Religion: Something in the Sock

One of Florida’s largest landowners last week agreed to shell out $3,700,000 for the choice 42,000-acre Rudolphus Keene cattle ranch along the Saint Johns River. The buyer, whose holdings of Florida cattle land now total 360,000 acres: the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The huge ranch operation and the Mormons’ dozens of other bustling business ventures − including a Hawaiian sugar plantation, cattle ranches in western Canada, two insurance companies and 72 buildings in downtown Salt Lake City −reflect the strong tradition of communal ownership begun in Utah no years ago. The Mormons (membership: nearly 1,500,000) have been criticized for their church’s intense participation in business. Mormon leaders reply that the church’s earnings provide for its needy, and that by Mormon tradition large stores of supplies are kept in reserve in case of disaster.