own, or any part of it, for it shall belong to you all with one accord; and I give it unto you from this very hour: and now see to it, that ye go to and make use of the stewardship which I have appointed unto you. And again, there shall be another treasury prepared, and a treasurer appointed to keep the treasury, and a seal shall be placed upon it; and all moneys that you receive in your stewardships, by improving upon the properties which I have appointed unto you, in houses, or in lands, or in cattle, . . . shall be cast into the treasury as you receive moneys, and let not any man among you say that it is his own, for it shall not be called his, nor any part of it; and there shall not any part of it be used, or taken out of the treasury, only by the voice and common consent of the order. And this shall be the voice and common consent of the order; that any man among you, say unto the treasurer, I have need of this to help me in my stewardship; if it be five talents (dollars), or, if it be ten talents (dollars), or twenty, or fifty, or an hundred, the treasurer shall give unto him the sum which he requires, to help him in his stewardship, until he be found a transgressor, and it is manifest before the council of the order plainly, that he is an unfaithful and an unwise steward; but so long as he is in full fellowship, and is faithful, and wise in his stewardship, this shall be his token unto the treasurer, that the treasurer shall not withhold. But in case of transgression, the treasurer shall be subject unto the council and voice of the order. . . . I give you this privilege, this once, and behold, if you proceed to do the things which I have laid before you, according to my commandments, all these things are mine, and ye are my stewards, and the master will not suffer his house to be broken up. Even so. Amen.-Ibid., civ. 1-2, 14-18, 54-63, 67, 68, 70-76, 86.

The wording of these revelations is significant of the actual objects for which the United Order was originally founded; and they embody a distinct lesson and example to all theoretical sociologists, who are earnestly desirous of achieving the lasting good of their fellow-men. The abolition of poverty is not merely a benevolent aim, but a high religious duty, since "if ye are not equal in earthly things, ye cannot be equal in obtaining heavenly things." Nor can a candid mind fail to discern the fact a high and noble ideal of the responsibility and duty of wealth is actually presented. Our so-called "benevolence" and voluntary "charity" are to be discountenanced as unacceptable to God, just as they are ineffective in permanently benefitting humanity: a man's duties in this respect are precisely defined-if he "impart not his portion, according to the law of my gospel, unto the poor and the needy," his portion shall be that of Dives in Christ's parable. The commands of Christ are to be accepted literally.

The discontinuance of the United Order as a practical reality was not an abrogation, nor yet a substitution of a less stringent law of consecration. It will, as the Mormons confidently believe, be restored again on earth at the coming of Christ and the setting-up of Zion, and remain thereafter as an everlasting covenant. The law of tithing, or consecration of the tenth of the increase for the support of the Church and the care of the poor

is now the accepted practice. The revelation establishing it reads as follows:

"Verily, thus saith the Lord, I require all their [the people's] surplus property to be put into the hands of the bishop of my church of Zion, for the building of mine house, and for the laying of the foundation of Zion and for the Priesthood, and for the debts of the Presidency of my church; and this shall be the beginning of the tithing of my people; and after that, those who have thus been tithed, shall pay one-tenth of all their interest annually; and this shall be a standing law unto them for ever, for my holy Priesthood, saith the Lord. Verily I say unto you, it shall come to pass that all those who gather unto the land of Zion shall be tithed of their surplus properties, and shall observe this law, or they shall not be found worthy to abide among you. And I say unto you, if my people observe not this law, to keep it holy, and by this law sanctify the land of Zion unto me, that my statutes and my judgments may be kept thereon, that it may be most holy, behold, verily I say unto you, it shall not be a land of Zion unto you; and this shall be an ensample unto all the Stakes of Zion."-Doctrine and Covenants, cxix. 1−7.

On the basis of this command, the practice of tithing has always been faithfully upheld among the Mormons, and has provided the most important source of income for their Church and its activities. Of course, the practice has drawn the criticism of enemies of the Church, who have indulged their spleen in various false representations to the effect that the custom is maintained by forced levies, extortion and threats of various orders. The disingenuousness of such accusations must be evident on honest investigation of the matter; since, whether one agrees with the teachings of the Mormon Church, or not, there is positively no reason for the assumption that there are not very many people who do not heartily and intelligently endorse them all. Furthermore, only a moment's reflection is necessary to demonstrate the fact that wholesale extortion practiced on a body of people, who are in all other matters quite independent and highly individualized, is by no means the easy and cheerful task that our would-be informants would have to suppose.

The practice of tithing is an ancient one, having been enjoined in the Law of Israel (Lev. xxvii:30; Num. xviii:21; Deut. xiv:23, 28; Neh. x:37-38); practiced by the ancient patriarchs (Gen. xiv:20; Heb. vii:5-6; Gen. xxviii :22), and mentioned as an institution in both Old and New Testaments (Prov. iii. 9; Mal. iii:8; II Chron. xxxi:5; Amos lv:4; Matt. xxiii:23; Luke xviii:12). On several occasions the practice has been attempted as a means for raising funds for the support of Christian churches, exampled, notably, by the forced levies formerly in vogue in Great Britain for the support of the established church. Latterly, some of our larger sects, such as the Methodists, have carefully considered a restoration of the practice, if possible, in order to replenish the coffers, none too well filled by

offerings, voluntary as to amount as well as to production. The fact remains, however, that the Latter-day Saints, alone among all bodies professing the Christian heritage, have been able to maintain the institution with even approximate success. It is scarcely remarkable, although by no means conclusive, that opponents of this Church should allege oppression and extortion: their own experiences and capabilities in this matter have not been of the most reassuring description. It is very probable, however, that no other body whatever could possibly duplicate the Mormon record, since this, like other things achieved by this Church, seems to be a real corollary to their splendid and vital organization, which, if it does nothing else, begets a strong sense of solidarity among its people.

But the Latter-day Saints obey a broader law of tithing and consecration than applies even to the tithing of their material increase. As if to demonstrate the superior quality of their enthusiasm and devotion at every point, these people dedicate their time, labors and talents to the service of their Church, very often with no hope or expectation of remuneration, or with only meagre returns in any material sense. As already noted, none of their officers receive salaries for their services to the Church, except in the event that their entire time is devoted to the work. The ward bishops are entitled to a small percentage of the tithes and other funds collected by them, and very frequently forego even this consideration. Perhaps nearly the most conspicuous example of devoted time and services is to be found in the missionary work, usually done by the younger men of the Church, who pay their own way to their mission fields, be they at home or abroad, and depend upon the voluntary assistance of friends in the field, or, upon the assistance of their families or friends at home. The Church funds pay only their return fares homeward. It is, indeed, a strong evidence of the vitality of this form of faith that young men from every walk of life should thus cheerfully devote several years of their time, usually in their growing years, to a work devoid of promise or possibility of material returns. While all other Christian bodies, with the sole exception of the Roman Catholic, suffer from a dearth either of funds or of volunteers for missionary work, and are obliged to guarantee the livelihoods of their missionaries, both at home and abroad, the spread of the Mormon gospel is entirely in the hands of people who go out, literally without "purse or scrip."

Voluntary and unremunerated work, however, is by no means confined to the mission field. It is regularly and cheerfully given, whenever required, as, for example, in the building of

Church edifices. The splendid Temple in Salt Lake City, which is one of the most substantial edifices in the entire United States, was built largely by the voluntary labor of the Mormon people, as were also the three other large temples at St. George, Manti, and Logan in Utah, the older temples at Kirtland, Ohio, and Nauvoo, Illinois, and all of the ward chapels throughout Mormondom. Such a record as this shows a degree of enthusiasm, also of genuine community sentiment that is rare, if not entirely unparalleled. In these days of sociological theorizing, when the present order, bad as it is, is menaced by the advocates of sentimental and radical schemes, which have failed wherever attempted on a practical scale, it is remarkable that the success of Mormonism should not be taken as an object lesson on the unescapable necessity of reorganizing society on a basis distinctly religious, instead of being met by lies, slanders and deliberate misrepresentations from the lips of people professing to be teachers of righteousness. If this unworthy and un-Christian attitude evidences nothing else, it is certainly competent in establishing the truth of the Socialist allegation that religion, as it is known among us, cannot be depended on to assist in social betterment to the minutest extent. That the Mormon record argues to a contrary conclusion is good evidence that it is of a different order and origin from many of the familiar sects among us, whether, as it claims, based on direct divine authority, or not.

CHAPTER X

MORMONISM AS THE INSTRUMENT OF TEMPORAL SALVATION

THE unchallenged superiority of the Mormon Church as a successful exponent of social regeneration, of "worldly salvation," in fact, of the order evidently contemplated by Christ Himself, if His words have the plain meaning, which have been so generally and so adroitly ignored by His professed and pretended followers in all ages, is well exampled in the following passage from the experience of John Taylor, third President of the Church. When the Mormons had left Nauvoo, Illinois, in the early part of 1846, the city fell into the hands of a band of Fourierite colonists, under the direction of a certain Etienne Cabet, and proceeded, under the most favorable conditions imaginable, to put their Utopian plans into operation. As with all similar experiments, this was an utter failure - and for the familiar reason that Fourierism, like other forms of Socialism, attempts to grow the flower of altruism and unselfishness in the soil of misery, and without the help of anything vital in the line of a religious influence. While engaged in a mission in Paris, France, Elder Taylor met a certain Fourierite journalist named Krolokoski, with whom he held a conversation touching the merits of their respective "gospels." Thus:

"Mr. K.—Mr. Taylor, do you propose no other plan to ameliorate the condition of mankind than that of baptism for the remission of sins?' "Elder T.-This is all I propose about the matter.'

"Mr. K.—'Well, I wish you every success; but I am afraid you will not succeed.'

"Elder T.-Monsieur Krolokoski, you sent Monsieur Cabet to Nauvoo, some time ago. He was considered your leader - the most talented man you had. He went to Nauvoo shortly after we had deserted it. Houses and lands could be obtained at a mere nominal sum. Rich farms were deserted, and thousands of us had left our houses and furniture in them, and almost everything calculated to promote the happiness of man was there. Never could a person go to a place under more happy circumstances. Besides all the advantages of having everything made ready to his hand, M. Cabet had a select company of colonists. He and his company went to Nauvoo-what is the result? I read in all your reports from there — published in your own paper here, in Paris, a continued cry for help. The cry is money, money! We want money to help