AN ADDRESS DELIVERED BY PRESIDENT BRIGHAM YOUNG AT THE GENERALCONFERENCE IN THE TABERNACLE, GREAT SALT LAKE CITY, OCT. 9, 1852.
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There is a matter of temporal business that I wish to lay before thisConference, and I embrace the present opportunity to do so. I have not veryacute feelings upon the matter, but I have frequently known cases of difficultyand dissatisfaction come before me, which were calculated to annoy my feelings,and the feelings of this people. I feel very acutely, very exquisitely,upon certain subjects pertaining to their history, but on the present occasionI am quite careless and indifferent as to the subject I now propose to laybefore the Conference. If we could obtain a hearing of all the male membersof this community, or, in other words, get all the inhabitants of thesevalleys together, that portion of them that can hear and understand, itwould be better; but seeing that this cannot be done, we shall have to contentourselves by laying before this Conference the matter, pertaining practicallyto the actions of men, that we now wish to present. It is concerning thekanyons, the wood, the timber, or whatever the kanyons situated near thesevalleys produce.
Wood seems to be the first and most prominent product of the kanyons.The situation of them is too well known to make it necessary for me to offera description. I believe that there are some acts performed in these kanyons,of which the actors are ashamed, and they would rather I would pass overthese points, and the hard words they have made use of; they would muchrather have them forgotten by all who have a knowledge of what they havedone and said in the kanyons.
There are a great many whose experience exceeds the experience of brotherHyde in this matter. His short experience, he says, teaches him, that ifhe had the power in his hands, he would decree that all men who go intothe kanyons for wood and timber should be saved. This may be the mind ofothers, and to them it may serve as an excuse for outraging the principlesof righteousness, but to another class of men it would be no excuse at all.I believe it would be just as necessary for the boys, when they have mountedtheir sleds on the top of the hill, to curse, and swear, and fight, andquarrel, while they are riding down with all ease, and without any trouble,as it would be to curse, swear, and fight while drawing their sleds up thehill to enjoy another ride. You know, boys enjoy themselves very well whiletheir sleds are travelling down the hill at a great speed; it is hurrahwith them, and all is right; but in dragging their sleds up the hill, theyfall down sometimes, and bump their heads, and bruise their knees againstthe hard snow, and they have no sooner recovered their foot-hold than downthey go again, and so they get into confusion. Now it appears to me to bejust as necessary for them to quarrel in riding down the hill, as it isfor them to quarrel in drawing their sleds up the hill, as for any goodit accomplishes in either case.
It is an up hill business to go into these kanyons and get wood, tosay the least of it. If I am able to present what I would like to present,and what I have previously had in my mind, and exhibit it in a few words,and in its true colors, I believe an expression upon it from this Conferencewill have a salutary influence upon the community; that is my opinion, andthe reason why I now present the subject before you. I will call upon mybrethren who sit here, to let their past experience answer a question, orperhaps more than one. Are you not dissatisfied, and is there not bitternessin your feelings, the moment you find a kanyon put in the possession ofon individual, and power given unto him to control the timber, wood, rock,grass, and, in short, all its facilities? Does there not something startup in your breast, that causes you to feel very uncomfortable? You may beready on the right and on the left to say, "No, I am not aware thatit affects me any." This may be the case with a few, but while we findone here and another there of that class, do we not find multitudes of theother class that would be very irritable upon that subject-a fac-simile[facsimile] of a roily fountain much disturbed, or like the troubled seathat casts up mire and dirt? Why I judge the matter in this light is becauseof what I have learned previously to this day, concerning the real feelingsof the majority of the people touching this matter. There were a few instances,some two or three years ago, of the legislative council assigning kanyonsto individuals. Now it is in the hands of county officers to dispose ofsuch matters. Are the people satisfied with these assignments? They arenot. Could they be satisfied were they placed under different circumstancesin relation to this matter? They could. Have we power as a people to introducean order of things that will give general satisfaction? I will say, thatit depends altogether upon circumstances. It can or it cannot be done, justas the people please.
I will relate a few circumstances or incidents that have taken placehere, but I will not name particular places, nor individuals. Mr. B. goesinto the kanyons, without any leave or licence, and without even askingfor a grant; he makes his way up a kanyon, and finds, on each side of him,both fire-wood and fence poles. He climbs the mountain, for two or threemiles, works a road, and gets to the timber, poles, and wood, at an expenseof from one to five hundred dollars. He commences to get out poles, andkeeps his men and teams laboring there from day to day. Now how long willhe remain there before news will come into the city, that Mr. B. is gettingtimber and poles at such a point, and that it is a most excellent chancethere? Well, some of the citizens will say, "Has brother B. workeda road up there?" "Yes." "Can we get up with a team?""Yes." "Then let us go and get some wood and poles."How long would it be before the eyes of a portion of the community wouldbe turned directly to that spot? How long would it be before they wouldgo to the very place where brother B.'s road branches off from the mainroad, and go up the mountain, (of course they could see no other track thanwhere Mr. B. was getting out his wood,) and get poles, wood, and timber?They would not stop to look on the mountains around them, and make new roadsfor themselves. No, they can only get wood, poles, and timber where brotherB. is getting them, after he has been at the trouble and expense of makinga road. When they find brother B. there, he says, "You cannot comeinto this kanyon, for I have worked the road myself, to facilitate the gettingof my wood and poles here." Another person comes along with twentyor thirty wagons. Mr. B. says to him, "Look yonder, there is plentyof timber, and as easy to get at as this that I call my own." FriendH. replies, "But I will be damned if I don't get wood where you getit." Mr. B. says, "And I'll be damned if you do go there."This is the language of men who sit here before me today, and so near methat I could put my hand upon them. They go up in the kanyon, and therequarrel with each other. Let friend S. once pass by the road that Mr. B.has made, and he may go on up the kanyon ten miles, surrounded with wood,and not get a stick of timber, for he and friend H., with his train, andothers, never can see and understand how they can get poles in any otherplace than where friend B. has made a good road leading to where he getshis. Is this so? You Elders of Israel will go into the kanyons, and curseand swear-damn, and curse your oxen, and swear by Him who created you! Iam telling the truth. Yes, you will rip, and curse, and swear, as bad asany pirates ever did.
Suppose these characters do as the old quaker did when he whipped theman: he took off his coat, and said, "Religion, do thou lie there,until I whip this man." The boys, or many of them, who go into thekanyons with wagons and teams, do the same: they lay down their religionat the mouth of the kanyon, saying, "Thou lie there, until I go formy load of wood." I expect, in all probability, it was the case withElder Hyde, for he never would have thought that he ought to be saved forgoing into the kanyon once, if he had had his religion along with him.
I do not wish to say much upon this subject, I am not spirited in it,nor do I care much about it. I want to show to this community a plan bywhich these matters of business transactions can be brought to some kindof a system to the better accommodation of the public. We will suppose,when strangers come to these valleys, that they find land offices, kanyonoffices, timber offices, &c. They enter, and walk up before the clerkin the office, and inquire what facilities there are to get a living here.Out steps the landlord and says, "This valley and all the kanyons belongto old General Harris, and to his heirs after him. That valley over yonder-UtahValley, belongs to old General Wolf's heirs; and there's another valley,that belongs to another man; and I am here as the guardian of these heirsto all this property, I am here to dispose of it." "We want tosettle here," say the people, "can we get any land?" "Oyes," the landlord replies, "lift up your eyes to the right, andto the left-do you see the grass?" "Yes." "Do you seethe lovely streams that gush from the mountains?" "Yes.""Do you see this vast prairie before you?" "Yes." "Lookat the soil, it is rich and productive. We do not have winters here, asyou do in the eastern countries, but your cattle can feed in these mountainvalleys both winter and summer." The landlord says again, "Liftup your eyes and look: this wood, land, and the grass that you see growing,and all these valleys, with all they contain, you are freely welcome to;go now, lay out your city plots and your farms, dig your ditches, and turnthe streams whithersoever you will, for to all this you are welcome."Would they not think he was one of the finest men that ever was? Would theynot love such a landlord? The people inquire again, "What chance isthere here for getting wood?" "O," says he, "that isanother thing, I will talk to you about that." "We wish to knowif we can get wood here to burn, to cook our food with, and to keep ourhouses warm; and upon what terms?" Says the landlord. "My hiredservants are up in the Redbute Kanyon, or they may be in Kanyon Creek Kanyon,or over in the west mountains; I have got servants, and plenty of wood,this you can have on certain conditions." "What are your conditions,good landlord?" "These are my conditions-you must take your teamsinto Redbute, where you will find a gate, and a man living there, to himyou will have to pay 25 cents for getting a load of wood." "Buthow is the road after you get through the gate?" "O, it is a goodroad, and the wood, timber, rock, and every thing else are first rate; andnow you go and get a cord of good wood for 25 cents. Or you may go to thewest mountains, there the kanyons are all prepared for you, the roads aremade, and I keep men there to see that they are kept in good repair, andall you have got to do is to pay 25 cents for the use of the road."What would be the feelings of this people under such circumstances? Do yousuppose they would feel as those do that have kept up a continual quarrelling,murmuring, and bickering, and have given way to wickedness? The kanyonsare precisely in the position I present them to you in this similitude;and you murmur at the council, at the legislative assembly, at the countycourt, and at every body that wants to make these kanyons convenient andpassable to the community.
Again, I ask the question, what would be the feelings of this people,supposing they had come to these valleys under such circumstances? "Thevalleys, the grass, the soil, the water, and all the advantages you arewelcome to, but I shall charge you 25 cents per load for your wood."If you won't answer the question, I will for you: every time you would meetwith that landlord, it would be, "God bless you, you are the best manon earth;" and you would be ready to lick the dust off his feet; youwould not say "God damn you, I will get wood where I please."I am ashamed to repeat the language that is too often made use of, but Ido it that the community may see how disgraceful it is, and frown upon everyman that will allow himself to be degraded by the use of such filthy language;it is a disgrace to the wicked, to say nothing of Saints. Again upon thispoint, would you not take off your hats, and say, "Thank you,"every time you met that landlord? Yes, you would, and I know it. Well, supposingthe legislative body in these valleys should say to some man, Take thatkanyon, and put a gate at the mouth of it, and make a good road to the woodand timber, and to defray the expence of this, lay a tax of 25 cents onevery man that passes through with a team to get wood, timber, or anythingelse the kanyon produces-could you bless that legislature, could you greetit with smiles and thanks, for doing that for this people? Or would youcurse it?
If I had time to do so, and if it would be wisdom, I could demonstrate,by a mathematical calculation, definitely and truly, and you might takeinto the calculation Redbute kanyon, and every other kanyon that the peoplehave been into-I could demonstrate that they have destroyed more horses,mules, harness, oxen, wagons, chains, and ox yokes, and other property,in getting out of these kanyons what they have got, than what would laya first rate turnpike road in every direction, as far as they have penetratedthese kanyons. Suppose we have a kanyon here within one mile of us, opento all the people, I ask where is there a man that would work the road tothe wood? He is not to be found in this community. If it were open and freeto all, I might spend a thousand dollars there, and never get one load ofwood. I have done just such things myself. I have gone to work and maderoads to get wood, and have not been able to get it. I have cut it down,and piled it up, and still have not got it. I wonder if anybody else cansay so. Have any of you piled up your wood, and when you have gone backcould not find it? Some stories could be told of this kind, that would makeprofessional thieves ashamed. It is not all of this community that possessessuch spirits. A flock of sheep consisting of thousands must be clean indeedif some of them are not smutty. This is a large flock of sheep that havecome up to these mountain valleys, and some of them have got taglocks hangingabout them, or in other words, there are those that will do what you haveheard exhibited to you to-day.
What shall be done with sheep that stink the flock so? We will takethem, I was going to say, and cut off their tails two inches behind theirears; however, I will use a milder term, and say, cut off their ears. Butinstead of doing this, we will try to cleanse them; we will wash them withsoap, that will come will nigh taking off the skin; we will then apply alittle Scotch snuff, and a little tobacco, and wash them again until wemake them clean. That is what I am doing now. Peradventure we shall finda few such sheep here in the flock, and a few that have got the itch; theseare apt to spread the disease among those that are clean, for they willrun along and rub themselves on others, until all are smitten with the disorder,and it would be hard to tell in which it originated.
I do not want to destroy the people, I want to wash them, and, if necessary,apply the Scotch snuff. If this community would let any man of sense, ofcalculation, of a good mind and judgment, sit down and make his calculations,with regard to their getting wood out of these kanyons, they would see theadvantage of taking the course the legislature has marked out, so clearly,that this whole people would speak out boldly and say, "You men havingauthority, look up every kanyon in these valleys, and put them in the possessionof individuals who will make good roads to the timber, that we may get therewithout breaking our wagons, or without breaking our limbs, destroying ourproperty, and endangering our lives." I say, every man of good sensewould exclaim, "Put these kanyons into the hands of individuals, withthis proviso-make good roads, and keep them in good repair."
To exhibit it to the people in another point of view. I will supposea Gentile owns all these kanyons, Uncle Sam, for instance. He determineshe will work these kanyons himself, work the roads, &c., and draw hisrevenue from them by the people's getting their timber-should we not esteemit a blessing? We should. If it would be a blessing to him, or to any richcompany of speculators, then why would it not be a blessing to us, to actupon the same principles ourselves? Could you tell any reason why not?
A great many here do not understand certain things that exist; I cantell you some of them. If any individual will come here and live, and findout how we do business, learn and understand our business transactions,he will see that exhibited that will prove to him a great many things heis not acquainted with. I will take one of the best individuals we have,and put him into the tithing office, put another into the stone-cutter'sshop, and another in the joiner's shop, and let them work there one or twoyears, when the books are examined they have taken up every farthing oftheir wages, and many have contracted considerable debts in that office,some are owing 800, 1000, and some as high as 1500 dollars. Now comes thedecision. Suppose you owe that store across the road there, 1500 dollars,would you try to pay it? Yes, you would lie awake at nights to think howto pay those merchants that do not belong to the kingdom of God, you wouldoffer them horses, and wagons, and oxen, to liquidate that debt. But thatman who owes on the tithing books will say, "Just straighten that upfor me, cancel that debt, for I want my name to look as good on the tithingbooks as the rest." Would he say this to a Gentile? No, he would not.We never see such goodness, such kindness, such benevolence, such philanthropyin the persons who owe the tithing office anything.
Did you ever ask me to liquidate your debts? You may answer the questionfor yourselves. I shall not name anybody. But let one of these merchantsask for the payment of a debt, saying, "I am going away in September,"and you conclude that that debt must be paid-do you pay it? Yes, you willsell every thing you have on earth, to pay it. But do you owe the tithingoffice anything? "O yes, and I am going to work it off: I know I oweabout 1500 dollars. But you know it won't do to owe the Gentiles anything.Brother Brigham, can't you lend me some money to pay a small debt on thatstore? Can you let me have a yoke of cattle, my family is suffering forwant of wood?" You, trace those cattle, and where are they gone to?Why, to pay the enemies of this people. You would take out of this Churchthe last dime of money, and every ox, and cow, and horse, and hand themall over to our enemies, and let the Church sink to the nethermost hell,for aught you care. That is the difficulty that exists here. If I have gotyour spectacles, or your shoes, or any other thing of yours, the commonsaying made use of is, "O, never mind, it is all in the family, youare a brother, it is all right." I am telling you as it is in thattithing office. What did you hear read, last April Conference? That therewere 48000 dollars owing to the tithing office; yet do you try to pay thatdebt? No, but the word is, "Brother Brigham, trust me another thousand;"and you never will pay it on the face of earth, and you think me ratherhard because I scold you. These are the difficulties that are here amongus.
There exists a double spirit, there is a false, hypocritical spiritin many of the people; it is bred in the flesh, and in the bones, it isreceived from their fathers and mothers, a hypocritical pretension to friendship,when the real thing itself does not exist in them, and never did; but theyare destitute of the true knowledge of the principles of righteousness.I have frequently thought it was not good for a man to have around him toomany friends. I have said to my brethren, heretofore, "Don't love mequite so well as to take away all I have got. I want you to love me prettywell, I have plenty of flour now, and scores and scores of tons I can distribute,but do not take my soul out of me, do not love me quite to death. I am willingto be loved sincerely, but covet not that which I possess, under a falsepretension of love to me." There is that spirit among this people,but it is for want of knowledge, and a proper understanding. Did they possessthese, there would be no difficulty in the case.
Now, for instance, a great many inquire, saying, "Why does notour Church keep a store here?" Many can answer that question, who havelived here for some years past; and you who make such an inquiry, wouldhave known the reason, had you also lived here. You that have lived in Nauvoo,in Missouri, in Kirtland, Ohio, can you assign a reason why Joseph couldnot keep a store, and be a merchant? Let me just give you a few reasons,and there are men here who know how matters went in those days. Joseph goesto New York and buys 20,000 dollars' worth of goods, comes into Kirtlandand commences to trade. In comes one of the brethren, "Brother Joseph,let me have a frock pattern for my wife." What if Joseph says, "No,I cannot without the money." The consequence would be, "He isno Prophet," says James. Pretty soon Thomas walks in. "BrotherJoseph, will you trust me for a pair of boots?" "No, I cannotlet them go without the money." "Well," says Thomas, "BrotherJoseph is no Prophet; I have found that out, and I am glad of it."After a while, in comes Bill and sister Susan. Says Bill, "BrotherJoseph, I want a shawl, I have not got the money, but I wish you to trustme a week or a fortnight." Well, brother Joseph thinks the others havegone and apostatized, and he don't know but these goods will make the wholeChurch do the same, so he lets Bill have a shawl. Bill walks off with itand meets a brother. "Well," says he, "what do you thinkof brother Joseph?" "O he is a first-rate man, and I fully believehe is a Prophet. See here, he has trusted me this shawl." Richard says,"I think I will go down and see if he won't trust me some." Inwalks Richard. "Brother Joseph, I want to trade about 20 dollars.""Well," says Joseph, "these goods will make the people apostatize;so over they go, they are of less value than the people." Richard getshis goods. Another comes in the same way to make a trade of 25 dollars,and so it goes. Joseph was a first-rate fellow with them all the time, providedhe never would ask them to pay him. In this way it is easy for us to tradeaway a first-rate store of goods, and be in debt for them.
And so you may trace it down through the history of this people. Ifany brethren came into the midst of them as merchants, I never knew oneof them go into their stores and go out again satisfied, neither did you.If I had 100,000 dollars worth of goods in that store, owned by myself,or held by a "Mormon" company, in six months the goods would begone, and we should not have 100 dollars to pay the debt. But let an infernalmobocrat come into our midst, though he brands Joseph Smith with the epithetof "false Prophet," and calls the "Mormons" a damnedset of thieves, and would see all Israel scorching in Tophet, you wouldgive him the last picayune you could raise.
There is not a man who has been in this community a few years but knowsI am telling the living truth. Do any of you hate me for it? Do any of youlove me for it? It is all the same to me. Do you love the cause? "Yes,"every heart at once responds," "I love the cause, I love the Lordand my religion." If I would only permit myself to swear, I would say,What the devil is the reason, then, you don't live according to it? Whatkeeps you from that? What is the reason you cannot pay me what you owe me,as well as your enemy. You continue to trade with the Almighty that way,and it will sink this whole people down to hell. You trade with the Almightyworse than you do with the devil. These things exist, and you know it. Aman comes into this Church with a little property, and he must suffer themto pick him until he is as blind as brother Leonard is, that sits over there,or else the people will turn round and curse him, and sink him to the nethermosthell if possible. They have treated Edwin D. Woolley so, and others. Canthey keep a store among this people? No, they must let them have the goods,and wait until they can pay them, if they ever do it at all.
They got up a quarrel, about a year ago, and every High Priest and Elderwere going to cut Thomas Williams off from the Church, because he askedthem to pay their just debts. I said to Thomas, "If they do not payyou as they agreed, arraign them before the High Council; I will be yourlawyer, and they shall be cut off from the Church." They had got itall cut and dried, that if he asked them to pay him, he should be cut offfrom the Church, but I told them that if they did not live up to their agreement,they should be cut off from the Church, and then be tried by the law ofthe land.
How has Thomas Williams behaved here? He has paid his tithing, and donegood to this people; he has handed over nails, cotton cloth, and other necessaryarticles. When he brings in his goods, he pays his tithing on them honorably,yet he can be abused; and it is so with every man who comes into the midstof this people with goods, unless he pays them out at random to Tom, Dick,and the devil. Latter-day Saints cannot keep a store of goods, because theywill not act as Latter-day Saints, but they will sustain their enemies.How much do you suppose you have paid into these Gentile stores within fourmonths? Can you give a rough guess? I can tell you, if you do not know,for I know something about it. You have paid to them 300,000 dollars withinthe last six months. The brethren think that we are very hard with themif we ask for a little tithing. I wonder if we have received 30,000 dollars,which we should certainly have received in silver and gold, if the peoplehad been faithful in paying their tithing on the money they have spent atthese stores; the money has gone, from time to time, in gold and silver,by box-fulls, to the east. There is not a span of mules that could be foundin this valley, able to draw the money, if it were all in silver, to theStates, that this people have spent with these merchants within a few monthspast; they must therefore do business upon the principle of checks; in anyother way it is a burden to them to get it over the plains. These are thedifficulties that work against our living and doing as we should do.
I will now go back, and say to all the inhabitants of these valleys,if I had the power, and the people were willing to subscribe to that whichwould do them good, I would look up all the kanyons containing wood andother facilities, put gates at the mouths of them, have good roads workedin them, so as to make the wood and the timber easy of access, and makethe people pay for the roads and the keeping of them in good repair. IfI was a Gentile, and I owned these kanyons, and should make such a proposition,it would be so that I could hardly get down to this meeting house withoutsome one crying out, "I move that we give that gentleman a vote ofthanks;" another would second it, "For that is certainly a Gentileof the first class." (The speaker made motions, such as bowing andscraping, as the poor serfs of foreign nations do, who subsist on the patrimonyof a titled fellow mortal.) I make these motions to show this people howdisgraceful it is; it is a disgrace to any community to act as they havedone towards the measures of those who wish to do them good all the daylong. If a Latter-day Saint wants to do good, why not bless him for it.But no, it is overlooked as a thing of naught. Now, if I do ape out a littleof these feelings here, it is to show you how they look inside. I can seethem in the people, I know what there is in the midst of them, I know whatthey have to contend against, and the difficulties and weaknesses they aresubject to; it is the want of true knowledge and a sound understanding whichcauses them to act as they do; if it were not for that, if this people hadthe knowledge of angels, and then did as they do, they would be sent tohell before the rising of another sun; but as they are ignorant, and inasmuchas they desire to do good, God winks at their foibles, and hopes by it tobless them.
Now, I am going to have an expression from this Conference, with regardto the plan that we, as a community, shall adopt; not as a county, not asthe Legislature of Utah, not as civil and military officers, but as officersand members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; and beforeI take the expression, if there is one man in this house who feels himselfcapable of showing a better method, or of producing a better plan to keepthe people from running over each other, from breaking each other's necks,and the necks of their horses, I will give him an opportunity of presentingthat plan. In the first place, the feelings of individuals are-what advantagecan I get by introducing this plan? I wish you to remember that all I canget by it is, to protect you against running over and trying to kill eachother. We do not own the kanyons, but the plan is-let them go into the handsof individuals who will make them easy of access, by paying them for theirlabor. Before I take an expression, I want to see if there is a man thatcan rise up and propose a better plan than I propose, which of course wouldbe to our advantage to adopt in preference to mine. I have talked long enoughupon this matter. The motion is, that we, as the Church of Jesus Christof Latter-day Saints, in the capacity of a General Conference assembled,and embracing the whole community in the midst of the mountains, recommend,and give it as our opinion, that the best method of disposing of the kanyonsis to put them in the hands of individuals to make good roads in them, andobtain their pay by taking toll from those who use the roads, at a gateerected for that purpose at the mouth of each kanyon. Now, sisters, I wantyou to vote also, because women are the characters that rule the ballotbox. If you are in favor of this motion, as Latter-day Saints, signify itby the uplifted hand. (Unanimous.)
Let the judges in the county of Great Salt Lake take due notice, andgovern themselves accordingly. The same thing I say to the judges of anyof the other counties of the territory, Take notice, and govern yourselvesaccordingly. Put these kanyons into the hands of individuals who will makegood roads into them, and let them take toll from the inhabitants that gothere for wood, timber, and poles. Now this is my order for the judges totake due notice of; it does not come from the Governor, but from the Presidentof the Church; you will not see any proclamation in the paper to this effect,but it is a mere declaration of the President of the Conference. Let thesethings go out to make the people satisfied, and feel contented to have theprivilege of getting wood without breaking their necks and destroying theirteams.
I want to occupy a few moments more, and talk about our contemplatedtemple. It has been moved, seconded, and carried by this Conference, thatwe build a temple here of the best material that America affords. If thisis done, it will have to be built of platina; and I do not know that thereis any of it to be got in this territory. It is purer, stronger, and isevery way a better metal than pure gold. If we cannot get the platina, wemust build a temple of pure gold; that is here, I know. But if the Conferencewant us to build a temple of pure gold, they will have to put into the tithingstores something besides old half-dead stinking cows, and old broken-kneedhorses; or if they even put in all the good cattle they possess, will itbuild a temple of gold, of silver, or of brass? No, it will not.
I am inclined to offer a chemical argument with regard to the materialfor building a temple in our present circumstances. The best materials,I have mentioned, probably. Iron might be better than stone; the time willcome when the Lord will bring for brass gold, for iron silver, and for stonesiron, and for wood brass, to beautify His sanctuary, and make the placeof His feet glorious. That will be, but it is not now. I thought, when Iwas at Iron County, and saw the iron mountains, that the iron was actuallycome instead of stone.
But for the chemical argument touching the material for the buildingof a temple in this city. It has been proposed, that we send to San Peteto get the rock. Some say it will cost too much, others say we cannot doit, and others say that we can. I, not being a practical chemist, but onlya chemist in theory, shall have to use my own language, to express my ideas.You may bring the stone from San Pete, which is a beautiful specimen ofrock, and erect a temple here with it; then you may take this sand stonethat is found in abundance in the Redbute Kanyon, and build a temple ofthat; then you step over to the Emigration Kanyon, and get this bastardmarble, and build another of the same dimensions as that you have builtof the red sand stone. Now you have got the San Pete rock temple, the redsand stone temple, and another built of lime stone, or bastard marble Icall it; then, right beside of that, another one of adobies, mixed withpebbles-take that clay, and these pebble stones that are so abundant here,and mix in with them straw, and build another temple of that composition,besides the three which are built of different kinds of rock, and let themstand together-which do you think will stand the longest? being a chemistin theory, I should say, according to my mind, when the San Pete rock iswashed into the Jordan, the other buildings will still be standing, andbe in moderate condition. The red sand stone will go the next, and the othertwo still remain, the bastard marble or lime stone will be in pretty goodpreservation; and when that is all decomposed and washed away into the Jordan,you will find that temple which is built of mud or adobies, as some callthem, still remains, and in better condition than at the first day it wasbuilt.
You may ask any practical chemist, any man who knows, understands, andstudies the elements, and he will corroborate these statements. This isa matter I want you to look at, to think and meditate upon. I do not talkabout the expense of the building, and the time it would take to erect it,but its durability, and which is the best material within our reach to buildit with. If you take this clay, which is to be found in abundance on thesebottom lands, and mix with it these pebble rocks, and make adobies of thecompound, it will petrify in the wall and become a solid rock in five hundredyears, so as to be fit to cut into millstones to grind flour, while theother materials I have mentioned will have decomposed, and gone back totheir native elements. I am chemist enough to know that much. My simplephilosophy is this. The elements of which this terra firma is composed,are every moment either composing or decomposing. They commence to organizeor to compose, and continue to grow until they arrive at their zenith ofperfection, and then they begin to decompose. When you find a rock thathas arrived at its greatest perfection, you may know that the work of decayinghas begun. Let the practical chemist make his observations upon a portionof the matter of which this earth is composed; and he will find, that justas quick as it is at its perfection, that very instant it begins to decompose.We have proof of this. Go into Egypt, for instance, and you will find themonuments, towers, and pyramids, that were erected in the days of Joseph,and before he was sold into Egypt; they were built of what we call adobies,clay mixed up with straw; these fabrics, which have excited interest forso many ages, and are the wonder of modern nations, were built of this rawmaterial. They have bid defiance to the wear of ages, and they still remain.But you cannot find a stone column that was reared in those times, for theyare all decayed. Here we have actual proof that the matter which is thefurthest advanced to a state of perfection, is the first to decompose, andgo back into its native element, at which point it begins to be organizedagain, it begins to congeal, petrify, and harden into rock, which growslike a tree, but not so perceptibly.
Gold and silver grow, and so does every other kind of metal, the sameas the hair upon my head, or the wheat in the field; they do not grow asfast, but they are all the time composing or decomposing. So much, then,for my views touching the material to be used in building a Temple uponthis block. You may go to San Pete and get stone for it, and when five hundredyears have elapsed you will not find a building. You may build of that redsand stone, and it will live out the San Pete rock, and the lime stone willout-live that. But when you come to the adobies, they will out-live eitherof them, and be five hundred years better than the day they were first laid.This is a pretty strong argument in favor of a mud building.
How long has the city of Washington been built? What was there beforemy father entered into the revolutionary war? Where was the Capitol then?It was in Philadelphia sixty years ago, there was no such thing as a Capitolin Washington. Let me ask a question-is it built of rock? I never was there.(Voice, "Yes.") It is built of rock. The House of Representativeswas rebuilt in 1812, not more than forty years ago. Would any of you thathave not been there, suppose that it would need patching up already to makeit comfortable for the representatives of the nation? This, however, isthe case, for within ten years past eighty thousand tons of putty have beenused to putty up the places where the stone has decayed by the operationof the elements, and it has not yet been built forty years. I mention this,because I wish the Conference to know what they are doing when they commenceto build a temple of stone. As for myself, I know enough about rock. Ifa man should undertake to put me up a stone house, I should wish him tobuild it of adobies instead, and then I should have a good house. We aretalking about building one for the community, and I mention this about theCapitol to show you that the rock does not endure; the moment it becomesas hard as it is ever going to be, that moment it begins to decay. It maybe a slow process in growing, or decomposing, yet it is doing the one orthe other continually.
I have my own individual thoughts, of course, and these I express withregard to the temple. According to my present views, there is not marblein these mountains, or stone of any kind or quality, that I would ratherhave a building made of than adobies. As for the durability of such a building,the longer it stands the better it becomes; if it stands five thousand years,it increases in its strength until it comes to its highest perfection, beforeit begins to decay. What do our "Mormon" boys say about tryingto dig into one of those old Catholic cathedrals that are now standing inCalifornia? They say they might as well have undertaken to dig through themost solid rock you ever saw as to dig through those adobie walls. Do youthink they are decaying and falling down? No, they are growing better allthe time and so it is with the houses we live in. If they have good foundations,these houses that we live in will be better when they have stood fifty yearsthan they are at this day. I will not say that it is so with a stone house,or with a brick house; for when you burn the clay to make brick, you destroythe life of it, it may last many years, but if the life is permitted toremain in it, it will last until it has become rock, and then begin to decay.
As for the temple, I will give you the nature of your vote with regardto it-the sum of it was, that those that dictate the building of it be leftto do with it as they please. They will, anyhow. But I give it as my opinionthat adobies are the best article to build it of. I do not fear the expense,neither do I care what you build it of; only when it is built, I want itto stand, and not fall down and decay in twenty or thirty years, like brotherTaylor's one would, that he was giving an exposition of; "that whenwe go within the vail into the heavenly world, we need not be ashamed ofit, but when we look down upon it, it will be of solid rock:" but ifit is built of San Pete rock, when he looks down to see it he will findit aint there, but it is gone, washed into the Jordan. It cannot remain,it must decay.
May the Lord bless you. Amen.