The problem is that you, as Bob, have only asserted that this was enough time for adequate improvement to justify Joseph Smith's statement. Neither of you have provided
to support this assertion.
Going back to how Joseph Smith induced the saints to settle on the land that, in his view, would lead to mortality, this article from the Times and Seasons provides information:
"TRUTH WILL PREVAIL."
Vol. 2. No. 24.
City of Nauvoo, Illinois, October 15, 1841.
Whole No. 36.
Times and Seasons, Vol.2, No.24, p.567
AN EPISTLE OF THE TWELVE,
Most of the plats in this city before referred to, as well as several farms and large lots of land in this and the adjoining counties are paid for, and are secured to the church by good and sufficient titles; while the town plat for the Town of Warren near Warsaw is secured on such conditions that the brethren can be accommodated with lots on very reasonable terms; but the large plat in Nauvoo purchased of Messrs. Hotchkiss, Tuttle & Co. of New Haven, Conn., remains unpaid for, and the time has now arrived, when it is very desirable on the part of the church as well as on the part of the gentlemen of whom it was purchased, that payment should be made and a warrantee title secured; to accomplish which we have been called upon by the united voice of the General Conference to address the churches in the eastern states to advise with the brethren in those regions, and devise ways and means whereby this debt may be liquidated, Hotchkiss & Co. satisfied, the plot secured to the church, and the brethren in the east at the same time transfer their real estate from the place where it now is, to this city or region of country according to their desire.
The contract for the "Hotchkiss purchase" in Nauvoo, consisting of upwards of five hundred acres, was entered into on, or about the 9th of August 1839, for the specified sum of fifty three thousand five hundred dollars, and security was given to Messrs. H. R. Hotchkies, Smith Tuttle, and John Gillet, for the amount of the same in two notes of equal amount one payable in ten years, and the other in twenty years from the date thereof signed by Messrs. Hyrum Smith, Joseph Smith, and Sidney Rigdon. In August last, interest to the amount of six thousand dollars, or upwards, had accumulated on said notes which it has not been in the power of the church to pay up to the present time. The nature of this purchase and the situation of the church is such, that it is necessary that the note should be takea warrantee title secured immediatein progress with Messrs. Hotchkies & Co. to effect this thing, and bring forward a final settlement.
But, say you, what can we do to accomplish this great and desirable object: Let the brethren in the eastern states, who have lands which they wish to dispose of, so that they may remove hither and secure to themselves an inheritance among the saints, either in the cities or farms in the vicinity, and are willing to have their lands in the east made over to Messrs. Hotchkies & Co. towards the payment of the foregoing notes, communicate with us immediately, at this place, stating to us the extent and value of their property. Then as soon as we shall have received communications concerning property sufficient to cancel the obligations, and the necessary preliminaries are understood with Messrs. Hotchkies & Co., we will dispatch an agent to New Haven, to complete the negotiation, transfer your property, take up the notes, and secure a deed; and those whose property is thus transferred can have the value thereof here, in city lots, or lands in the vicinity; and thus your property will prove to you as good as money, inasmuch as you desire to emigrate, and you will no longer be obliged to tarry afar off, because that money is so scarce you cannot sell and get your pay. If there are those among you, to whom God has given in abundance, and they desire to appropriate some portion thereof for the benefit of his people; for the redemption of Zion; for a blessing to the widows of those who have been slain for the word of God, and been buried in a well, for a sustenance to their fatherless children, and provide for them a habitation, they cannot do it more effectually than by devoting a portion of their sustenance towards liquidating this claim.
To those brethren who live so far distant that they cannot send in their loaded teams, and yet desire to assist in building the Lord's House, we would say, gather yourselvbstance, your silver, and gold, and apparel and of your superabundae Lord and see if be will not pour you out a blessing till there is not room enough to receive it.
Brethren the blessings of the kingdom are for you, for the body of Christ, for all the members, and God will help those who will help themselves, and bless those who will bless each other, and do as they would be done unto. The gold and the silver is the Lords; all the treasures of the earth, the flocks and the herds of the fields and the cattle of the thousand hills are his; if he were hungry would he crave thy food, or thirsty would he ask thy drink? Nay! he would only ask that which was his own, he would feast on his own flocks and quench his thirst at his own springs. This God is the God of the saints, he is your God, and he has made you stewards of all that has been committed to you, and will require his own with usury; and will you not be faithful in a little that you may be made rulers over many cities? Yes, you will, we know you will.
The journeyings and gatherings, and buildings of the saints are nothing new, and as they are expecting, looking and praying for the completion of the dispensation of the fullness of times, they must also expect that their progress will be onward or they will be of no avail, for what is not of faith is sin, and can you believe that God will hear your prayers, and bring you on your journey, gather you, and build your houses, and you not put forth one hand or make one exertion to help yourselves? No! therefore inasmuch as the saints believe that father Abraham journeyed to a distant land, at the command of the Highest, where himself and household, (whose household we are, if we keep the commandments,) might enjoy the fruits of their labors unmolested, and worship the God of heaven according to the dictates of their own conscience and his law. That his seed afterwards gathered to Canaan, the Land of Promise; that David was commanded to build a house where the Son of Man might have a place to lay his head, and the disciples be endued w with one accord in one place; they must also believe that this dispensation comprehends all the great works of all former dispensations; and that the children must gather as did the fathers, must build a house, where they may be endued, and be found together worshipping and doing as their fathers did, when Jehovah spake and the angels of heaven ministered unto them; and if these things are not in this generation then we have not arrived at the dispensation of the fullness of times as we anticipate and our faith and prayers are vain.
Is it possible that we labor in vain, and toil for nought, and that we shall be disappointed at the last? No! we know assuredly that the set time to favor Zion has come, and her sons and daughters shall rejoice in her glory. The time has come when the great Jehovah would have a resting place on earth, a habitation for his chosen, where his law shall be revealed, and his servants be enduer the honest in heart from the four winds; where the saints may enter the Baptismal Font for their dead relations, so that they may be judged according to men in the flesh, and live according to God in the spirit, and come forth in the celestial kingdom; a place, over which the heavenly messengers may watch and trouble the waters as in days of old, so that when the sick are put therein they shall be made whole; a place where all the ordinances shall be made manifest and the saints shall unite in the songs of Zion, even praise, thanksgiving and hallelujahs to God and the Lamb, that he has wrought out their deliverance, and bound satan fast in chains.
What then shall we do? Let us all arise and with one united and mighty exertion, by the strength of Israel's God, oppose the powers of darkness, and every being and principle that may rise up against us, and complete the work already commenced. Let us not for a moment lend an ear to evil and designing men, who would subvert the truth, and blacken the character of the servant of the Most High God, by publishiniching himself on the spoils of the brethren. When Br. Joseph stated to the general conference the amount and situation of the property of the church, of which he is trustee in trust by the united voice of the church, he also stated the amount of his own possessions on earth; and what do you think it was? we will tell you; his old Charley horse, given him in Kirtland; two pet deer; two old turkeys, and four young ones; the old cow given him by a brother in Missouri, his old Major, dog; his wife, children, and a little household furniture, and this is the amount of the great possessions of that man whom God has called to lead his people in these last days; this the sum total of the great estates, the splendid mansions and noble living of him who has spent a life of toil and suffering, of privation and hardships, of imprisonments and chains, of dungeons and vexatious suits, and every kind of contumely could heap upon him, and last of all report him as rolling in wealth and luxury which he had plundered from the spoils of those for whose good he had thus toiled and suffered. Who would be willing to suffer what he has suffered, and labor near twenty years as he has done, for the wealth he is in possession of?
Brethren, in view of all these things let us be up and doing. Let those in the eastern states use all diligence in communicating to us their ability to assist in the Hotchkiss payment, being assured that no exertion they can make, will equal what has already been made for them and the church generally; and let all the saints come up to the places of gathering, and with their mites and their abundance as God has given them in trust, help to build up the old waste places which have been thrown down for many generations, knowing, that when they are completed, they will belong unto the people of the Most High God, even the meek, the honest in heart, he shall possess all things in the due time of the Lord. Be not covetous, but deal in righteousness, for what the saints shall not posseghteousness they shall not possess for no unrighteous thing can enter into the kingdom; therefore, beloved brethren, deal justly, love mercy, walk humbly before God, and whatever your hands find to do, do it with your might, keeping all commandments, and then, whether in life or in death, all things will be yours, whether they be temples or lands, houses or vineyards, baptisms or endowments, revelations or healings, all things will be yours, for you will be Christ's and Christ is God's.
I think this is the answer to my question, and it's certainly what I suspected. The inducement Joseph Smith was offering was his religious persuasion.
In regards to Bennett - without supporting evidence, I take everything he says with a grain of salt, due to his lack of character. I know that some of his statements were, in fact, accurate, and he may have been stating the truth as far as he understood it in this respect, but he demonstrates willingness to alter the truth when he suits him. And at this period, what suited him was pleasing Joseph.