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STAR OF THE WEST
PUBLISHED NINETEEN TIMES A YEAR
In the Interest of the BAHAI MOVEMENT
By the BAHAI NEWS SERVICE, 515 South Dearborn Street, Chicago, Ill., U. S. A.
Publishers: ALBERT R. WINDUST—GERTRUDE BUIKEMA—DR. ZIA M. BAGDADI
Entered as second-class matter April 9, 1911, at the post office at Chicago, Ill., under the Act of March 3, 1879.
Terms: $2.50 per year; 15 cents per copy.
Make Money Orders Payable to BAHAI NEWS SERVICE, P. O. Box 283, Chicago, Ill., U. S. A.
To personal checks please add sufficient to cover the bank exchange.
Address all communications to BAHAI NEWS SERVICE, P. O. Box 283, Chicago, Ill., U.S.A.
WORDS OF ABDUL-BAHA.
"Great importance must be given to the development of the STAR OF THE WEST. The circle of its discussion must be widened; in its columns must be published the essential problems pertaining to the Bahai life in all its phases. Its contents must be so universal that even the strangers may subscribe to it. Articles must be published, dealing with the universal principles of the Cause, the writers proving that this Cause takes a vital interest in all the social and religious movements of the age and is conducive to the progress of the world and its inhabitants. In short, the STAR OF THE WEST must promote the aspirations and the ideals that will gather little by little around these general Tablets, bringing into the light of day all the historical, religious and racial knowledge which will be of the utmost value to the Bahai teachers all over the world."
From Unveiling of the Divine Plan.
| Vol. 10 | CONTENTS | No. 16 |
| PAGE | |
Abdul-Baha and Pilgrims on Mt. Carmel | |
| Photograph taken summer of 1919. | |
Bahai Pilgrims | |
| By MRS. J. S. STANNARD. | |
The Meeting of the East and the West | |
| Address by CHARLES MASON REMEY. | |
The Solution of the Economic and Industrial Problem | |
| Address by ALFRED E. LUNT. |
NOTE—The return of Dr. Zia M. Bagdadi to the Holy Land and the traveling of Mirza Ahmad Sohrab throughout the Western States of the United States of America, has temporarily made it impossible for us to publish the Persian section. We trust it will soon reappear, and that our Persian friends will be patient with us until then.
--PHOTO--
ABDUL-BAHA AND PILGRIMS ON MT. CARMEL
| Photograph taken summer 1919 | See article on following page |
"We desire but the good of the world and the happiness of the nations; that all nations shall become one in faith and all men as brothers; that the bonds of affection and unity between the sons of men shall be strengthened, that diversity of religion shall cease and differences of race be annulled. So it shall be; these fruitless strifes; these ruinous wars shall pass away, and the 'Most Great Peace' shall come."—BAHA'O'LLAH.
| Vol. 10 | Sharaf 1, 75 (December 31, 1919) | No. 16 |
SOME thirty years ago there started from a small devastated village of Sisan, Persia, a group of travelers, poor and helpless, on a long, uncertain journey to the "land of desire," their "door of hope," the city of Acca, Palestine. They came on foot, two donkeys carrying their luggage, braving every danger and suffering every toil. They carried throughout the long distance an earthen pot containing a narcissus in flower as a present to BAHA'O'LLAH. When near the end of their wearisome journey and the city of the verdant plains of Acca unfolded to their sight, all sufferings were in a twinkling forgotten as they viewed the mansion which marked the limit of their destination. Yet it was with swollen, blistered feet that they attained the gate, and finally prostrated at the feet of the Blessed Perfection, depositing
Editors of THE STAR OF THE WEST:
When visiting Abdul-Baha in Haifa, Nov. 2nd to 12th, 1919, Shoghi Rabbani gave us this group picture of the Master and the pilgrims who had spent six months journeying to reach the Holy Land where dwelt the one to whom their faces are turned, the Center of the Covenant, Abdul-Baha.
Mrs. Stannard of England, now living in Cairo, gave me the enclosed article written by her for the readers of the STAR OF THE WEST. It was our blessed privilege to meet a number of these faithful friends and to see the fire of their intense love for the Bahai Cause.
Corinne True.
their humble floral offering as they knelt. With what showers of blessing and favors were they not rewarded! Their gift accepted they knew that in His sight it meant more than untold gold or costly presents that kings might offer, for it was the expression of love and sacrifice. While BAHA'O'LLAH testified His appreciation, the pilgrims pleaded in low tones for His blessing, continually repeating: "Make me to be Thy sacrifice, redeem and save my soul." Abdul-Baha alone could talk with them in their own native dialect, but they spoke eloquently in the deep language of the heart.
This impressive incident, related by Abdul-Baha to his followers, can find a parallel in the narrative of some recently arrived pilgrims from Persia, via Bushire and Bombay. Some had started on a long and trying journey four or five months previously. Many obstacles were continually met and dangers averted, delays and severe restrictions, exorbitant fees with wretched accommodation, and difficulties of transport they cheerfully endured. Not least among the miseries of their material conditions were those of sea journeys due to the monsoon season. Twenty days on tumultuous seas, many passed four days without food, drinking only a little water and vomiting blood. Having safely reached Egypt one unique disappointment was still in store for them. The steamer on which they had transshipped for Haifa from Port Said, reached Haifa bay and when in sight of Mt. Carmel, suddenly, to their stupefaction,
changed its course and steamed ahead without stopping. As they passed Acca and viewed the stretch of trees behind the city, the roof of the holy and blessed Tomb became visible and when the pilgrims became aware of this, their long pent up emotions could no longer be restrained and, weeping and sighing convulsively, they gathered together and prayed for very joy!
A short quarantine stay in Beyrout was lived through, and when at length these weary faithful ones were finally ushered into the presence of Abdul-Baha, scenes of inexpressible joy were witnessed at the meeting, some of the younger members gazing on his face for the first time in their lives.
THE STORY OF LITTLE RAHBAR
(The Guided)
A happening of special interest transpiring during the journey, through Persia, of these faithful souls, should not remain unrecorded, revealing as it does evidences of that unseen protection which they declare never failed them throughout these difficult times.
The little company included seven women, ladies of courage and refinement who, in some cases were near relatives of those great martyrs of the past when Babis and Bahais were considered legitimate objects for torture and death. The faces of these women shine with the spiritual joy of their convictions, and their bearing expresses the serenity of a noble faith. With them, as with all true Bahais, faith and knowledge are sure and inseparable factors in their lives.
One morning during busy household hours, I came upon them in an outer courtyard surrounding a low circular table on which heaps of corn lay piled. On this grain they worked, each on her separate share sifting and sorting out impurities and stones from the wheat. Typically oriental and cheery was the scene as, with heads draped in glistening white muslin that fell over the shoulders, they bent over their work conversing in low tones. As I seated myself nearby watching the play of deft hands, my eyes fell upon a young mother and her newly born babe. The wee chap was gaily swaddled in vivid silks of handwoven texture and sat on his mother's left arm as her right busied itself with the grain sorting.
Absorbed in watching them both I heard someone say, "He was born on the way." And I then heard the story of how little Rahbar, the "Guided," as he had been wonderfully named by Abdul-Baha, came and lived to make his first pilgrimage with his parents and visit the Holy Threshold.
Little "Guided" was compelled to make his entry into the world of men when conditions were none too promising; they were a day's march from beyond Shiraz, in a sparsely inhabited country. It had not been foreseen when the travelers started that the going would take months and not so many calculated weeks; so now little Rahbar's mother had to be carried in a special basket, a kajaveh, on the back of a mule till her hour should come. When this became evident our pilgrims halted the caravan and consulted how to settle this matter for the best. A small habitation being seen in the distance, some walked to make inquiry and found a woman at the door who after hearing their request opened it and offered accommodation. But on viewing the interior quarters it was decided that it was neither sufficiently clean nor convenient and hearing that something better might be procurable further on, they walked to a house of pleasing aspect, where again a woman seemed waiting for them, who to their amazed joy declared herself to be an expert midwife! The surroundings were suitable, a running stream passed close by, trees were near and all seemed providentially ready. Thankfully, they dismounted while an adjacent room of canvas was speedily rigged up for the reception of the coming guest. One remaining obstacle, however, had still to be overcome, namely,
the head mule-owner of the caravan who, when he heard that a three days' halt was proposed, flew into a rage, declaring he could not consent and demanded extortionate terms for every hour of unnecessary delay. No arguments apparently prevailing, he left them to round up his animals while they debated in perplexity together. To their surprise he did not return soon and when at last a highly crest-fallen man appeared it was to say that his best mule had run away, how or when was a mystery! With apologies he begged to go and resume his search, for search he must till the beast be found! Our mother and her babe were left in grateful peace and gladly availed themselves of the repose both were so much in need; anxiety and fears were now greatly allayed as they thanked the Blessed One in their hearts who had sent such timely help in their distress. Pleasing, indeed, is it to relate that three full days elapsed during which our pilgrims rested ere the irate muleteer returned with his missing animal expressing regrets and apologies. How neatly had tables been turned and the responsibility shifted onto rightful shoulders! Although by no means a robust woman, Rahbar's mother felt sufficiently recovered to resume the journey, and although forced once or twice to walk up steep inclines she arrived well at the next stage. Not until then was milk or other comforts procurable.
Consider then, ye western mothers, how great was the spirit of love and faith which upheld this young Persian woman to bear without fear or suffering a frail babe under such primitive conditions, through monsoon storms and on turbulent seas till they arrived at the gate of the Beloved's house and rested weary heads under the shadow of his roof! No wonder little "Guided," felt elated as he blinked sleepy eyes at me on that memorable morning, for had he not done his best, too, to make things easier all around. His mother had looked at him with quiet certainty. He and she understood one another for they knew that God had watched over their perilous way to "the door of hope" and to "His green pastures" in safety. All was well with the little flock.
Address by CHARLES MASON REMEY of Washington, D. C., delivered at the Seventh Session of the Bahai Congress at Hotel McAlpin, New York City, Tuesday evening, April 29th, 1919.
Stenographically reported.DEAR Friends: In all of our meetings, the one great object of the Bahai Cause stands out above all other things, and that is the spiritual unity of the people, of all people, of all humanity, which this Cause plants in our hearts. It is a spiritual power emanating from the great heart and center of this movement, Abdul-Baha. There are many phases of unity in the Bahai Cause and the phase that we are to consider for a few moments is "The Meeting of the East and the West." It seems to be a very timely moment for us to consider this subject for a world federation of nations is uppermost in the minds of the thinking people. Up to the present time very little has been reported in the newspapers regarding the meeting of the East and the West as an important phase of the federation of nations now being discussed in Europe, yet we have known from the very first that the Bahai Cause lays great stress upon the meeting of the East and the West.
A very well known writer has written, "East is East and West is West and ne'er the twain shall meet." Yet we are seeing, in the light of this great Cause, that idea does not hold any
longer. This is a new age. That which I have just quoted proceeds from the old order, and in this new and glorious age of which we are now upon the threshold, we are quitting the ideas of the old and giving way to a new age of oneness and unity, and perhaps the greatest phase of that is the unity of the East and the West, of the Orient and the Occident.
The Orient is the mother of the human race, so to speak. It was from the Orient that the first great religious movements and civilization moved out over the world westward. It was from the Orient that the Christ and the prophets gave their great messages of truth, and from her shores that their disciples embarked to carry these messages of glad tidings to all parts of the world. I sometimes think that we do not realize in the West that its religion, Christianity, came from the Orient; that the Savior Jesus Christ was an Oriental, and that we are indebted to the Orient for all the religion that has ever come into the world.
In some of Abdul-Baha's talks he has brought this out very beautifully, explaining how this fire of the love of God has always appeared first in the East and then has gone forth and wrought great civilizations, illuminating the world with advancement and culture. And now at this time, in this age, another great spiritual Messenger has appeared in the Orient, bringing a universal message to the whole world, bringing that light which has been promised to come in these latter days, promised in all the religions and in all the Holy Books. It is indeed a blessed privilege that we have been informed of this great Cause.
It has been my privilege to travel quite extensively in the Orient at various times. I will never forget my first experience in an Oriental country. It was in Port Said, Egypt. Port Said, as you know, is the northern entrance of the Suez Canal—that great thoroughfare of traffic between the East and the West. The canal is a channel through which ships of all nations pass going east and going west, and in the city of Port Said you meet a heterogeneous mass, an emulsion of humanity, Oriental and Occidental, speaking all languages, people of all religions, of all races; heterogeneous because they are not united. And it was there at Port Said I had the great privilege of first meeting some of the Oriental Bahai teachers, Mirza Abul Fazl and others well known to you. In the meetings which they were holding one found a perfect harmony and unity between these different elements of the East and West. All of the friends from the West who have gone to the East have been greatly impressed by this wonderful atmosphere and love which is generated by the Bahai Cause in the hearts of Orientals and Occidentals and which is uniting them in this very firm bond of brotherhood.
We know that for centuries there has been a certain mixing of the East and the West, but it has not been a spiritual mixing, it has not been a spiritual unity. The Western world, the nations of Europe, have gone into the East and controlled many governments of the East, yet up to the present time there has been no real fusion or unity. As Abdul-Baha once said, the East and West must meet like brothers [illustrating] and that is the particular function of this Bahai Movement.
There is a certain fire of religious zeal which we find in the Oriental which we need in the Occidental world. I sometimes marvel at the amount of good which is done here in the West in the name of religion with such a very small amount of real religious fire and enthusiasm behind it. When we go to the Orient, we find that the people there are ablaze with this spiritual fire, a fire which will move the world. That very element in the nature of the average Oriental which makes him a fanatic if he be not yet spiritually awakened, when
his heart is once touched by the love of God, makes him the greatest friend to the people of other religions. That is one of the things which impresses one as he goes into the Bahai world of the Orient. He finds that those who were formerly Mohammedans and Zoroasterians or of other religions, who were formerly fanatical and disliked the people of the West, when they have been touched by the spiritual fire of the Bahai Movement, are ready and willing to sacrifice their lives for their brothers and sisters of the West; and really it has been through their great sacrifice in those Oriental countries, particularly in Persia, that we are now able to sit here at our ease and receive this great teaching. For you know the fires of persecution and opposition have burned so brightly in the East that at times in the early days of this Cause it seemed as if the very Cause itself would be exterminated; but as the blood of the martyrs has always been as seed to spread religion, so it has been in this day. It has been this type of the love of God born in the hearts of the Oriental Bahais that made them withstand all persecutions and trials. It was through such sacrifices that the Cause gained its great impetus in the East and was later brought to the West, and that we are now able to receive it, as I say, seated at our ease; whereas, in those Oriental countries it was with the greatest difficulties, under the greatest privations and tribulations that the Cause first received its impetus.
Therefore, I think it would be well for us, as we go forth from this gathering, to realize and to take into our hearts the thought that before the great world civilization, the great unity of all nations, can come, this coming together of the East and the West must be realized. We must come together as one people. This of course can only come through the spiritual fusion of the East with the West, and that is the one great message which the Bahai Cause brings: The oneness of the world of humanity, the complete harmony, the complete oneness of all peoples, East and West.
Allaho'Abha!
Address by ALFRED E. LUNT of Boston, delivered at the Seventh Session of The Bahai Congress at Hotel McAlpin, New York City, Tuesday evening,
April 29th, 1919. Stenographically reported.TODAY from all parts of the world, from every corner and nativity, we hear the moans of the widows, the cries of the fatherless; the anguish of the suffering, the poor and the unfortunate, has arisen to such a degree that the flame of revolution in the social, the industrial and economic fields of humanity is well-high sweeping the whole globe. We should not dwell in a false security, ignorant of that which is in process. His Holiness Abdul-Baha, when in America in 1912, clearly stated these events. He stated, among other things, that except the great divine remedy which has been brought to humanity today for the purpose of quelling this revolutionary rage shall be exercised, the world will inevitably pass through a condition most perilous, most dangerous, most destructive. He said one other thing, and he has reiterated this saying so frequently that it seems to me to have a distinct bearing upon this great subject.
You all recall, or many of you recall, his statement concerning the human soul, that it is capable of two flights, one upward towards the very throne of the divine, one downward into the mire and clay of the contingent world. That mankind, the noblest of the creation, the royal falcon of the skies of heaven, has so besmeared himself with the mire and
O ye apostles of BAHA'O'LLAH—May my life be a ransom to you!
. . . . Similarly, the Magazine, the STAR OF THE WEST, must be edited in the utmost regularity, but its contents must be the promulgator of the Cause of God—so that both in the East and the West, they may become informed with the most important events.
Editorial Staff: ALBERT R. WINDUST—GERTRUDE BUIKEMA—DR. ZIA M. BAGDADI
| Vol. 10 | Sharaf 1, 75 (December 31, 1919) | No. 16 |
clay of disobedience to God, of selfish purpose, of acquisition of wealth, of isolation from his neighbor, of ignorance of God, that the bird of his soul has become ensnared in this mud of disobedience. This is the water and clay symbolically expressing the contingent world.
Have you ever thought of the meaning of that really dread term, the contingent world; the contingent world, the world of corruption and generation, the world of composition and decomposition? The very meaning of the word, contingent is that it is dependent upon something else. By itself it is non-existent; it is in a constant state of flux; it is the world of darkness and duality. In the contingent world the law of duality has its full sway. In the worlds of God, praise be to God, the law of contrast and duality is extinguished. In the great orb of the sun, if we imagine life there, there is no night, it is always day. But in this contingent world in which we dwell, duality and the requirements of duality exist; here are the great contrasts of darkness and light, selfishness and love, of life and death. The great tidal movements in the world are, themselves, dual and contrasted. How wonderfully Tennyson has expressed this in his poem "Crossing the Bar:"
- "But such a tide that moving seems asleep,
- Too full for sound or foam,
- When that which drew from out the boundless deep
- Turns again home."
That tide that drew from out the boundless deep, and thus returns from whence? From that remote place to which it has hastened in response to the great law of its being, the law of opposites in the world of mortality. In this world, the soul of man which is drawn from out the boundless deep, from the bosom of God, begins its return journey to Him, if perchance it heeds His call, but in the worlds of God there is only one movement, one return-flow; there is no longer involution as in this world and the lower kingdoms, but conscious evolution towards Him who is the origin and the return.
So the law of the contingent is the law of savagery; it is what has been called by Abdul-Baha the rapacious law of nature which holds in its clutch even humanity itself. Today nine-tenths of our beings, through disobedience to the divine law, have become ensnared in the claws of nature, and unless the divine power which has entered the world shall lift up this bird of humanity, shall cleanse its wings of the mire and clay so that it may fly in the high atmosphere of devotion and obedience, then only destruction can be looked for for the entire race. This is the beginning of a cycle when that great mystery of God is being accomplished. The appearance of BAHA'O'LLAH marked the entrance into this world of that divine power through which all mankind may be uplifted.
Coming now to the subject of the evening. Among the requirements of the
contingent world is one which lies at the very seat of economic difficulties. It is called the law of the "survival of the fittest;" this law is inexorable, it is merciless, it overcomes everything which assumes to stand in its way, it is the car of the Juggernaut, and in its course mankind is as a pygmy. How well I recall that splendid old professor, N. S. Shaler of Harvard, when he said to us in one of his lectures, as a means of protest or amelioration of the inexorable character of this law of survival which was first mentioned by the great scientist Charles Darwin,—that there is another pre-eminent law in this world of creation, the esthetic law, the law of beauty, and he gave us this illustration. He referred to the Irish elk, an extinct animal which ages ago lived in what is now Ireland. This great animal developed through the natural law of esthetic beauty the most wonderful antlers. These antlers developed through the process of the ages until they were the most beautiful antlers of any animal in the world. They have been found in fossil condition, and it is known that they grew to that degree of beauty and size that the great elk in running through the forests caught his antlers in the high branches of the trees and tore them off. Thus he became extinct. The whole species perished by bleeding to death. This animal became extinct because in the contingent world he found himself in the clutches of the law of destruction, so that we see there is no escape in the animal realm from this; even the law of selective beauty did not save him. Although its traces appear in this world as a foreshadowing of the reality of the beauty of God, yet it also, encompassed by the dominating power of the natural law of survival of the fittest, became the agency of his destruction. Likewise there is no escape for mankind if he remain in these clutches.
There is another great law, a great intangible law, called by the economists the law of "supply and demand." This also is a law of duality, supply and demand, ebb and flow, and in the face of this law, mankind in the industrial sense has been helpless from the dawn of history. Man has tried for centuries by various measures of legislation and the enactment of statutes to overcome or modify this law, but without any measure of success.
Today, we witness various attempts in the legislatures of the world, especially in this country, to blunt the sharp instrument of that law,—old-age pensions, minimum wage laws, have been devised which it is believed will result in ameliorating the conditions occasioned by the application of this greater law, but they are not adapted to the seriousness of the disease. The old age pension law is only the faintest trace of the divine remedy which has been given us today for the solution of sociological needs. It attempts only to take care of persons who have passed, for instance, the age of sixty-five, and these are to be given a mere pittance which in turn is raised by various means from taxation, but it entirely ignores those under this age limit who are likewise subject to vicissitudes. Consider how often that men and women of thirty, forty, fifty and sixty years find themselves the victims of this pitiless economic law, through no fault of their own, and are deprived of the necessities of life, having to turn to charitable organizations or the almshouses for their food and their shelter. The widow and fatherless, left without means, find no relief under this law. The young or middle-aged, upon whom fortune has temporarily frowned, are left without remedy. How frequently it is that such souls, temporarily tided over the hard places, become sources of economic wealth to their communities and countries. Is it right that mankind should be subjected to such humiliation and pauperism as this? The old age pension plan will never care for these universal needs, it
cannot be acceptable as a complete remedy.
Likewise the minimum wage law. Originally intended to assist the poorest paid women workers—a very high ideal brought it forth—it was found, in many typical cases, that the moment it was put into operation these needy ones became the victims of the law, wholesale unemployment resulting in factories and in stores. In my own state of Massachusetts, from the moment the minimum wage decrees went into effect in certain industries, hundreds of girls were discharged by their employers, who said, "If we must pay a high wage, we will see that we get the very most efficient service, and you to whom we have been paying a low wage are not able to earn this, therefore you must go out in the street,"—and when that condition was brought home to some of the advocates of the law, they said, it is true it is inevitable, but, they said "No wages is better than low wages." Does this sound reasonable? And yet these are the highest expressions and attempts of American and English legislation to meet this tremendous question which is on the tongues of every one, which is responsible for the risings in Russia, which is responsible for the famine in Europe, which is responsible for the breadlines in New York.
We as Bahais, nay the whole world, have been given a complete and detailed remedy by the heavenly law-giver. Why, then, do we reach out to the theories and imaginations or the disputes of theorists in Russia or anywhere else? Their protest is sound. They need the divine help. They need proper legislation. They need kindness. They need brotherhood and all the high elements of life, but the remedy they offer and the means they use is the remedy of force and violence, is the remedy, at times, of assassination, is the remedy of ignorance, is the remedy of a class system, simply substituting a class control by a certain part of the workers for the former class control by the Czar and his nobles. This limited remedy cannot surely be acceptable in this divine plan because Abdul-Baha has said, "Force is not acceptable, you cannot obtain these remedies by force," he says. It must be done through love, it must be done through justice, it must be done through the inclusion of every class, for, as he said to the Socialists, "There must always be the captain of industry, the general, as he called him, the captain, the private, and lieutenant in the body of humanity."
You cannot level mankind. You cannot equalize mankind in that sense because it is contrary to the inherent creative elements with which man has been endowed by God Himself, the law of variant capacities. These theories which we are hearing from all quarters are the theories of desperation and of imagination; they are theories which ignore absolutely the law of unity so wonderfully set forth in the Bahai teachings, which show that the body of humanity is even as the body of a man. Abdul-Baha says, in substance, "The body of humanity is stretched on the bed of severe disease, almost perishing, and only the divine physician can save it." That is, the diagnosis and prescription of that Holy One alone can raise this patient, desperately ill, into health.
Among the theories of the controlling Russian element today is one ignoring certain classes. For instance, they say, "We will not have the bourgeois have any part or share in government," yet the bourgeois, as we know them in this country, are frequently the eyes and the ears and the brain, we will say, or some other important function of the body politic, not more important, not more necessary than the other organs, but necessary. The truest and most divine government is that which co-relates, most closely to the divine type of the composite man, the various functions of that body as represented by the varying capacities of the individuals and groups
making up its citizenship. Therefore until they produce a system, a method of adequately meeting the real evils, shall we run after their ideas when God Himself has given us the solution to these industrial and economic problems?
Only the emanations of the divinity, the love of God, can solve this problem. Until the hearts of humanity are instilled with that love, until they are transformed, until the bird of humanity is raised from the mud and clay of desire and passion and selfishness, and released from these chains, and from the prison of the contingent world, and flies in the air of the spirit, how can we apply the divine remedy? In other words, it is transformation, it is metamorphosis, it is resurrection, it is rebirth, which is needed. And that is the mission and the task of the great Manifestation of this age, and the Center of His Covenant who is amongst us; and unless we look to that divine plan we have no redress.
If we want to help the people of the world and ourselves and rise from this low, degraded station, let us find the sweet words of life which have flowed from the lips of the mighty Manifestation of God. He is the skillful physician whose finger is on your pulse and mine, on the pulse of those needy souls in the Bowery, on the pulse of the souls in the palaces. He is God, and He includes them all, and He has a provision for all, and His provision is this—and I must hurry this, perhaps more than it ought to be hurried, but it must be brought to a close—His provision contemplates an arrangement which will forever prevent pauperism, which will forever prevent the sufferings of the poor, such as we have known and know today, which will forever prevent the continued amassing of cumbersome fortunes on the scale we have witnessed by those who recognize no master but self, in respect to the use that they make of their possessions.
This provision will equalize to a certain degree society, without interfering with the inherent, creative, and individual initiative, which God has implanted at the roots of our beings. It is not going to be a Socialistic collectivism or communism. Abdul-Baha says this is impossible because it would interfere, or attempt to interfere, with the divine law itself, and when you attempt to interfere with the divine law you are overborne, defeated. Therefore, these remedies of equality, so-called, which do not take into consideration the varying capacities of men, do not succeed. The divine physician recognizes His handiwork and He calls for the administration of justice to every soul, and the inclusion of all.
Now this divine plan comprises several different aspects. First, the inheritance law. No longer shall a wealthy man be able to hand down his entire fortune to his oldest son, creating a family autocracy of enormous wealth, which through the years, or so long as the family resists the process of degeneracy, may constitute a menace to society. Instead of this, the Bahai law provides that every fortune, small and great, shall be distributed equally among the children, and others of kin and groups in certain definite proportions. In this, also, is contained another important provision which in turn must not be ignored because it relates to the very heart and soul, that of education—that is, for the establishment in every life, in every distribution of fortune, of a definite part to be given to the teachers of the world. How this will elevate the station of the teacher, which is so crippled today, ill-trained, poorly paid as many of them are, incompetent in many cases. Under the training of the divine institutes, illumined by the light of the new and wonderful sciences of this new age, the teachers of the world, endowed and protected by this fund, will become the mirrors of heavenly knowledge, and the moulders of character and wisdom. Then, you will see humanity leap forward
into the arena of mental conquests previously undreamed of, under the guidance of teachers adequately prepared for this greatest of human services. Such teachers will be informed of the inner life of the child, the realities of the indwelling spirit which must be brought forth, fostered and made brilliant, inasmuch as these are the divine jewels of each soul.
Next, we have the encouragement of profit-sharing for the worker, i. e., the employee; this provision forms a part of the divine solution. Wages, as a means of satisfying labor, have proved inadequate. The wage system has led to strike upon strike, force upon force, violence upon violence. This is because wages alone, as a means of determining the value of labor, are peculiarly subject to the inexorable economic law of supply and demand, which is a requirement of nature, as we have seen. There must be an added determinant of value which will draw the worker nearer the center of common interest which the industry presents both to him and his employer. This common interest is the welfare and prosperity of the business itself. If this be done, the outer pressure upon the worker which ever seeks to array him against the employer, by force, if necessary, finds its influence diminished and the appeal to force will be substituted by that persuasion of unity which is the common interest of both. Until society properly and justly cares for the worker by making him a real partner in enterprise to a certain degree which is just and equitable, entitling him to a share, at the end of the year, of the profits according to the interest he holds, we will never find labor either quiescent, peaceful or contented.
It is certain that wages alone as a means of compensation has led to these constant strikes and lockouts, bitterness and great economic loss; whereas the matter should be dealt with at the fountain head. The meaning is not to abolish the wage system, but to supplement it. The bargaining power of enormous aggregations of workers, i. e., trade unions, is at present necessarily invoked to combat a stubborn employer, or one who is himself helpless in the grasp of the economic law of competition with its frequently sharply defined margin of profit. But this bargaining power of the labor union sometimes openly ignores the justice of the common interest. In its anxiety to demonstrate its power, unemployment, following the strike, hits hardest at the slender pocketbook of the worker, the unionist, himself. Its most serious failing, however, lies in its being an instrument of force and compulsion, setting up a similar psychology in the employer. Shutdowns, and lockouts result, with great financial loss to the ones who can least this, the workers themselves.
This mode of settling great industrial conflicts is rejected by the enlightened thought of this new age. "Not warfare, but perfect welfare," says Abdul-Baha, is the aim. The organs of this industrial body must co-relate and, in sympathetic co-operation, function in the utmost unity. The eye of man does not see because the liver arises with force to compel. Rather, under such conditions, the vision becomes impaired and the whole body poisoned. On the contrary, in the healthy body each assists the other, each draws necessary aid from the other, and each contributes harmoniously to the highest functioning of the other.
Therefore, force and violence are seen to be the handmaids of the contingent world, not the divine agencies of happiness. The rich and the powerful ones among us must voluntarily and through recognition of this great industrial truth, give a full measure of justice to the noble place of labor, freely consenting to a fundamental law which recognizes the industrial body of unity. For BAHA'O'LLAH has exalted labor, denoting it even a worship to God, and
has said to the wealthy ones of earth, "The poor among ye are My trust. Therefore guard My trust and be not wholly occupied with your own ease."
Next, is the great law of the tithe or income tax. In this, a new and wonderful principle has been disclosed by BAHA'O'LLAH as interpreted by the Center of the Covenant. A trust principal, a great trust fund and a beneficiary of that fund has been created by him. For the first time in the history of the world, a Prophet of God has dealt in a comprehensive way with the economic question, and revealed a law for its solution. As he says:
"We have heard the midnight sighing of the poor."
His Holiness Christ said:
"Blessed are the poor for theirs shall be the Kingdom of Heaven."
And His Holiness Abdul-Baha, explaining this, says:
"Blessed are the nameless and traceless poor, for they are the leaders of mankind."
In the Koran it is written:
"We desire to bestow our gifts upon those who have become weak on the face of the earth, and make them a nation and the heirs (of spiritual truth)."
This is interpreted by Abdul-Baha to mean:
"We wish to grant a favor to the impotent souls and suffer them to become the inheritors of the Messengers and the Prophets."
Thus, it is seen that, in this day of restitution of all things, the divine promises respecting the poor are fulfilled. The divine justice establishes that which mankind in its selfish absorption, has forgotten. And this establishment, being inclusive of all classes, preserves the rights of the rich, as well. Under this law, a portion of the surplus income of every soul must be diverted to this trust fund which will be administered by the wise men of every community, to be put into effect first with the farmer. Agriculture will receive a great impetus and from this the plan will be extended into the other industrial fields. For the first time the poor are assured the right to the necessities of life. Let it be understood clearly that to be entitled to this right, one must not have failed in conscientious effort according to his ability.
"God has provided for all," Abdul-Baha tells us. "His rain showers upon all, His sun shines upon all." There is ample food for all, there is ample provision in this expanse of earth for everyone for their necessities. The principle underlying this trust is this,—that every child born into the world has a right to the necessities of life, and this is a Bahai principle, praise be to God!
Now, without going into the details of the tithe or income tax, it is sufficient to indicate that it is levied upon the surplus income in a progressive measure; according to the size of one's surplus, one must pay a certain increased proportion. It still leaves each soul an ample incentive, making his own the true balance of that surplus, to do with as he wishes, protecting his individual rights; it does not aim at private property as some socialist philosophy would advocate, converting the substantial part of all wealth into a collectivism governmentally controlled and owned; but it protects both extremes, protecting the individual even as it protects the common need. This will result in preventing so called swollen fortunes. It will be found to be the greatest means of raising up the poor to the place to which they are rightfully entitled, a position of self-respect. It does away forever with the humiliation of pauperism and assures necessities. It casts off the industrial shackles, opening the door to comfort and well being. Can the Kingdom of God find existence while industrial serfdom continues, while humanity made in the image of God dwells in constant fear of becoming the objects of almsgiving, destroying self-respect, extinguishing
the light of hope, blunting the finer qualities of the soul?
Applying this trust principal, Abdul-Baha says that if a man who has not failed in endeavor fails to raise a crop,—we will say he is a farmer—because of the difficulties of the weather or pests, so that he and his family are without means of provision, then that man has a right to go to the storehouse, i. e., the trust fund, in that village and secure the necessities of life. This is a divine principle. It may be, of course, and frequently is the case, that through previous savings, accumulated property, or outside income, etc., one whose income in a given year falls below necessary outgo, is enabled to meet his annual deficit. My understanding is that the right to necessities from the common storehouse would not accrue to one in this position, since no need arises.
The principle of taxation must be here considered. If a man has only earned enough to supply the necessities of his family, then no tax shall be levied against him. Is it just that we levy a tax on a man who earns five hundred dollars a year who needs every cent for the actual necessities of life, and only levy the same degree of tax upon a man whose income is one hundred thousand dollars? Again, just what is the duty of such a needy one to the community in respect to taxation? Taxation, briefly, is the charge laid by the sovereign power upon the property of its subjects. By its essential nature it is an enforced contribution for the support of government and for all public needs. Under the common law, there was no liability of the public authorities to render aid to the unfortunate class commonly denominated as paupers. Up to recent times, and the enactment of the Poor Laws, these wretched ones had no recourse from their misery and destitution. Imprisonment for debt, precarious individual almsgiving, or downright beggary, were their sole guarantees of continued existence. But statutory enactments in most of the states now require assistance to be given such a man, when applied for and received with a full knowledge of the nature of the charity. A man may thus become a pauper in the legal sense if he accepts aid from his municipality, even though he is actually providing partial support for his family. Such a man in that event becomes a pauper. But the aid given him is not given him as a matter of right, and the price he pays is the pauper cognomen.
Applying this to the illustration. Our subject, A ——, we will say, has earned just enough for the bare necessities of his family and himself. Had his income been any less, then he must subject his family to deprivation and consequent suffering, turn to friends for temporary relief, which is usually impossible, or apply to the public authorities. We have seen the consequences of this latter step. It is impossible to exaggerate the loss of self-respect, the intensity of anguish and utter humiliation which lays hold upon a human soul—we must consider the average type—obliged even to contemplate this step.
We have already seen that under such deplorable conditions a right is created, under the trust principal stated, which would encircle such a family with its protection. But these considerations are also important in analyzing the relation to taxation of the man who has broken even in income and necessary expenses. Suppose A——'s income was of that kind. He must necessarily deduct, under present conditions, the amount of his tax from his naked necessities. By this levy the state is not only theoretically but often actually forcing that family across the dead-line into the forsaken abode of pauperism. Unless new credits can be found, he has no alternative. Whether or not pauperism results, a deadly blow has been dealt and the psychology of that family has been rudely shaken. This is the industrial and social serfdom of the age, the cult of the blacksmith
applied to the delicate mechanism of the human soul.
Now, it is proved that taxes are levied, among other objects, for "all public needs." Even at present, a portion of the tax levy in the town of B——, we will say, is used in the care of paupers. This, then, even under the existing laws, is one of the "public needs" for which the taxing power is exercised. It follows that A——, having been driven another step down the ladder by reason of the enforced contribution of the tax, and compelled thereby to apply for and accept public aid, has to a certain definite extent been proceeding in a circle. He has to the extent of the tax paid thrown the scales of income and outgo against him, and now to that extent again he restores the balance by receiving from the community, this time as a pauper, the amount necessary to complete his necessities, which, theoretically, is the exact sum he was taxed.
This, of course, is a technical example, but it illustrates the principle and to a greater or less degree may be found in operation among the masses of humanity. In this connection, one well known axiom of our English law is that nothing need be done which must, in the nature of things, be immediately reversed. Merely circuitous action is or should be as absurd and unnecessary in the case of taxation, as in other social adjustments. A fortiori, when, as a consequence, degraded status results.
So the divine justice, whose voice is now heard in the world, is rending asunder our so-called human justice, exposing its weakness, remedying its inequalities. Pauperism must succumb to the sanction of right. The beneficiary of a trust possesses something he can claim without humiliation or shame. That same self-respect, which he thereby retains and fosters, serves a two-fold purpose as his protector against his invoking that right without a sound reason. To apply this concretely is the crying need of the hour. The order of the world will be thus promoted, revolutionary and desperate demands set aside, force and violence seen to be a satanic instrumentality, and the great law of unity and co-operation enthroned in the hearts of rich and poor alike. The differentiation of capacities in individuals is preserved, fruitless attempts to level humanity to mean averages are rebuked, and the respective functions of the body politic are witnessed as divinely bestowed. Since it is the function of the eye to see, and any means of impairment of that vision is a menace to the welfare of the whole body, so it is understood that those men and women who, in the community, correspond to that function must be encouraged to fullest activity, not hampered and made ineffective by the jealousy and ignorance of the other branches of the body politic. Under this law, such men and women become in truth servants of the whole body. Under this law, they must, and gladly will, render their full measure of obligation to the needs of the needy. They are themselves equally bound with all others, by the necessities of the trust principal, as outlined.
Similarly, the function or capacity of these individuals corresponding to other organs and parts of the body of the race, must be unimpaired. There must be freedom also in this. What restraining force is necessary has been provided for, as has been seen. Because a given capacity is apparently less brilliant, less compelling than another does not make it inferior or less important. The skin and the nails, the bones and the joints of society are a part of the body, and without them health is impossible. Up to now, these and other important functions have been degraded, unjustly oppressed and diseased, whereas in reality they are of the noblest of capacities. Hence, the present outcry of labor, the anguished protests of the poor. We must consequently realize that the happiness of each depends upon its full co-operation
and the recognition of its rights. The stomach, if called upon to see, would make a miserable failure. But can the eye perform the work of digestion? These are the teachings of unity.
In closing, meditate upon this paragraph from the utterances of His Holiness, Abdul-Baha, on this subject, a most significant utterance given in Montreal, September 3d, 1912:
"Although the body politic is one family, yet because of the lack of symmetry some members are comfortable and some are in the utmost misery; some members are satisfied and some are hungry; some are clothed with the most costly garments, while some members are in need of food and shelter. Why? Because this family has not the reciprocity and symmetry needed. This household is not well arranged. This household is not under a perfect law. All the laws made do not insure happiness; they do not afford comfort; therefore a law must be given forth for this family according to which each member of this family will enjoy equal comfort and happiness. Is it possible for a member of a family to be subjected to the utmost of misery and abject poverty, and for the rest of the family to be comfortable? It is impossible, unless the rest of the family be without feeling, having become spiritually atrophied, inhospitable, unkind. Then such would say, 'Though these members are of our family, nevertheless let them alone, let us look after ourselves, let them die. So long as we are comfortable, we are honorable, we are enjoying bliss, it is enough. But this, our brother, let him die. If he is in misery let him remain in misery, provided we are comfortable. If he be hungry, let him remain so, we are full. If he is without clothes, provided we are clothed, let him remain as he is. If he is shelterless, homeless, so long as we have homes let him remain in the wilderness.' Such a callous condition in the human family is due to a lack of control and a lack of the working of the law; to a failure of kindness among men. If kindness be shown to members of this family surely all will enjoy equal comfort and happiness. The purport is this: that we, all of us inhabiting the globe of the earth, in reality, are one family, and each of us is a member of that family. Accordingly, we must all be in the utmost of happiness and comfort, under a just rule and regulation agreeable to the good pleasure of God, causing us to be well pleased, for this life is fleeting and if a man looks after himself only, he is no more than the animal, for the animal alone is to that degree egoistic. Nay, rather, man should be willing to accept hardship for himself in order that others may be happy; he should prefer poverty for himself that others may enjoy wealth; he must welcome trouble for himself if by so acting others may enjoy happiness and well being. This is a characteristic of man; this is becoming to man, otherwise man is not man but worse than animal. Such a man is an honor to the world of humanity, such a man is the glory of the world of mankind, such a man is he who wins eternal bliss, such a man is nearer the threshhold of God, such a man is the very manifestation of eternal happiness. We ask God that He may give to human souls, justice, whereby they shall be fair and try to provide for the poor their comforts, so that each member of the race shall pass his life in the utmost of comfort and well being. Then shall this material world be the very paradise of the Kingdom and this elemental earth a heavenly state and all the servants of God shall live in the utmost of joy, happiness and gladness. We must all strive and we must all concentrate all our thoughts on this in order that such happiness may be obtained by the world of humanity."
Allaho'Abha!
