AN ADDRESS DELIVERED BY PRESIDENT B. YOUNG IN THE TABERNACLEGREAT SALT LAKE CITY, JUNE 5, 1853.
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I feel disposed to say a few words on the present occasion. It is said,that "at the sight of the eyes the heart is made to rejoice."This is truly the case with me this afternoon, when I look upon the congregation,to see this spacious hall filled with the Saints of the Most High, for thepurpose of partaking of the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper. It is a sightwhich I have not had the privilege of seeing before, only on Conferencedays. This morning I looked around to see how the house was crowded, whichwas packed to that extent that scores could not be seated. I looked if peradventureI could designate any person that did not belong to the Church, that didnot profess to be a Saint; but I could not see a single person of that description,that I knew of. I thought, why not be as diligent to attend the afternoonmeetings, to partake of the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper, as to attendthe morning meetings? Hitherto it has not been the case, but my heart rejoicesto see the house so well filled this afternoon. I feel in my heart to blessyou; it is full of blessings and not cursings. It is something that doesnot occupy my feelings to curse any individual, but I will modify this bysaying those who ought not to be cursed. Who ought to be? Those who knowtheir master's will, and do it not; they are worthy of many stripes; itis not those who do not know, and do not do, but those who know it, anddo not do it-they are the ones to be chastised.
While the brethren have been speaking upon the blessings the Lord bestowsupon this people, my mind has reflected upon many of the circumstances oflife, and upon certain principles. I will ask you a question-Do you thinkpersons can be blessed too much? I will answer it myself. Yes, they can,they can be blessed to their injury. For instance, suppose a person shouldbe blessed with the knowledge of the holy Gospel, whose heart is set inhim to do evil. We esteem this as a blessing, and would not the Lord considerit a blessing to bestow His favors and mercies upon any individual, by givinghim a knowledge of life and salvation? But suppose He bestowed it upon personswhose hearts were set in them to do evil, who would by their wickednessturn these blessings into curses, they would be blessed too much. It ispossible to bless people to death, you can bless them to everlasting miseryby heaping too many blessings upon them. Perhaps this is what was meantby the saying-It is like heaping coals of fire upon their heads; it willinjure them, consume them, burn them, destroy them. Suffice it to say, thatpeople can be blessed too much. Can you bless a wise man too much? a manwho knows what to do with his blessings when they are bestowed upon him?No, you cannot. Can you bless a wise people too much? No, it is impossible,when they know how to improve upon all blessings that are bestowed uponthem. But the Lord does and will bless the inhabitants of the earth withsuch great and inestimable blessings, in the proclamation of the Gospel,that they will be damned who reject them, for light brings condemnationto men who love darkness rather than light.
Have this people been blessed too much? I will not positively say, butI think they have, inasmuch as their blessings in some instances have beento their injury. Why? Because they have not known what to do with theirblessings.
While the brethren were speaking of the liberal hand of Providence inbestowing abundantly the products of the earth, it occurred to me, thatthis people, to my certain knowledge, had felt that they had too much, andthey esteemed it as good for nothing. It is true what brother Jedediah Grantsaid with regard to wheat, and other grains, for I have seen it myself.I have seen hundreds, and thousands, and scores of thousands of bushelsof grain lying to waste and rot, when it has not brought a great price.Many of this people have thought, and expressed themselves in language likethis-"I can go to California, and get so much gold, or I can tradeand make so much gold, I cannot therefore spend time to take care of wheat,nor to raise it; let it lie there and rot while I go and accumulate riches."They were then wealthy, for their granaries and barns were full of the blessingsof the Lord, but now they are empty, because they did not know what to dowith their blessings.
I can tell this people how to dispose of all their blessings, if theywill only allow me time enough; and if I cannot tell them how, I can showthem. For instance, you who have fields of wheat, beyond the limits of grasshoppers,will have considerable crops when it is harvested, and perhaps so much thatyou will not know what to do with it. I know what you ought to do with it;you ought to say to your poor brethren-,"Come and help take care ofmy grain, and share with me, and feed yourselves and your families."If you have so much that you cannot take care of it, and have no where toput it, and your neighbour is not without bread, tell Bishop Hunter thatyou have got so many hundred bushels to lay over in the store, and you willhave the benefit of it on your tithing. That is what I recommend you todo with your blessings, when you have more than you can take care of yourselves.I say, hand it over and let your neighbors take care of it for you.
This makes me think, of what I saw the first year I came into this valley,the same year I moved my family, which was the next season after the pioneersarrived here. It was late in the season when I arrived, but from the groundwhere this house now stands, there had been cut two crops of wheat. Theyhad harvested the first crop very early, and the water being flooded over,it again started from the roots, and produced a fair crop, say from tento twelve bushels to the acre. That was harvested, and it was coming upagain. I said to the brethren, "Let these my brethren who have comewith me gather up this wheat," but they would not suffer them to doit. Some of the brethren had gathered their crops of grain, and left a greatdeal wasting on the fields. I said, "Let the poor brethren, who havecome in from abroad, glean in your fields." You can bear me witnessthat a great many widows and poor men came here, and brought but very littlewith them, and there never was a man, to my knowledge, ever expressed adesire to let them glean in his field. "All right," I said, "wecan live on greens," while at the same time there was more wasted thatseason than to make up the deficiency, that all might have been comfortable.Late in the fall I saw one man working among his corn; he had a large crop,more than a single man could take care of. I saw he was going to let itgo to waste; I said to him, "Brother, let the brethren and sistershelp you to husk your corn, to gather it and put it safely away, for somuch it will benefit them and help you." "O," he replied,"I have nothing to spare, I can take care of it myself." I sawit wasting, and said to him, "Brother, get your corn husked immediately,and let the brethren do it, and pay them with a portion of it." Hereplied, "I cannot spare a bit of it." I have no question of itat all in my mind, but three-fourths of his corn went into the mud, andwas trampled down by the cattle; and women and children went without breadin consequence of it. That man had no judgment, he knew not what to do withthe blessings the Lord had bestowed upon him.
Were I to ask the question, how much wheat or anything else a man musthave to justify him in letting it go to waste, it would be hard to answer;figures are inadequate to give the amount. Never let anything go to waste.Be prudent, save everything, and what you get more than you can take careof yourselves, ask your neighbors to help you. There are scores and hundredsof men in this house, if the question were asked them if they consideredtheir grain a burden and a drudge to them, when they had plenty last yearand the year before, that would answer in the affirmative, and were readyto part with it for next to nothing. How do they feel now, when their granariesare empty? If they had a few thousand bushels to spare now, would they notconsider it a blessing? They would. Why? Because it would bring the goldand silver. But pause for a moment, and suppose you had millions of bushelsto sell, and could sell it for twenty dollars per bushel, or for a milliondollars per bushel, no matter what amount, so that you sell all your wheat,and transport it out of the country, and you are left with nothing morethan a pile of gold, what good would it do you? You could not eat it, drinkit, wear it, or carry it off where you could have something to eat. Thetime will come that gold will hold no comparison in value to a bushel ofwheat. Gold is not to be compared with it in value. Why would it be preciousto you now? Simply because you could get gold for it? Gold is good for nothing,only as men value it. It is no better than a piece of iron, a piece of limestone,or a piece of sandstone, and it is not half so good as the soil from whichwe raise our wheat, and other necessaries of life. The children of men loveit, they lust after it, are greedy for it, and are ready to destroy themselves,and those around them, over whom they have any influence, to gain it.
When this people are blessed so much that they consider their blessingsa burden and a drudge to them, you may always calculate on a cricket war,a grasshopper war, a drought, too much rain, or something else to make thescales preponderate the other way. This people have been blessed too much,so that they have not known what to do with their blessings.
What do we hear from the inhabitants of the different settlements? Thecry is-"I do not wish to live out yonder, for there is no chance tospeculate and trade with the emigrants." Have you plenty to eat? Haveyou plenty of wheat, fowls, butter, cheese and calves? Are you not raisingstock in abundance for flesh meat of different kinds? What use is gold whenyou get enough to eat, drink, and wear without it? What is the matter? "Why,we are away off, and cannot get rich all at once." You are lustingafter that which you do not know what to do with, for few men know whatto do with riches when they possess them. The inhabitants of this valleyhave proved it. They have proved it by their reckless waste of the productsof the earth, by their undervaluing the blessings conferred upon them bythe emigration, which has administered clothing and other necessaries tothem. We can see men who can clothe themselves and their families easily,go into the kanyons in their broad-cloth pantaloons to get wood, or youmay see them take a horse, and ride bare-backed until they tear them topieces, that they are not fit to come to meeting in. They do not know howto take care of good clothing. Again, if we were digging in a water-ditchto-morrow, that required all hands, in consequence of the rising of thewater, I have no doubt but you would see what I saw the other day-one ofour young dandies, who was perhaps not worth the shirt on his back, cameto work in a water-ditch, dressed in his fine broadcloth pantaloons, anda fine bosomed shirt, and I have no doubt he would have worn gloves tooif he had been worth a pair. You would see men of this description, whoare without understanding, whole hearted, good fellows, and ready to doanything for the advancement of the public good, commence to dig in themud and wet, in their fine clothes, and go into the water, up to their knees,with their fine calf-skin boots. This is a wanton waste of the blessingsof God, that cannot be justifiable in His eyes, and in the eyes of prudent,thinking men, under ordinary circumstances. If prudence and economy arenecessary at one time more than at another, it is when a family or a nationare thrown upon their own resources, as we are. But you may trace the wholelives of some men, and it will be impossible for you to point out a singleportion of time when they knew how to appreciate and how to use even thecommon comforts of life, when they had them, to say nothing of an abundanceof wealth.
Again, there have been more contention and trouble between neighbors,in these valleys, with regard to surplus property, which was not neededby this people, than any other thing. For instance, a widow woman comesin here from the United States, and turns out on the range beyond Jordanthree yoke of oxen and a few cows, for she considers she is too poor tohave them herded. Again, a man comes in with ten yoke of oxen; he also turnsthem out to wander where they please. If he is asked why he does not putthem in a herd, he will tell you, "I do not want to pay the herdingfee." Another comes on with three or four span of horses, and twentyor thirty yoke of cattle. Has he any for sale? No, but he turns them allout upon the range and they are gone. By and by he sends a boy on horsebackto hunt them, who is unsuccessful in finding them after a week's toil. Theowner turns out himself, and all hands, to hunt up his stock, but they alsofail in finding them, they are all lost except a very few. He was not ableto have them herded, he thought, though he possessed so much property, andknew nothing more than to turn them out to run at large. Thus he consumeshis time, running after his lost property. He frets his feelings, for hismind is continually upon it; he is in such a hurry in the morning to goout to hunt his stock, that he has no time to pray; when he returns homelate at night, worn out with toil and anxiety of mind, he is unfit to pray;his cattle are lost, his mind is unhinged and darkened through the neglectof his duty, and apostacy stares him in the face, for he is not satisfiedwith himself, and murmurs against his brethren, and against his God. Byand by some of his cattle turn up with a strange brand upon them; they havebeen taken up and sold to this person or that one. This brings contentionand dissatisfaction between neighbor and neighbor. Such a person has toomuch property, more than he knows what to do with. It would be much betterfor a man who is a mechanic, and intends to follow his business, to giveone out of two cattle which he may possess, to some person, for taking careof the other. It would be better for those who possess a great quantityof stock, to sell half of them to fence in a piece of land, to secure theother half, than to drive them all out to run at large, and lose three-fourthsof them. If there are half-a-dozen men round me, and I can put a cow intheir way or anything else that will do them good, for fencing up a lotfor me, the property I thus pay is not out of the world, but is turned overto those men who had not a mouthful of meat, butter, or milk; it is doingthem good, and I am reaping the profit and benefit of their labors in exchange.If I did not do this, I must either see them suffer, or make a free distributionof a part of what I have among them.
It is impossible for me to tell you how much a man must possess to entitlehim to the liberty of wasting anything, or of letting it be stolen and runaway with by the Indians. The surplus property of this community, as pooras we are, has done more real mischief than everything else besides.
I will propose a plan to stop the stealing of cattle in coming time,and it is this-let those who have cattle on hand join in a company, andfence in about fifty thousand acres of land, make a dividend of their cattle,and appropriate what they can spare, to fence in a large field, and thiswill give employment to immigrants who are coming in. When you have donethis, then get up another company, and so keep on fencing until all thevacant land is substantially enclosed.
Some persons will perhaps say-"I do not know how good and how higha fence it will be necessary to build to keep thieves out. I do not knoweither, except you build one that will keep out the devil. Build a fencewhich the boys and the cattle cannot pull down, and I will ensure you willkeep your stock. Let every man lay his plans so as to secure enough forhis present necessities, and hand over the rest to the laboring man; keepmaking improvements, building, and making farms, and that will not onlyadvance his own wealth, but the wealth of the community.
A man has no right with property, which, according to the laws of theland, legally belongs to him, if he does not want to use it; he ought topossess no more than he can put to usury, and cause to do good to himselfand his fellow-man. When will a man accumulate money enough to justify himin salting it down, or, in other words, laying it away in the chest, tolock it up, there to lie, doing no manner of good either to himself or hisneighbor. It is impossible for a man ever to do it. No man should keep moneyor property by him that he cannot put to usury for the advancement of thatproperty in value or amount, and for the good of the community in whichhe lives; if he does, it becomes a dead weight upon him, it will rust, canker,and gnaw his soul, and finally work his destruction, for his heart is setupon it. Every man who has got cattle, money, or wealth of any description,bone and sinew, should put it out to usury. If a man has the arm, body,head, the component parts of a system to constitute him a laboring man,and has nothing in the world to depend upon but his hands, let him put themto usury. Never hide up anything in a napkin, but put it forth to bringan increase. If you have got property of any kind, that you do not knowwhat to do with, lay it out in making a farm, or building a saw mill ora woollen factory, and go to with your mights to put all your property tousury.
If you have more oxen and other cattle than you need, put them in thehands of other men, and receive their labor in return, and put that laborwhere it will increase your property in value.
I hope you will now lay your plans to set men to work who will be inhere by and by, for there will be a host of them, and they will all wantemployment, who trust to their labor for a subsistence; they will all wantsomething to eat, and calculate to work for it. In the first place, keepthe ground in good order to produce you plentiful crops of grain and vegetables,and then take care of them.
Let me say to the sisters, those who have children, never consider thatyou have bread enough around you to suffer your children to waste a crustor a crumb of it. If a man is worth millions of bushels of wheat and corn,he is not wealthy enough to suffer his servant girl to sweep a single kernelof it into the fire; let it be eaten by something, and pass again into theearth, and thus fulfil the purpose for which it grew. Some mothers wouldfill a basket full of bread to make a plaything for their children, butI have not had flour enough in the time of my greatest abundance, to letmy children waste one morsel of bread with my consent. No, I would ratherfeed the greatest enemy I have on the earth with it, than have it go intothe fire. Remember it, do not waste anything, but take care of everything,save your grain, and make your calculations, so that when the brethren comein from the United States, from England, and other places, you can givethem some potatoes, onions, beets, carrots, parsnips, water-melons, or anythingelse which you have, to comfort them, and cheer up their hearts, and ifyou have wheat, dispose of it to them, and receive their labor in return.Raise enough and to spare of all the staple necessaries of life, and layyour plans to hire your brethren who will come in this fall to fence yourfarms, improve your gardens, and make your city lots beautiful. Lay yourplans to secure enough to feed yourselves, and one or two of the brethrenthat are coming to dwell with us.
When we first came into the Valley, the question was asked me, if menwould ever be allowed to come into this Church, and remain in it, and hoardup their property. I say, NO. That is a short answer, and it is a pointedone. The man who lays up his gold and silver, who caches it away in a bank,or in his iron safe, or buries it up in the earth, and comes here, and professesto be a Saint, would tie up the hands of every individual in this kingdom,and make them his servants if he could. It is an unrighteous, unhallowed,unholy, covetous principle; it is of the devil, and is from beneath. Letevery person who has capital, put it to usury. Is he required to bring hispurse to me, to any of the Twelve, or to any person whatever, and lay itat their feet? No, not by me. But I will tell you what to do with your means.If a man comes in the midst of this people with money, let him use it inmaking improvements, in building, in beautifying his inheritance in Zion,and in increasing his capital by thus putting out his money to usury. Lethim go and make a great farm, and stock it well, and fortify all aroundwith a good and efficient fence. What for? Why for the purpose of spendinghis money. Then let him cut it up into fields, and adorn it with trees,and build a fine house upon it. What for? Why for the purpose of spendinghis money. What will he do when his money is gone? The money thus spent,with a wise and prudent hand, is in a situation to accumulate and increasea hundred-fold. When he has done making his farm, and his means still increaseby his diligent use of it, he can then commence and build a woollen factoryfor instance, he can send and buy the sheep and have them brought here,have them herded here, and shear them here, and take care them, then setthe boys and girls to cleaning, carding, spinning, and weaving the woolinto cloth, and thus employ hundreds and thousands of the brethren and sisterswho have come from the manufacturing districts of the old country, and havenot been accustomed to dig in the earth for their livelihood, who have notlearned anything else but to work in the factory. This would feed them andclothe them, and put within their reach the comforts of life; it would alsocreate at home a steady market for the produce of the agriculturist, andthe labor of the mechanic. When he has spent his hundred and fifty thousanddollars, which he began business with, and fed five hundred persons, fromfive to ten years, besides realizing a handsome profit from the labor ofthe hands employed, by the increased population, and consequent increaseddemand for manufactured goods, at the end of ten years, his factory wouldbe worth five hundred thousand dollars. Suppose he had wrapped up his hundredand fifty thousand in a napkin, for fear of losing it, it would have senthim down to perdition, for the principle is from beneath. But when he putsforth his money to usury, not to me or any other person, but where it willredouble itself, by making farms, building factories for the manufactureOf every kind of material necessary for home consumption, establishing blacksmith'sshops and other mechanical establishments, making extensive improvementsto beautify the whole face of the earth, until it shall become like thegarden of Eden, it becomes a saving blessing to him and those around him.And when the kings, princes, and rulers of the earth shall come to Zion,bringing their gold, and silver, and precious stones with them, they willadmire and desire your possessions, your fine farms, beautiful vineyards,and splendid mansions. They will say-"We have got plenty of money,but we are destitute of such possessions as these." Their money losesits value in their eyes when compared with the comfortable possessions ofthe Saints, and they will want to purchase your property. The industriouscapitalist inquires of one of them-"Do you want to purchase this property?I have obtained it by my economy and judgment, and by the labour of my brethren,and in exchange for their labour I have been feeding and clothing them,until they also have comfortable situations, and means to live. I have thisfarm, which I am willing to sell to enable me to advance my other improvements.""Well," says the rich man, "how much must I give you forit?" "Five hundred thousand dollars," and perhaps it hasnot cost him more than one hundred thousand. He takes the money and buildsup three or four such farms, and employs hundreds of his brethren who arepoor.
Money is not real capital, it bears the title only. True capital islabor, and is confined to the laboring classes. They only possess it. Itis the bone, sinew, nerve, and muscle of man that subdue the earth, makeit yield its strength, and administer to his varied wants. This power tearsdown mountains and fills up valleys, builds cities and temples, and pavesthe streets. In short, what is there that yields shelter and comfort tocivilized man, that is not produced by the strength of his arm making theelements bend to his will.
I will now ask the question again-How much must a man possess to authorizehim to waste anything? Three or four years ago money was of little valuein this country; you might go round exhibiting a back load of gold, andhold out a large piece to a man, I was going to say, almost as big as thisbible, and ask him to work for you, but he would laugh at your offer, andtell you he was looking for some one to work for him. He would then hailanother man who had been in Nauvoo, and passed through the pinches there,and had scarcely a shirt to his back, but he would reply-"I was lookingfor some man to work for me." Gold could not purchase labor, it wasno temptation whatever, but those times are passed. It is not now as itwas then. I consequently alter my counsel to the brethren. I used to counselyou to hand over your surplus property, or that which you could not takecare of, to me, and I would apply it to a good purpose, but now I counselyou to put it into the hands of men who have nothing at all, and let thempay you for it in labor.
I have never been troubled with thieves stealing my property. If I amnot smart enough to take care of what the Lord lends me, I am smart enoughto hold my tongue about it, until I come across the thief myself, and thenI am ready to tie a string round his neck.
I have not the least hesitation in saying that the loose conduct, andcalculations, and manner of doing business, which have characterized menwho have had property in their hands, have laid the foundation to bringour boys into the spirit of stealing. You have caused them to do it, youhave laid before them every inducement possible, to learn their hands andtrain their minds to take that which is not their own. Those young men whohave been taken up the past season and condemned to ignominious punishment,may trace the cause of their shame to that foundation. Distribute your property.The man that thinks he requires ten yoke of cattle, and can only use oneyoke, is laboring under a mistake, he ought to let nine yoke go to the laboringcommunity. If every man would do this with the property which he is notusing, all would be employed and have sufficient. This would be the mosteffectual means of bringing the vile practice of stealing cattle and otherproperty to a termination, which, as I have already said, has been encouragedby covetous, selfish men, who have refused to use their property for theirown good, or the community's.
Let us hold before our mind the miser. If the people of this communityfeel as though they wanted the whole world to themselves, hate any otherperson to possess anything, and would hoard up their property, and placeit in a situation where it would not benefit either themselves or the community,they are just as guilty as the man who steals my property. You may inquire-"Whatshould be done with such a character?" Why, CUT HIM OFF FROM THE CHURCH.I would disfellowship a man who had received liberally from the Lord, andrefused to put it out to usury. We know this is right.
I recollect well the days brother Grant was telling of, when it wasso hard to raise fifty dollars for brother Joseph. I also remember we hada man for trial before the High Council, a man who had plenty of money,and refused to loan it, or use it for the advancement of the cause of truth.He would not put his money out to usury. I was going into the Council whenhe was making his plea, and he wept and sobbed. His name was Isaac McWithy,a man of about fifty-three years of age. I knew him when he lived on hisfarm in York state. He told them, in his plea, what he had done for thecause, that he had always been a Christian, and had done so much for theChurches, and for the Priests, and had been so liberal since he had beenin this Church, which was between three and four years. Some of the brethrensaid-"Brother McWithy, how much do you suppose you have ever givenfor the support of the Gospel?" The tears rolled down his cheeks, andhe said, "Brethren, I believe I have given away in my life time twohundred and fifty dollars." I spake out and said, "If I couldnot preach as many months each year in this kingdom as you have been yearsin this Church, and give no more than two hundred and fifty dollars, I shouldbe ashamed of myself."
On one occasion, brother Joseph Young and myself had travelled morethan two hours among snow, and in a piercing cold, to preach in his neighhorhoodone evening. Having had no dinner or supper, we went home with him, andhe never asked us to eat a mouthful of supper, though he did muster courageenough to go into the cellar with a little basket, he came up with the tearsalmost running down his cheeks, and said with some difficulty-"Brethren,have some apples." He held out the basket to us, and when we were aboutto help ourselves, his niggardly soul made him draw it back again, for fearwe should take any. I saw he did not intend us to have any apples, so Iput my hand on the basket, and drew it out of his hand, saying-"Comehere." I took it on my knees, and invited brother Joseph to eat someapples. He did make out to give us some breakfast in the morning, and eventhen he got up from the table before we had time to half finish our breakfast,to see if we would not give over eating. Said I-"Never mind, I shalleat what I want before I stop."
I am happy to say, through your Trustee in trust, that the Latter-daySaints, in the capacity of a Church and kingdom, do not owe near as muchmoney as they have on hand. A year ago last April Conference, we owed oversixty thousand dollars, but we do not now owe a single red cent.
May God bless us, that we may always have enough, and know what to dowith what we have, and how to use it for the good of all, for I would notgive much for property unless I did know what to do with it.