THE LATTER-DAY SAINTS A FREE PEOPLE. We will now present before the conference the names of the general authorities of the Church, with the earnest desire that all the members of the Church present, who by reason of their good standing before the Lord are entitled to the privilege, will express their will according to the God-given agency that every man in the world enjoys, and which is not lessened, but rather increased, in all those who have made covenant with God by sacrifice and through obedience to the principles of the gospel. The freedom of the Latter-day Saints has never been curtailed nor lessened one whit by their becoming members of the Church of Christ. Rather has it been enlarged. There are no freer people upon the face of the earth today than the Latter-day Saints. They are bound to the Church by no ties or strings, but by their own conviction of the truth. And whenever a man makes up his mind that he has had enough of what is called "Mormonism," all he has to do is to make it known, and we will sever the bond that unites him with the body and let him go his own way, only bearing toward him the feeling of sympathy and true brotherly kindness, and wishing him still the mercies of God. We will cry, "Father, have mercy upon him," because he knows not what he is doing. For when a man denies the truth, when he departs from the right way, when he rejects the right of God to counsel in the affairs of men, he is either ignorant or wilfully wicked, and it only excites our pity for him. As the Savior cried upon the cross, so we will cry in the same spirit, Father, forgive him; have mercy upon him; for he knows not what he does. {59} Therefore, we expect only those to vote at this time who are members of the Church in good standing, but all such we do expect to vote, according to their own free will, whether it be yea or nay. However, we wish it distinctly understood that no question upon these matters will be discussed in this conference; for this is not the place to discuss questions of difference or of feeling that we may possess one towards another. Still we can manifest our approval or our disapproval by the uplifted hand; and if there are any disapprovals, we will have them heard and adjusted later on, but not here.--_Oct. C. R.,_ 1903, p. 84.