White Pine news. [volume] (East Ely, Nev.) 1920-1923, 1923-04-15
LESSON IN

LESSON IN THRIFT.
Some counsel that would not be
bad If addressed to the American
people generally was uttered the 9TH
err day as advice TO members OF tho
Mormon church at one OF their con-
~ferences by Heber j.. Grant, presi-
dent of the organization. What Mr..
Grant said would tend to make tho
people of his church better Mormons
could be said with like appropriate
ness as making the American people
better Americans.
Most prominent of the things
which Mr.. Grant counseled against
was the tendency of his people to
Quit rural life and remove to the
cities, where greed and graft are the
ruling forces in life and the bent OF
everything is against the making OF
good churchmen-also against max
ing good citizens. which he did not
happen to say but which happens to
be the truth.
There is nc better illustration of
that Characterization than is fur
nished by Salt Lake itself. 1t Is COM
ing to be the one place in the United
States where money is the god above
everything and graft is the rule of
business and considered to he the
best policy, with fair dealing and
honesty the exceptions.
1t is well that the head Of the
great Mormon church sees that to
be the deplorable fact and is using
his prodigious influence to counter.
act it. Salt Lake needs a business
redemption and the good people of
the rural homes of Utah need to be
saved from contamination with its
u~nspeakable business methods.
In a larger sense the American
people need to be guided away from
and influenced against their trend
toward city life and its unseemiy
environments. Too bad IL Is that
they have not a counselor who can
lead them away and keep them on
the farms and at home where they
belong and where their own welfare
demands that they remain.
One of the cardinal points Of the
Mormon faith is that of the material
interests of its members. In money
matters they are schooled and 1t has
been charged, with a color Of truth,
that their church mas been CONNER
cialized. At any rate, upon that
point they are under vigorous tut
ton and 1t is with this drilling in
subjects of thrift that Mr.. Grant
proposed when he told his people
that they must stop this migration
to the cities, that they must remain
on the farms where they belong and
were reared, and thereby they will
be better Mormons, and he might
well have added that Americans Sc
doing would be better Americans.
On the details of the subject Mr..
Grant mentioned automobiles. He
said his people owned two where
they should own n Perhaps the
owning of arr is bad for some per-
sons, the trouble being that when
they own them the cars arc used
unnecessarily. Automobiles nova
days are a business necessity and no.
where more than on the farm. There
they are a necessity where in a city
they are a luxury. The trouble In
I both places, city and country alike,
is that they are on the road when
they ought to be in the garage. Too
much gasoline Is burned, too many
miles are annihilated and the owner
of a car becomes a slave TO its use
and upkeep. The person who will
furnish a solution of this economic
stalemate will be entitled to a place
In the hall of fame as the inventor
Of the age.
Extravaganza in general Is the
bane of existence in America. Never
was there the country with the op-
portunities for individual prosperity
that this country furnishes, but new
er was there the one where such are
squandered as they are here. Upon
waste OF their inheritance the peo-
pie have their necks bent and moth
ing will stop them. Human inertia
is a force that artificial means have
failed to arrest. II there Is a power
that can do any appreciable part OF
1t that power Is not to be despised
and Is entitled to the credit for the
good 1t shall have accomplished.
Meanwhile the great majority will
go the pace.