The daily exchange. [volume] (Baltimore, Md.) 1858-1861, 1858-03-02
MESSAGE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG TO THE
MORMON LEGISLATURE

MORMON LEGlSLATURE.
DELIVERED IN GREAT SALT LAKE CITY, DECEM
BER 15 \. d. 1858.
Gentlemen of the Council and House of Represetatiyeg
The people, for the promotion of whose advance
ment In correct government YOU are now assembled
IN legislative capacity, are so remote from the
hlgh-wrought excitement and consequent entan-
CLING questions common to the populOus marts of
national and international commerce, are so little
prone to deem mere property, rank, titles and office
the highest prizes for human effort and through
enlightened choice invariably peaceful and
awabidng that your duties partake but in a small
degree OF that varied, perplexng and intricate de-
scripton characteristic of the legislation of most
if not all, other communities. But however order
ly and upright are people, the changes and expe-
rience incident to transpiring circumstances, and
consequent new views and events, afford ample
scope for the exercise of that candid deliberation
and prudent forethought without which legislation
is liable to be far detrimental than beneficial
Those unparalleled habits of industry, sobriety,
order and respect to the just rights of ALL which
sopreemnently distinguish the occupants of region
unnviting to dwellers in more favored climes have
continued in a rapidly-increasng ratio to advance
tab to position in social and political progress
worthy the highest cOmmendatiOn. During the past
year. for reasons well understood, progress has
not been so particularly marked by improvements
under appropriations from the Territorial treasury
as it has by unostentatious, perseverng and skilul
individual efforts most successfully applied to extend
ing the of tillable land to the gradual in
PRODUCTION of more economical, systematic and ju-
dic0us cultivation of the various products adapted
to soil and climate, to the requisite and i'm
prOvement of stock, to the erection Of more commo
dious private dwellings, and to a large and highly
encouraging increase in domestic manufactures.
These pursuits and their results, in the compare
lively humble, limited and tardy mode yet
PEELED by the time, thought and means that can be
devoted to their conduct and attainment, are tame
and uninteresting to those who dwell amid the
whir of mental and physical energies constantly
taxed to their utmost tension in the selfish unsatis
flying and trienzied quest of worldly emOlument,
fame power and maddening draughts from the 81
rem cup Of pleasures but they are laying for and
children a foundation broad, deep, strong and
durable, upon which, through the blessings of our
God to rear supeTstructure for the temporal we'll
being of ourselves and the thousands upon thou
sands who will seek unto us for sustenance and the
enjoyment of the inalienable rights of civil and re-
lgCus liberty.
Whether our agricultural interests. though so
broadly underlying and essentially upholding all
other avocatons require at present the further aid
of special legislation may well be questioned, since
private enterprise has accumulated individual means
until oar agricuturists and graziers are abundant
ly able, either singly or by combination of few
of the energetic, to procure those approved la
bor-saving machines, and import those kinds and
numbers of domestic animals that their ripening
experience may dictate. And aside from that
constantly increasing experience and ability
and a higher tone of energy in their applica-
tion, the Deseret Agricultural and Manufacturing
Society have, through the appointment, from time
to time, of lectures upon these and other practca-
BILE branches of industrial pursuit and the annual
distribution of prizes for the best specimens OF home
products ditfused audabe emulation for attaining
superior excellence in every department pertaining
to our temporal advancement, insomuch that with
the facilities vet at command, it would appear
advisable to still leave those and kindred interests
to the able management and fostering of that
Society True, their recurring annual fair, held in
this city in October last, owing to circumstances
beyond their control, by no means so fully at
tnnH nnr tha in ayhi 60 mi
and varied as would otherwise have been the case,
still the most casual observer could not but note and
be gratiied with the abundant evidence of the in
dustrial prosperity of our Territory.
The mechanical skill of our artisans, so far as ma
teria would permit, has also been assduouslv ap-
piled to the home supply of those necessaries and
comforts essential to wellordered, civilized
ciety, thus freeing us in a goody degree from the
heavy tax of imported goods; yet there is an ample
and increasing demand for the products of their
labor at very liberal rates of compensation, which
will doubtless afford all necessary inducements for
home manufacture, to the full extent of the raw
materials in our possession, except perhaps in the
article of iron. They also, in common with all other
classes of our producers, share prOportionally in
the benefits arising from the annual exhibition of
their handiwork in our fairs.
In instances, especially in relation to the
sugar cane, cotton, WOOL and dye stus, the want of
the raw materials has been a serious drawback. 1t
therefore affords the greater qualification to be
able to inform you that there is fair prospect, at
an early date, that our wants In tnOSe particulars
will be amply supplied, Independent of the burdens
of importation. The Sorghum or Chinese sugar
cane has been generally and successfully cultivated
in small patches in great variety of soil through
out many of our settlements, and has been proved
to be well adapted to wide latitude OF our climate
This plant is an almost invaluable acquisition being
singularly prolific in seed, as well as in large
amount of most excellent forage, and atfOrding a
remarkably large proportion OF juice, highly
charged with saccharine matter, which easily
be manufactured into syrup almost If not quite
equal to the farfamed golden syrup of the sugar
tineries, thereby relieving from the necessity of
submitting to a burdensome drain of our circulating
medium or the deprivation of a healthy article of
diet.
small crop of a very good sample of cotton was
successfully cultivated in our southern settlements
during the past season. Also few stalks of indigo,
and preparations are being made in that region for
the production of cotton and indigo, to supply our
demandc, speedily indigo seed can be procured
in sufficient quantity. Madder be raised in all
our settlements and it is a matter of astonishment
that no seed of so useful and easily cultivated a
plant has ever been brought into this Territory
far as informed and ii is to be hoped that our
friends abroad will take the earliest steps to supply
this want Our quantity OF wool is still far short
! of adequate supply, chiefly causedby measura-
bv culpabe inattention to the of so valuable
| class of stock is sheep, and to depending toe
much upon foreign supplies which are at any time
! liable to be beyond our reach. Your influence
| counsels and example can do much toward encour
aging the production of wool and flax, that our spin
| ming wheels and looms be not compelled to stanC
idle and the people caused to suffer through thei
own improvidence, in affairs within their reach anC
| comprehension.
| The manufacture of iron has not been prosecuted
with that success so fondy anticipated and mucl
desired, but engine having been furnished to th
company, it is expected that all compatible atten
tion will be given to suppl wing article which en-
ters so largely into our various daily operations
| In fine, there is no known limit to the resource
kindly provided in the elements surrounding us, NJ
trammel upon the skill and energies of the people
to hinder any from putting forth their talents to tn
fullest stretch for enriching, beautfying and max
ing heavenly the mountain and desert region il
which our lot is cast
Our schools, to those unaquainted with the fact
and circumstances connected Herewith, may seer
not to have received that attention which their i'm
portance demands; at the time each War
throughout the Territory has provided one more
comfortable school houses commensurate with th
number of pupils to be accommodated; and proper
tionately more has been done in { tab for the tru
enlightenment of the rising generation, than has eve
been accomplished in like conditions in any other pol
ton of the Union. And aside from the stated hour
and exercises of schools, education is constantly al
tainable from books, from conversation, from re
hecton, at home, abroad. in highways and by-ways
and its developments implant the desire for sti
higher attainments, academies colleges and univeI
sities will arise a the summoning wand of increa:
ing wealth and leisure for learned requirement
until ere long, we shall far outstrip the world
every branch of true science as we now do in tha
knowledge which savoreth of eternal lives. In th
great cause, also, your influence and example ca
be made productive of much good, even thouo
} your Judgment should lead you during YOUR pre-
ent session, to waive direct legislation upon tn
: subject.
Reports from the Auditor and Treasurer which
have the honor herewith to transmit, win furnis