foreign. — January, 1904.
New Concessions for Iceland. — About the middle of January, Den- mark made concessions to Iceland which grants privileges that have been in controversy been that country and the mother country for nearly thirty years, beginning in 1874 when the King of Denmark granted Ice- land its present constitution. The Icelanders have gained all their points, and may be said to have won a brilliant victory. They will now have their own ministry, an increase in the representatives elected by the people, and an extension in the elective franchise, as well as the "greatest degree of self-government consistent with a recognition of the rights of the mother country." An official state coat-of-arms will be al- lowed, something desired by Iceland's 80,000 population for many years.
Aalesund Destroyed. — In two hours the town of Aalesund, Norway, was destroyed by fire on the 24th, and eleven thousand people were made homeless. Twenty fishing smacks and three steamers were sunk in the harbor, and other property to the amount of over $4,000,000 was destroyed.
Lord Curzon in Persia. — With pomp befitting his station, Lord Curzon has lately visited for three weeks along the Persian Gulf im- pressing upon the local British chiefs the importance of British favor and friendship, lost to some extent by the failure of the English railway from Teheran to the Karun, and through the invasion of northern Persia by the Russians. No Viceroy of India has ever before paid an official visit to the towns on the Persian Gulf.
Religion in Panama. — After a heated discussion, the Panama Con- stitutional Convention, now in session, on January 26, approved the fol- owing clause relating to religion in the new republic:
The professions of all religions, as also the exercise of all forms of worship shall be free, without other limitations than respect for Chris- tian morality and public order. Nevertheless it is recognized that the Catholic religion is that of a majority of the inhabitants of the Republic and the law will provide assistance toward the founding of a seminary in the capital, and missions for savage tribes.
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