Mormons Off Relief

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon), of which shrewd old Heber Jedediah Grant is Prophet, Seer & Revelator, owns sugar-beet fields, banks, hotels, the oldest U. S. department store (Zion's Cooperative Mercantile Institution, Salt Lake City). During Depression, however, Mormons felt the pinch like everyone else. By this year 88,000 of the Church's 638,000 members were on relief rolls. Last month the Mormon First Presidency, whose absolute head is Heber Grant, resolved to take the indigent Saints off relief by next Jan. 1. Revealed last week were full details of the Church's plan, which will cost $1,000,000 a year, involve no administration expenses, thus result in much greater savings to such states as Utah, Idaho, California, Nevada, Wyoming.

Some Mormon unemployed will be put to work on fertile but fallow acreage to raise beets and truck crops for refineries and canneries, the profits to be distributed to the needy in cash and kind. Other jobless Mormons will be put to work on a church-building program, cost of which will be shared between localities and a national Mormon fund. This fund is to be swelled by contributions from solvent Mormons who will be expected to abstain from at least two meals on one Sunday each month (minimum estimated cost: 5-c- per meal). Mormons who have been slack about tithing 10% of income to their Church will be prodded into action.

Fortnight ago the Mormons of Southern California, in conference assembled, became so enthusiastic about the plan that they resolved to get their members off relief by the end of the summer.

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