(D) A self-supporting organization, not dependent upon the gifts of a wealthy few, but upon the proportionate giving of all. In the material support of the Church as a human institution the widow's penny is as acceptable as are the goldpieces of the millionaire. The system of tithepaying has been a success in the Church from the first. Every member should consider it a duty to pay a tenth of his income, whether that tenth for any given period be a dime or a thousand dollars; but no payment is arbitrarily exacted, for compliance with the law of the tithe, to be acceptable before God, must be voluntary and willing. The people are taught that while the Lord needs their tithes and offerings, their need to be tithed is many times greater. Besides the tithing other free-will offerings are made. On the monthly fast day each family is asked to contribute the cost-equivalent of the meals from which the members have fasted; and the means so obtained is administered by the bishops for the relief of the deserving poor. Special offerings are called for and willingly given as occasion requires. A recent request for aid to the war sufferers resulted in the voluntary and eager giving of over $30,000 in a single day; and this amount was forwarded and distributed without diminution for commission or other administrative expense, the Church organization proving ample for the purpose.
(E) A series of auxiliary associations which operate as helps in government. These include the Relief Society, the Sunday School Union, the Young Men's and the Young Ladies' Mutual Improvement Associations, the Primary Association, and the Religion Classes. The purpose of these is in general indicated by the names. Church schools are maintained for such members as prefer denominational to secular education; and these institutions range from the kindergarten to the normal school and the college. We believe that true education comprises the development of body, mind, and spirit; and facilities for this symmetrical training are provided. To "Mormon" pupils in the public schools of both common and secondary grades instruction in religion and ethics is given through the Religion Classes, which are conducted outside the regular school hours and as a supplement to the secular curriculum. This instructional feature, now advocated by eminent educators for all public schools, has been in successful operation among the Latter-day Saints for over a quarter of a century.
(F) A community whose vital statistics tell of prolonged life, high birth and low death rates, high marriage rate, few divorces, and general material prosperity. I present to you a few comparisons of data obtained from the Presiding Bishopric of the Church, showing the condition of Latter-day Saints in the organized stakes of Zion, for the six-year period ending with the year 1915, as contrasted with the latest reports for such States of the Union as maintain statistical bureaus and are classed in official reports as the registration area.
Among the Latter-day Saints resident in the Stakes. In the country at large so far as reported
Birth rate per 1,000................39.........................25
Death rate per 1,000............... 8.7........................14.1
Marriage rate per 1,000.............16.........................13
Divorces per 10,000..................4.........................10
Average age at death.................38........................32
The statistics of infant mortality are strikingly significant. Deaths from all causes among children under one year of age averaged for the three years ending with 1915 fewer than 59 per thousand births in "Mormon" families, while the latest report from the United States registration area shows 249 deaths per thousand. Deaths of children under five years of age, including those who die under one year, separately reported, average 82 per thousand births among "Mormons" and 349 for the country at large.