of the stock owned, but the joint stewardship resolved to release two of its members from all debt liability and at the same time gave them a substantial part of the property of he firm. No suit was ever instituted to test the validity of this release. If the United Order were in operation today it is probable that the corporation form of organization would be made use of for business units which would be suitable for the joint stewardship, but that means would be found to preserve the equality of ownership and of control which was inherent in the joint stewardship, and which constituted, from many standpoints, so desirable a feature of it. This, it is evident, could be very easily accomplished by an equal ownership of shares of stock. In addition to the Storehouse, the United Firm, the Printing Company and the Literary Firm, that have now been considered there existed also a grist mill and some "mechanic" shops. Both "shops" and "mills" are mentioned in the Historical Record.1 Lyman Wright also includes the mill in enumerating the Jackson County losses.2 But information beyond a mere statement of their existence is not available. 1 Historical Record (Salt Lake City, 1886-90), vol. 5, No. 1, p. 3. 2 Millennial Star, vol 17, p. 435. NOTES WARD TEACHERS' WORK IN RECENT YEARS It is quite evident that the effectiveness of a teachers' organization, in making possible a solution of the charity problem within the church, rests largely on whether it functions or not. Will an unpaid teachers' organization make its visits regularly and do its work thoroughly? Under Mormon leadership, particularly in recent years, the answer is a strong affirmative. The best example of the possibilities in successful administration on a fairly large scale is found in the Oneida stake. The president of the stake1 began in 1910 to make plans for a drive on ward teachers' work. He had in mind not simply a good thorough-going effort, but no less than a 100 per cent record, on ward teachers' work throughout the entire stake, consisting of twenty-one wards, a record in administration which had never before been attained in the church and quite certainly, bearing in mind the number involved and the fact that voluntary, unpaid service was to be depended upon to do the work, had never before been equaled at any time. His intention was to make the ward teaching highly efficient and to make it the backbone of an attack on a number of church problems. The movement was duly launched under the leadership of the Stake Presidency, twelve High Counsellors and twenty-one Ward Bishoprics. The best men in each community were drafted into the teachers' work. Year by year the record mounted, but it was not until 1915 that 100 per cent was achieved. In this year, the men above mentioned, succeeded in getting the ward teachers, some 498 in number, to make their monthly visits to every family in the stake each month in the year. A population of 8274 was thus reached by personal visits at least once a month.2 This 100 per cent record has been maintained regularly each year since 1915, except in 1920 when the stake was divided and effort had to be directed to matters connected with new organization and new machinery. During this period the Oneida Stake has stood above the church average in almost everything concerning which the church keeps records. Many interesting incidents occurred during this noteworthy effort, but a narrative of such episodes, interesting as they are, would carry us far afield. No less than seven of the stakes now regularly reach the 100 per cent mark. Such a character of work in the better led stakes should not obscure the fact that the average for the whole church, thus far, while relatively high for unpaid service, and sufficiently thorough, practically everywhere to provide the Bishoprics with enough information in addition to that which their own acquaintance with the poor gives, to enable them to dispense charity on a sound basis, is, nevertheless, much lower. The following table gives the percentage records on Ward Teachers' Work for 1921, for all the stakes in the church. 1 The stake presidency consisted of Joseph S. Geddes, president; James Johnson, first counsellor; Taylor Nelson, second counsellor. 2 These figures were furnished by Walter K. Barton, formerly Stake Clerk of Oneida Stake. Mr. Barton's figures show further information as follows: PERCENTAGE OF FAMILIES VISITED BY WARD TEACHERS ACCORDING TO STAKES,1 1921 By arranging these percentages in consecutive order and by grouping them within class intervals of 5%, a frequency distribution is obtained from which a cumulative frequency may, also, readily be derived: 1 Seven out of 85 stakes achieved 100% in 1921. It will be clear, that if wards instead of stakes were to be considered the 100% record would be a larger one, for often, where a stake fails to reach 100%, a number of the wards within it do reach that mark. In 1921, out of 933 wards in the church, 144 or 15.42%, made a 100% record. See Annual Bulletin A-1921, compiled by Presiding Bishop's Office. Little is to be gained from this irregular and limited data by the use of such refined measurements as the standard deviation and the probable error. It will be observed that there are four groups of percentages, 4044.99, 65-69.99, 80-84.99, and 95-100, that are achieved by either ten or eleven stakes in each case. Between each of these concentrations there is a marked falling off. This multi modal tendency is probably due to the fact that only the results of a single year are here tabulated. The efforts of the church leaders on ward teachers' work has very greatly influenced the higher percentages. Apparently there are quite a number of stakes that have not been converted to the importance of teachers' work, and have not been much influenced by the recent efforts of the church along that line. The considerable number which have been pushed up to the 100% group, have, it would appear, been drawn from the "average" stakes, for there is a much smaller concentration close to the Mean (64.08%) than is found in the Normal Curve. CHAPTER IX AN EARLY EFFORT AT CITY PLANNING Having located and laid the foundation of what was expected to grow into the world's first city, it was but natural for Joseph Smith, Sidney Rigdon and Frederick G. Williams, who constituted the First Presidency of the church, to turn their attention upon plans for the building of the city. The first two years had been devoted to buying lands, providing shelter, etc. By mid-year of 1833, it was deemed time to begin to build along permanent lines in harmony with a definite design. The first sections of the plan which had been devised for the City of Zion were published in the July, 1833, number of the Evening and Morning Star, which, it will be recalled, was the last number printed in Independence. These plans would be of theoretical interest only, since they were not put into effect, if it were not for the fact that they served as a basis for the building of numerous towns and cities in the West later on.1 An explanation of the plot for the City of Zion is found in two letters from the Presidency, dated June 24 and 25, 1833, from which the following extracts are taken: This plot contains one mile square, all the squares of the plot contain ten acres each, being forty rods square. You will observe that the lots are laid off alternately in the squares; in one square running from the south and north to the line through the center of the square; and in the next, the lots run from the east and west to the center line. Each lot is four perches in front, and twenty back, making one half an acre in each lot, so that no one street will be built on, entirely through the street, but, one square the houses will stand on one street; and on the next one, another, except the middle range of squares, which runs north and south, in which range are the painted squares. The lots are laid off in these squares north and south, all of them; because these squares are forty perches by sixty, being twenty perches longer than the other, their greatest length being east and west, and by running all these squares, north and south, it makes all the lots in the city, of one size. The painted squares in the middle are for public buildings. The one without any figures is for storehouses for the bishop, and to be devoted to his use. Figure first, is for temples for the use of the Presidency; the circles inside of the square, are the plans for the temple. You will see it contains twelve figures; two are for the temple of the lesser priesthood. It is also to contain twelve temples. The whole plot is supposed to contain from fifteen to twenty thousand people; you will, therefore, see that it will require twenty-four buildings to supply them with houses of worship, schools, etc. and none of these temples are to be 1 Roberts,History of the Mormon Church, Americana, vol. 5, June, 1910, p. 599 2 Times and Seasons, vol. 6, pp. 785-87. |