IV. In the event of any steward needing means to improve his stewardship, or for any other righteous purpose, he has a claim upon the Lord's store-house, and so long as he is in full fellowship with the church, and is a wise and faithful steward, on application to the treasurer of the general fund, he is to be supplied with that which he needs; the treasurer, of course, being accountable to the church for his management of the general fund, and subject to removal in the event of incompetency or transgression.[74] V. Each steward is independent in the management of his stewardship. He must pay for that which he buys; he can insist on payment for that which he sells. He has no claim upon the stewardship of his neighbor; his neighbor has no claim upon his stewardship; but both have claim, as also have their children--when they shall become of age and start in life for themselves[75]--upon the surplus in the Lord's store-house to aid them in the event of their needing assistance.[76] The various churches, or branches of the church, are each to be independent in the management of their respective store-houses,[77] subject of {325} course to a general supervision of the presiding bishop of the church and of the first presidency thereof. 11. Reflections.--Such is the law of consecration and stewardship given to the church as early as the first and second year of its existence in this last dispensation; under which law, and under no other, the Saints are to build up the Zion of God, the New Jerusalem upon this continent.[78] The law is designated to humble the rich and the proud and raise the poor and the lowly,[79] that men might be equal in temporal possessions according to their families, their circumstances, their wants and their needs.[80] There is enough in the earth and more than enough[81] to supply the necessities and the reasonable luxuries desired by man if the wealth created by his industry was but more equally distributed. The plan which the Lord has revealed to accomplish this, however, does not aim at the destruction of the individuality of men. It makes no attempt to control men in the detail management of their stewardships, or the disposal of their time, or to set taskmasters over them, but only to control and dispose of the surplus arising from their labors in the management of their respective stewardships.