Another period has arrived when the people of the United States are to elect men who are to represent them in both legislative and administrative branches of the government, both state and national; a time when the citizenship of our country are to exercise this divine right of franchise. If reports which come to us are true, vast sums of money are being collected to be used for the purpose of influencing the vote of the people in favor of one or the other of the great parties that are striving for the control of government. We are told that the expenditures will be limited to eight millions of dollars. We are also informed that this limit may be greatly exceeded. Can it be possible that we have reached a point in our history when the ballot, this sacred heritage which has come to us from our fathers, has become a thing of barter and trade, that it can be purchased with money? Are the liberties of the American people on the auction block to be sold to the highest bidder? Have we lifted up a golden calf (as ancient Israel did) to which the American people are commanded to bow down in worship? God forbid.

To my mind the man who would sell his vote for money should forfeit his franchise forever. Is the man who sells his vote less guilty than the man who tenders money for it? Is he who tenders money less guilty than the individual who, having knowledge of the crime, enters no word of protest?’ I cannot shift the responsibility from one to the other. All are equally guilty.

Source: President Anthony W. Ivins
General Conference, October 1928

Topics: Voting

Our Constitution has rightly been called the “bond of our union, the shield of our defense, and the source of our prosperity.” While the name of Deity is not mentioned in the Constitution, yet, in a sense, ours is a Christian government and country. Religious liberty is guaranteed in that Congress can make no law respecting the establishment of religion, nor prohibiting the free exercise thereof, and that no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States. At the time of the adoption of the Constitution such a thing as a written constitution was scarcely known; certainly nothing of the nature of the one devised. England had a constitution but it was an unwritten one, embodied in the laws and practices of more than a dozen centuries of time. It was to be found in such documents as Magna Charta, The Petition of Rights, The Bill of Rights, the Habeas Corpus Act, Act of Settlement, and other great enactments. The idea of a written constitution was soo taken up by France, spreading to most of the European countries; also to other continents and to the islands of the sea. While this wonderful document can be read through in less than an hour, there are already many thousands of references to distinct points decided by the Supreme Court construing the Constitution.

Source: Elder Charles H. Hart
General Conference, October 1928

Topics: Freedom, Religious

Respect For Law

Respect for the law is an old theme. It is commonly brought to our attention these days. I think that there are two classes of people who are chiefly responsible for the lack of respect which exists for the law and for established institutions of government. One class is those who hold office and the other class is those who do not. I don’t mean by that to say that all men who hold office are responsible for the condition which exists; not by any means; nor are all citizen. I have always felt that one of the essential things to breed a wholesome respect and regard for the law of the land and the established institutions of government is the honorable, worthy conduct of the men who are elected to office, and whenever any man who is entrusted with a public duty and public authority abuses his office and attempts to reward himself at the expense of his government and the citizenry, and does not conduct himself with that dignity and propriety which is becoming one invested with his authority, he does more to teardown respect for law and authority than dozens of good men can do to build it up. I want to tell you that the youth of the land are wise in their day and generation. They are sophisticated, they are observant, and when they see men plead in fiery oratorical fashion for the support of the Constitution and in their grandiloquence wildly protest allegiance to the flag of the country, and then come to know that those same men are grafters, corrupt in office, they at once lose regard for the institutions of government and for the officials who stand at the head of government. And too on the part of the citizenry: Men who support such men, men who go around campaigning for them and men who become the beneficiaries of their dishonest practices, are likewise doing more to tear down that attitude which is essential to the preservation of good government than thousands of good people can do to sustain it. It takes honor, real genuine integrity, in order to beget a respect for law and for her institutions! It is such peple who today are setting at naught the laws of the country, and such public officers who with seeming ease of conscience are failing to observe their oaths, who are sowing the seeds which may mature some time in the violence of rebellion and revolt against the great principles of equity and liberty and justice which lie at the foundation of our beneficent government. It hurts me, it grieves me every time I see men of influence violate any ordinance, any statue, any law which has been passed and established by proper authority in this country. Enough has been said in this conference on that subject. I here pronounce the recognition of those laws and their observance as indispensable to the creation and maintenance of reverence and respect for the Constitution and for the established orders of society.

Source: Elder Stephen L. Richards
General Conference, October 1928

Topics: Law, Respect For

The Latter-day Saints have taken a very definite stand in reference to their attitude towards the government, and towards the great problems of life. Have we had to shift our position? Has it been assailed successfully? When we have declared our loyalty and patriotism to the Constitution and the government, and that we recognize that the duty of the Latter-day Saints is to uphold and support the laws of the land as faithfully as they do the laws of the Church, were we right? Any people who depart from that will not be able to preserve a civilization very long.

Source: Elder Melvin J. Ballard
General Conference, October 1928

Topics: Law

All Are Subject To Law

“We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates, in obeying, honoring and sustaining the law.”

My brethren and sisters, this is not a mere platitude; it is not a formality, but it is an article of faith of the Church of Christ. Let me call your attention to the fact that all people in all nations are under a reign of law. We cannot escape this conclusion, we cannot evade the fact, being upon the earth as we are, mingling one with another, we are subject to law. The Lord has said in one of the revelations to his Church, through the Prophet Joseph Smith (See D&C, Section 58):

“Let no man break the laws of the land, for he that keepeth the laws of God hath no need to break the laws of the land.”

That is direct and emphatic, and leads one to the obvious conclusion that the laws of God are higher and superior to the laws of the land.

Source: President Rudger Clawson
General Conference, April 1928

Topics: Law

We read in the scriptures that where the wicked rule the people mourn, and conversely it might be said that when the righteous rule the people rejoice. They rejoice because the righteous make righteous laws, and they mourn because the wicked make wicked laws. We are living; my brethren and sisters, under one of the best and most substantial governments in the world today, if not the best. It simply results from having the best and most liberal laws of government.

Source: President Rudger Clawson
General Conference, April 1928

Topics: Government, Good; Law

I call your attention to this important truth, that people who live in far distant hamlets are under law; that people who live in the cities of the land are subject to law, and it follows if a citizen desires to enjoy the privileges that belong to the city in which he resides, he must yield obedience to the laws of that city, and give heed to its ordinances. If a man wishes to enjoy the advantages and privileges of citizenship in this great nation of ours, he must subject himself to, the laws of the nation. You know quite as well as I do what is said of a man who disregards law, who goes beyond and away from it, who appears to think that that is his privilege. Well, the Lord has something to say about that, for he spoke by revelation to Joseph Smith the Prophet and said:

“And again, verily I say unto you, that which is governed by law is also preserved by law and perfected and sanctified by the same.

“That which breaketh a law, and abideth not by law, but seeketh to become a law unto itself, and willeth to abide in sin, and altogether abideth in sin, cannot be sanctified by law, neither by mercy, justice, nor judgment. Therefore, they must remain filthy still.”

So a man who ignores the law, who sets his face as flint against it, is called an outlaw, and if he sets himself against the Government in which he resides and of which he is a part, and violates the law and uses his influence against the Government, that is designated as treason. He is treasonable, he is subject to the action of this very law which he violates.

Source: President Rudger Clawson
General Conference, April 1928

Topics: Law, Respect For

Laws Of God And Laws Of Man

Now there are two great law-givers, the one is the Lord in heaven. He is the supreme law-giver of the universe. The other is man upon the earth. The laws of God are great spiritual and eternal laws, and are given to govern us in our conduct and to protect us in our future prospects. The laws of the land are of temporary character and appertain to mortal life. However, if the laws of the land are good laws, they have the approval of the Almighty. The greatest and most spectacular revealment of law, if I may use that expression, ever made, was given at Mount Sinai when the Lord descended upon the mountain, and in the midst of thundering and lightning and a great smoke going up, he gave the Ten Commandments. It might truly be said that all the righteous laws of man have their origin in the Ten Commandments.

Source: President Rudger Clawson
General Conference, April 1928

Topics: Law

A Blessing For Government Officials

I pray God to bless his Saints all over the wide world, and I bless them by the authority of the priesthood which I hold. I pray for our country and ask the Lord to bless those who preside in the nation, in the states, in the cities and in the counties. I pray God to inspire the people that they will obey his commands, and elect good men to office; that they will bury their political differences and seek for good men to hold office, and not men who connive with those who are breaking the laws of our country. It is one of the articles of our faith to obey and uphold the laws of the land. May God help us to do it. . . . [A]nd I do it in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen

Source: President Heber J. Grant
General Conference, April 1928

Topics: Heavenly Interest in Human Events; Politics

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