The greatness of a nation is measured, not by its fruitful acres, but by the men who cultivate those acres; not by great forests, but by the men who use those forests; not by its mines, but by the men who work them.

Source: Lyman Abbott

Topics: Character

Integrity Fundamental

The foundation of a noble character is integrity. By this virtue the strength of a nation, as of an individual, may be judged. No nation can ever become truly great, and win the confidence of other peoples, which to further its own selfish ends will, for example, consider an honorable treaty as “a mere scrap of paper.” No nation will become great whose trusted officers will pass legislation for personal gain, who will take advantage of a public office for personal preferment, or to gratify vain ambition, or who will, through forgery, chicanery, and fraud, rob the government or be false in office to a public trust.

Honesty, sincerity of purpose, must be the dominant traits of character in leaders of a nation that would be truly great.

“I hope,” said George Washington, “that I may ever have virtue and firmness enough to maintain what I consider to be the most enviable of all titles—the character of an honest man.”

It was Washington’s character more than his brilliancy of intellect that made him the choice of all as their natural leader when the thirteen original colonies decided to sever their connection with the mother country. As one in eulogy to the father of our country truly said:

When he appeared among the eloquent orators, the ingenious thinkers, the vehement patriots of the Revolution, his modesty and temperate profession could not conceal his superiority; he at once, by the very nature of his character, was felt to be their leader. (Edwin Percy Whipple, Patriotic Oration, delivered in Boston, July 4, 1850.)

Men of sterling statesmanship, unknown or renowned, who strive to emulate his strength of character constitute today as always the greatest asset of our mighty and much beloved United States.

Source: President David O. McKay
General Conference, April 1943

Topics: Character; Leadership

A . . . fundamental element in the building and in the perpetuity of a great people is the home. “The strength of a nation, especially of a republican nation, is in the intelligent and well-ordered homes of the people.” If and when the time ever comes that parents shift to the state the responsibility of rearing their children, the stability of the nation will be undermined, and its impairment and disintegration will have begun.

Source: President David O. McKay
General Conference, April 1943

Topics: Education

Respect for another’s rights and property is fundamental in good government. It is a mark of refinement in the individual. It is a fundamental Christian virtue.

Source: President David O. McKay
General Conference, April 1943

Topics: Labor; Private Property; Virtue

Prohibition is patriotic because it has proved itself to be a true friend of labor and a true friend of capital. Rome did not die for lack of college and public games, for the want of culture and refined society, or because she had no army or no navy. Rome died when she rotted at the heart. Rome committed moral and political suicide.

Said Poling:

I fear no yellow peril, I fear no foe that may embark from a foreign shore to do us hurt. I fear only the foe from within, this shackler of bodies, this impoverisher of industry, this moral despoiler, this corrupter of government which is called alcohol.

Source: Elder Richard R. Lyman
General Conference, October 1942

Topics: Morality; Prohibition

We all know the situation, at least in a general way, and we know it is rapidly becoming worse, and that the “closed shop” system is rapidly spreading. This is a system of force that places plants and institutions employing labor in the hands of selfish, irresponsible labor leaders, agitators and organizers who force owners, managements, laborers, the public and even government officials to do their unrighteous bidding. Thus freedom is crushed and the guarantees of our inspired Constitution are thrown to the winds. Where the “closed shop” comes in freedom goes out, and the inalienable right to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” vanishes.

Now of one thing I feel sure. The vast majority of the patriotic liberty-loving people of America want the guarantees of our inspired Constitution maintained. They want this choice land still to be and to remain the “land of the free and the home of the brave:”

Source: Elder Joseph F. Merrill
General Conference, October 1941

Topics: Freedom, Loss of; Labor; Unions

Economic Peace Through Application of the Golden Rule

If a full sense of brotherhood, actuated by the real spirit of the Golden Rule, were in the mind and heart of every employer and of every employee in America, and of every one else who has any kind of relations with his fellow men, then industrial, social, and economic peace in America would be born in a day. But alas this ideal condition is not in the offing. Instead we are faced with reality and a condition so pregnant with evil that we can save ourselves only by immediate, unceasing, wise, and powerful efforts. The preservation of our inherited liberties and of our God-given free agencies is worth every thing necessary for us to give in order that we might repossess and maintain them. Otherwise, will not the America of the future be devoid of the essentials that have made the America we inherited, a land of glorious promise?

Source: Elder Joseph F. Merrill
General Conference, October 1941

Topics: Free Agency; Freedom, Threats to

Public Education Not Enough

Dr. Andrew D. White, great scholar, wise diplomat, historian, and the first president of Cornell University, said many years ago that since all the republics of the past have failed, he had made a careful study for the purpose of determining whether in our republic there is any element that did not exist in those republics which have not endured. His conclusion was that the only new and outstanding characteristic of our republic is its public school system and he expressed the view that if our nation is to endure indefinitely it will be because of the broad democratic training and education in our public school system that we are giving to all the citizens of our nation.

But there are those who have strong convictions that public school education alone is not enough to preserve indefinitely and in peace, the life, the liberty and the prosperity of this our beloved country, the United States of America. Many are of the opinion that other elements are necessary. Religion, morality, righteousness! These are elements which must be factors in the make-up of any nation, it is said, if that nation is to endure indefinitely.

Experience has taught that morality is the life of a nation and religion is the life of morality. “Arming a country with guns and tanks and airplanes is not enough,” says Roger W. Babson. Selecting men for the army, the navy and the air force on physical fitness alone will not suffice. “If our defense program is to succeed,” he continues, “the entire country must experience a re-birth, for in the end, only righteousness can save a nation.”

Source: Elder Richard R. Lyman
General Conference, October 1940

Topics: Education; Government, Threats to; Morality

Coercion In Government Not The Lord’s Way

The Lord Himself has always favored government by the people. You will remember that in the days of Samuel the Prophet the Lord instructed him to let the people have whatever form of government they desired. They clamored for a dictator, a king, and because the Lord respected the right of free-will and human choice, because He recognized the right of men to govern themselves, and that it is better that humanity be self-governed, even though they are poorly governed, than to be compelled to obey even the divine law, He told the Prophet to let the people have a king, a dictator, since they insisted upon it. And the Bible tells us that after the decision of the Israelites to have a king, their dictatorial rulers wasted the substance of the people, they took away their personality and their freedom, and oppressed them with heavy taxes and other burdens. Instead of making a government for the people, as in a democracy, the people became the subjects of the dictators who did not rule for the good of the many but to bring power, wealth and idleness to a few.

Our government is founded on the principle laid down by the Lord Himself: that a man is capable of self-government. This is in harmony with the divine intent expressed by the Creator when He said:

“Let us make man in our image, after our likeness and let them have dominion . . . over all the earth.”

This important statement of man’s right and ability to rule is expressed in our Declaration of Independence thus: “Governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed.” And no doubt those forms of government in which there is an assumption to rule without the consent of those who are to be governed are responsible for that forceful expression, “Resistance to tyrants is obedience to God.”

Source: Elder Richard R. Lyman
General Conference, October 1940

Topics: Free Agency; Freedom, Loss of; Government; Government, Ideal; Taxes

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