In Helaman 3:20, Mormon had noted that Helaman was a good ruler, and that “he did observe to keep the statutes, and the judgments, and the commandments of God.” Because he did that, “he did prosper in the land.”
In verses 24–26, Mormon provides evidence of that prospering in the land. The most important part of prospering was keeping commandments, for that fulfilled the covenant of the land that allowed the people to prosper. Therefore, the definition Mormon offers of prospering is that “blessings … were poured out upon the people,” and “the Lord did prosper unto the baptizing and uniting to the church of God, many souls, yea, even tens of thousands.”
In spite of this, however, Mormon doesn’t want his readers to lose track of the work he had done to introduce the Gadianton Robbers and the land northward. Therefore, in verse 23 he noted that they had “continual peace, … all save it were the secret combinations which Gadianton the robber had established in the more settled parts of the land.”
It is of interest that those secret combinations were “established in the more settled parts of the land.” This suggests that the Gadianton combinations were the result of the more cosmopolitan aspects of the large cities, which could be involved in more long-distance trade than the more rural areas that were undoubtedly more focused on farming.