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...