| Star of the West Volume 8 - Issue 1 |
Issue 2→ |
 Proofread onceReturn to PDF view
|
We are working hard to have proofread and nicely formatted text for you to read. Here is our progress on this section:
|
STAR OF THE WEST
IN this age His Holiness Baha'o'llah has breathed the Holy Spirit into the dead body of the world, consequently every weak soul is strengthened by these fresh Divine out-breathings—every poor man will become rich, every darkened soul will become illumined, every ignorant one will become wise, because the confirmations of the Holy Spirit are descending like torrents. A new era of Divine consciousness is upon us. The world of humanity is going through a process of transformation. A new race is being developed. The thoughts of human brotherhood are permeating all regions. New ideals are stirring the depths of hearts, and a new spirit of universal consciousness is being profoundly felt by all men.
ABDUL-BAHA ABBAS.
The Divine Springtime
O ye beloved of God! When the winds blow severely, rains fall fiercely, the lightning flashes, the thunder roars, the bolt descends and storms of trial become severe, grieve not; for after this storm, verily the divine spring will arrive, the hills and fields will become verdant, the expanses of grain will joyfully wave, the earth will become covered with blossoms, the trees will be clothed with green garments and adorned with blossoms and fruits. Thus blessings become manifest in all countries. These favors are results of those storms and hurricanes.
The discerning man rejoiceth at the day of trials, his breast becometh dilated at the time of severe storms, his eyes become brightened when seeing the showers of rain and gusts of wind, whereby trees are uprooted; because he foreseeth the result and the end (of these trials), the leaves, blossoms and fruits (which follow this wintry storm); while the ignorant (short-sighted) person becometh troubled when he seeth a storm, is saddened when it raineth severely, is terrified by the thunder and trembleth at the surging of the waves which storm the shores.
ABDUL-BAHA ABBAS.
STAR OF THE WEST
"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. VIII Baha 1, 73 (March 21, 1917) No. 1
The Economic Teaching of Abdul-Baha
BY MARY HANFORD FORD
THE reader of this article may wonder at the importance attributed to the teachings and utterances of Abdul-Baha, and a word of explanation in regard to his position in the world may not be inopportune. He is the leader of the Bahai movement, a great center of progressive thought, which had its origin in the illumined message of Ali Mohammed, later called the Bab, given to the Persian people in 1844. The Bab was martyred by the Persian government in 1850, as he was considered a dangerous heretic from the Mohammedan point of view, and Mohammedanism is a state religion. As is natural in such cases, any deviation from the established faith becomes in a way treasonable in the conception of the government. Before this tragic event took place, however, the Báb had fully proclaimed his mission and prophecies. Foreseeing his own end, he told the people that he himself was but the herald of the new day, which would center in the remarkable Revelator to follow him, who would be the messenger of God for this period, and whom he always spoke of under the title of the Glory of God, or Baha'o'llah. He declared that Baha'o'llah would bring peace and unity to mankind, and revive the true knowledge of God in all the world.
The essentials of human progress were included and insisted upon in the message of the Bab; and Baha'o'llah, who followed him, has written eloquent pages outlining the tendencies of future civilization. The Bahai movement which for many years has been as growing power in the Orient, in spite of the cruel persecution of governments, has at length penetrated the western world, and shows clearly that the ethical ideals of our most advanced western economics were generated and came to expression years ago, in the minds of these illuminated eastern teachers.
According to the teaching of these supreme educators, messengers of God have been coming to the world from the beginning of creation, and their province is to refresh the soul of man as it grows cold to the love of God, and restore its sensitiveness to the breath of the holy spirit. Thus Moses came, Zoroaster, Mohammed, Christ came, and today the inspiring and ever necessary message has been given once more by the trinity of Persian teachers, who bring a universal teaching, through which all the races of mankind will be enlightened.
Abdul-Baha is the son of Baha'o'llah. He was imprisoned when only nine years old, at the time when his father was seized with his entire family and his immense property confiscated, simply because he had openly become a follower of the Bab, and a believer in the Oneness of God and humanity.
The Bahai conception is that three persons are always combined in the annunciation of a divine message. As Christ was heralded by John the Baptist, and followed by Peter, Moses was presaged by his herald, and followed by
Joshua; the Bab, Baha'o'llah and Abdul-Baha are the trinity of today, though the station of Abdul-Baha is more nearly allied to that of the center than in any previous case. He is called the Center of the Covenant renewed today between God and man, as it was renewed in the days of Christ and his predecessors. Abdul-Baha's title means the Servant of God, and naturally he can have no successor in the movement.
The intensely humanitarian feeling of Abdul-Baha is amply shown in his life, and his economic teaching manifests a singularly accurate acquaintance with the sociological conditions of the western world. He is well aware of the fact that measures of charitable relief are only palliations rendered necessary by existing misfortune and by no means to be considered more than methods of temporary relief. Nevertheless the charity, and the spirit of instant service in the life of Abdul-Baha, are most inspiring.
His childhood and his youth were passed in moving from one oriental prison to another, until at last he lived in Acca, the prison town of the Sultan, as a prisoner on parole, controlling his own household, under the surveillance of the Turkish police. In this way he became familiar with all aspects of oriental poverty, and permitted himself the privilege of relieving it. In Acca as a prisoner he could do nothing against existing abuses except palliate their results, but this he did constantly.
Every Friday morning the poor of Acca gathered in the courtyard of Abdul-Baha's house, and he went among them personally. He know them all by name, he knew just which one needed a coat or a warm shawl, he sent a physician or healed those who were ill. Those whom he succored were never among his own followers, for the believer in the revelation of Baha'o'llah does not beg. They were Mohammedans, sectaries of the creed which had persecuted him, deprived his father of property, liberty and station, and martyred the Bab, but they loved Abdul-Baha as their benefactor, and did not bother their heads about his religion.
Abdul-Baha, had a donkey upon which he was accustomed to ride about the town daily upon his philanthropic missions. An American woman who was his guest at one time was terribly annoyed at the nightly braying of this creature, which she declared prevented her from sleeping, but when she discovered that it was the donkey upon which Abdul-Baha visited the sick, its braying suddenly assumed a musical character, and no longer disturbed her. Often when the family of Abdul-Baha was about to sit down to dinner at night, the report would come of some unfortunate who was starving, and who had been overlooked in the visits of the day. Then quickly the hot appetizing meal would be bundled into a basket, and rushed away to the suffering family, while Abdul-Baha, would smile and say, "It does not matter for us, we had dinner last night, we shall have dinner tomorrow!"
Often he sent his bed to a feverish invalid whom he discovered, because it required thirty-six hours at least to procure a bed from Haifa, the nearest point of supply, and Abdul-Baha, would be perfectly comfortable wrapped in a blanket, and lying upon the floor of his room, or the roof of the house, while he would not have been able to sleep at all, conscious of a bedless invalid, feverish and pain racked. He could not endure the sight of suffering which he was able to relieve.
When he reached the Occident, however, Abdul-Baha, faced a condition which troubled him greatly, because it was beyond his power to assuage the misery he saw constantly about him. Housed luxuriously at Cadogan Gardens, London, he knew that within a stone's throw of him were people who had never had enough to eat—and in New York there was exactly the same situation. These things made him exceedingly sad, and he said: "The time will come in the near future when humanity will become
so much more sensitive than at present that the man of great wealth will not enjoy his luxury, in comparison with the deplorable poverty about him. He will be forced, for his own happiness, to expend his wealth to procure better conditions for the community in which he lives."
When Abdul-Baha first arrived in England he was the guest of a friend in a village not far from London. The evident poverty around him in this wealthy country distressed him greatly. He would walk out in the town, garbed in his white turban and long Persian coat, and all eyes were centered upon this strange visitor, who, the people had been told, was "a holy man from the East." Naturally the children were attracted to him, followed him, pulled at his coat, or his hand, and were immediately taken into his arms and caressed. This delighted them, of course, and children are never afraid of Abdul-Baha, but what pleased and amazed them still more was that when they were put down they found in their little hands a shilling or sixpence from the capacious pockets of "the holy man's" long coat. Such bits of silver were a rarity in their experience, and they ran home with joy to tell the tale of the generous stranger from the Orient, possessed apparently of an endless store of shining sixpences.
The children crowded after him and so many sixpences were dispensed that the friend who entertained Abdul-Baha became alarmed, and talked the matter over with Miss Robarts, who was also a guest in the house. "It is a shame!" they said indignantly. "He comes to us accepting nothing, and is giving to our people all the time! It must not go on!"
That day Abdul-Baha, had bestowed many sixpences, and people had come from the neighboring villages, bringing their children to receive the blessing from "the holy man,"—and of course the sixpences! About nine o'clock in the evening the ladies decided that no one else must see Abdul-Baha that night. But as they waited outside the cottage, a man came up the path, carrying one baby, and with others clinging to him. When he asked for "the holy man," however, he was told severely that he could not be seen, he was very tired and had gone to bed. The man sighed, as he said, "Oh, I have walked six miles from far away to see him. I am so sorry!"
The hostess responded severely, feeling that the desire for sixpences had prompted the journey perhaps more than religious enthusiasm, and the man sighed more deeply than ever, and was turning away, when suddenly Abdul-Baha came around the corner of the house. The way in which he embraced the main and all the babies was so wonderful, that the hearts of the too careful friends melted within them, and when he at last sent away the unbidden guests, comforted, their hearts full of joy, their hands bursting with sixpences, the two friends looked at one another and said: "How wrong we were! We will never again try to manage Abdul-Baha!"
Perhaps the most beautiful encounters with the poor he had in the Occident were at the Salvation Army headquarters in London, and the Bowery Mission in New York. Here he consoled the men for their poverty, saying: "Do not consider your poverty a degradation. The greatest of men have always been poor, the poets, and philosophers and benefactors of the race. Christ had not where to lay his head. The Messengers of God are ever overwhelmed by poverty and persecution. Moses was an outcast, and Mohammed a Wanderer and an exile. Baha'o'llah suffered the utmost poverty and oppression, and I have known nothing but poverty and prison walls."
In London he gave the men a sum for a New Year's dinner which should duplicate the Christmas feast, and at the Bowery Mission he shook hands with each man at the close of the evening and gave him a quarter. A year afterward nearly every one of those men had kept his quarter because as one of them said:
"That was a heavenly man, and his
quarter was not like other quarters, it will bring me luck!"
One result of Abdul-Baha's charity was the example of personal contact which it established. He said: "If the rich should see for themselves the evil conditions which exist, they would become eager to alter them. It is necessary in relieving poverty to come into direct touch with its pain. Then the world will determine to abolish it."
He said also, "The spending of money for the help of another brings a great blessing, but the mere dispatch of a check the loss of which one never feels is nothing."
Perhaps the tender heart of Abdul-Baha was never more fully manifested than in the incident which occurred in California. His hostess in San Francisco had arranged an interview with the Mayor of Berkeley. There was to be a grand reception, and many dignitaries and University people were to be present. As the appointed hour for departure approached the hostess went upstairs to warn Abdul-Baha that the time was near. He smiled and waved her away, saying "Very soon! Very soon!"
She left him with some impatience, for there was no evidence of preparation for the trip. After some time she went up again, for the automobile was honking at the door, and it looked as if the Mayor of Berkeley would be kept waiting. But she met only a smile, and "Very soon! Very soon!" from the important guest. At last her patience was quite exhausted for she knew that they could not possibly arrive at the reception in time. Suddenly there was a ring at the door bell. Immediately Abdul-Baha's step was on the stair, and when the door opened he was beside the maid, pulling over the threshold a dusty and disheveled man whom no one had ever heard of, but whom Abdul-Baha embraced like a long lost friend.
The man lived fifteen miles from San Francisco. He had read of Abdul-Baha in the newspapers. He felt that he must see him at any cost, but he had not five cents for street car fare. So he started to walk to San Francisco, and if Abdul-Baha had set forth promptly to fill his engagement with the Mayor of Berkeley he would have missed this seeker after truth. But Abdul-Baha had felt his approach, and would not leave for his appointment until he saw this friend of the spirit seated at his hostess' table, so well panoplied with sandwiches and tea that it was fully evident his outer man would be refreshed.
Then he said: "Now I must go, but when you have finished, wait for me in my room upstairs, until I return, and then we will have a great talk."
It is with this fund of deep sympathy and a profound comprehension that Abdul-Baha approaches the modern economic problem, but he does not regard it from any sentimental point of view. The new time is coming he declares, and it will manifest itself along two lines—a change in the human heart, and new laws enacted in every country. We cannot introduce the divine civilization by legislation alone, he says, there must be a change in the human heart before this is possible.
The lines along which the better government is coming have been clearly indicated by Abdul-Baha. When he was in New York in 1912 some one was talking to him about the United States, and he said:
"You did a wonderful thing in this country in 1865 when you abolished chattel slavery, but you must do a much more wonderful thing now, you must abolish industrial slavery!"
Only a few people understood in 1912 that the curse of industrial slavery existed among us, but the events which followed this dynamic utterance of Abdul-Baha made it plainly manifest. Is there not a wireless which carries the suggestion of a powerful mind to many hearts, and commands results? It is certainly most interesting to observe how closely the economic tendencies which have developed in the United States since 1912 have carried out the possibilities
indicated by Abdul-Baha as denoting the future evolution of the country and the age.
In 1913 Congress appointed an Industrial Commission to investigate industrial conditions in the states, and best of all made Frank Walsh its chairman. There could hardly have been a better selection, for Frank Walsh is a criminal lawyer of wide fame and independent means, noted for his capacity to draw the truth from the most refractory witness, absolutely proof against graft, or that insidious and menacing respect for position and wealth, which so frequently prevents the escape of truth from its prison.
So the Commission went from place to place, unveiling the abuses of every locality, and two of the immediate results of its testimony are the federal laws for the prevention of Child Labor, and the Workmen's Compensation Act, neither of them perfect, but both a long step in the right direction.
Meanwhile every thinking American now knows that industrial slavery exists among us, and that it behooves us to remove it. The startling enactment of the Adamson Law is another pregnant move along the same line. Whatever may be the immediate result, great consequences must flow from it, for very soon no employer in this country will be able to enforce labor for more than eight hours a day, and this is only the beginning of change. The invention of labor-saving machinery which has been going on for many years would have had naturally the consequence of shortening the hours of labor, if the machines had not been in the hands of the capitalist class, who wished to use them only for increasing their own profits, and they must attain their natural aim of increasing the leisure of the world, so that all may have time for culture, for thought, to know God, as Abdul-Baha says.
Abdul-Baha in speaking of the changes that are coming into our economic life, said the solution of the struggle between labor and capital will be found in cooperation and profit sharing. The workers in any institution will presently be regarded as partners, and they will receive their proper share of the profits of the business. Whether in a factory or a mercantile enterprise the same rule will be applied.
Abdul-Baha said in 1912 at Dublin, New Hampshire, in discussing economic questions: "Now I want to tell you about the law of God. According to the divine law, no wages should be given to the employé. Nay, rather indeed they are partners in every work. . . . .
"The question of socialization is very important. It Will not be solved by strikes for wages. All the governments of the world must be united and organize an assembly, the members of which should be elected from the parliaments and nobles of the nations. These must plan with utmost wisdom and power, so that neither the capitalists suffer from enormous losses, nor the laborers become needy. In the utmost moderation they should make the law, then announce to the public that the rights of the working people are to be strongly preserved. Also the rights of the capitalists are to be protected. When such a general law is adopted, by the will of both sides, should a strike occur, all the governments of the world collectively should resist it. Otherwise the work will lead to much destruction, especially in Europe. Terrible things will take place. One of the several causes of a universal European war will be this question. For instance the owners of properties, mines and factories should share their incomes with their employés, and give a fairly certain percentage of their products to their workingmen, in order that the employés may receive, beside their wages, some of the general income of the factory, so that the employé may strive with his soul in his work."
As organizations for the supreme enrichment of the few, the trusts, he said, must go; but the principle of organization
(Continued on page 11)
STAR OF THE WEST
PUBLISHED NINETEEN TIMES A YEAR
By the BAHAI NEWS SERVICE, 515 South Dearborn Street, Chicago, Ill., U. S. A.
Entered as second-class matter April 9, 1911, at the post office at Chicago, Illinois, under the Act of March 3, 1879.
Terms: $1.50 per year; 10 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.
TABLET FROM ABDUL-BAHA.
HE IS GOD!
O thou Star of the West!
Be thou happy! Be thou happy! Shouldst thou continue to remain firm and eternal, ere long, thou shalt become the Star of the East and shalt spread in every country and clime. Thou art the first paper of the Bahais which is organized in the country of America. Although for the present thy subscribers are limited, thy form is small and thy voice weak, yet shouldst thou stand unshakable, become the object of the attention of the friends and the center of the generosity of the leaders of the faith who are firm in the Covenant, in the future thy subscribers will become hosts after hosts like unto the waves of the sea; thy volume will increase, thy arena will become vast and spacious and thy voice and fame will be raised and become world-wide—and at last thou shalt become the first paper of the world of humanity. Yet all these depend upon firmness, firmness, firmness!
(Signed) ABDUL-BAHA ABBAS.
Vol. VIII
No. 1
Naurooz Greeting
Allah'o'Abha!
This Bahai year, which corresponds to 1917 of the Christian era, we believe marks the beginning of the "blessed days" foreseen by Daniel (Chap. XII, verse 12).
With the world at war it is, no doubt, a year fraught with great events.
According to dispatches published in the daily press, armies are approaching Palestine from the south and from the north.
The prophecies concerning that blessed spot are being fulfilled.
All eyes are upon the Holy Land.
What scene of this mighty world drama—the "Time of the End"—are we about to behold?
At this hour, we are reminded of the following words of Abdul-Baha*:—
"As to you, O friends of God! Make firm your feet in the Cause of God with such firmness as cannot be shaken by the most great disasters of this world. Be not troubled by anything under any condition. Be as lofty mountains, dawning-stars from the horizon of existence, brilliant lamps in the assemblies of oneness and lowly souls, pure hearted, with the friends.
"Be signs of guidance, lights of piety, severed from the world, holding fast to the firm rope, spreaders of the spirit of life, abiders in the ark of safety, manifestations of mercy, dawning-stars of the mysteries of existence, points of revelation, day-springs of light, strengthened by the holy spirit, attracted toward God, sanctified from all things and from the (natural) qualities of people and characterized with the attributes of the angels of heaven—so ye may attain to the greatest gift in this great century and new age!"
—The Editors.
*From Tablets of Abdul-Baha, Vol. I, p. 5.
The Coming Convention
The annual Bahai Congress and Convention will be held in Boston this year, from April 29th to May 2nd. The directors of the Temple Unity feel that they are thus following the suggestion of Abdul-Baha, made in the recent tablet published in the STAR OF THE WEST. The spiritual radiance of the friends in Boston has been especially brilliant this last season. All of those who attend the Convention in their city in this great year of 1917 will indeed have a unique privilege. May this be the most glorious and life-imparting of all the many splendid and Pentecostal Conventions thus far held in America.
"Now, is the Beginning of a Cycle of Reality"
O ye children of the Kingdom!
It is New Year*; that is to say, the rounding of the cycle of the year. A year is the expression of a cycle (of the sun); but now is the beginning of a cycle of Reality, a New Cycle, a New Age, a New Century, a New Time and a New Year. Therefore it is very blessed.
I wish this blessing to appear and become manifest in the faces and characteristics of the believers, so that they, too, many become a new people, and having found new life and been baptized with fire and spirit, may make the world a new world, to the end that the old ideas depart and new thoughts come; old garments be cast aside and new garments put on; ancient politics whose foundation is war be discarded and modern polities founded on peace raise the standards of victory; the new star shine and gleam and the new sun illumine and radiate; new flowers bloom; the new bounty descend; the new tree give forth new fruit; the new voice become raised and this new sound reach the ears, that the new will follow the new, and all the old furnishings and adornments be cast aside and new decorations put in their places.
I desire for you that you will have this great assistance and partake of this great bounty, and that in spirit and heart you will strive and endeavor until the world of war become the world of peace; the world of darkness the world of light; satanic conduct be turned into heavenly behavior; the ruined places become built up; the sword be turned into the olive branch; the flash of hatred become the flame of the love of God and the noise of the gun the voice of the kingdom; the soldiers of death the soldiers of life; all the nations of the world one nation; all races as one race; and all national anthems harmonized into one melody.
Then this material realm will be paradise, the earth heaven and the world of satan become the world of angels.
(Signed) ABDUL-BAHA ABBAS.
This is a new cycle of human power. All the horizons of the world are luminous. The world will become even as a garden and a paradise. It is the hour of unity between the sons of men, and the drawing together of all races and all classes.—ABDUL-BAHA ABBAS.
*March 21st: the first day of the Bahai year, known as the Festival of Naurooz.
Mr. Randall in Montreal
SATURDAY noon, February 24th, Mr. William H. Randall spoke before the Men's Club of Canada upon the Bahai movement and its gospel of universal brotherhood; 1,700 men were present. At the close of Mr. Randall's stirring address the president of the club asked for a rising vote of thanks, saying that too little of the spiritual side of our natures was manifest. In the afternoon Mr. Randall spoke before the Woman's Club of Canada. In the evening an impromptu meeting was arranged by members of these two clubs, at which Mr. Randall spoke further of the creative words of Baha'o'llah. As he says, "The light of the Covenant shines over Montreal." His visit recalls the splendid reception accorded Abdul-Baha when he visited Montreal in 1912. It shows us further how the spiritual seed which Mrs. May Maxwell has been planting in her own inimitable way is now bearing radiant fruit. It shows also how the Montreal assembly because of its beautiful unity in the bond of love is laying the foundation of the kingdom of brotherhood and peace which is to be.
Mrs. Brittingham in Arizona—Paragraphs from a Letter
WHILE visiting friends in Douglas, Arizona, Miss Bailey, a member of the San Francisco assembly, met a woman who had heard the message in Chicago years before. Early on the morning of my arrival there, this dear newly-found Bahai sister came to me and arranged for an open meeting to be held the next Saturday night at the Y. W. C. A. club rooms. The members had just established an open forum and this was the first date of its observance. Then this dear sister opened her home and during the two weeks of my stay in Douglas a number of beautiful meetings and personal interviews were held. The result was that, in Douglas, the first Bahai assembly of Arizona has been established.
At Pearce, a small mining town, one minister, a broad-minded and spiritual man, invited me to give the principles of the Bahai movement in his church on Sunday evening. The following morning I had a brief but delightful call from him, at which time he gave me a letter of introduction to a brother clergyman in Tucson.
In Bisbee, several small meetings were held in homes. At one of them, there were nine guests, seven of whom were Mormons. One of these had brought a Mormon preacher to institute an argument. The argument occurred, but the Beloved was present in spirit and everything was so touched by that love that there existed only perfect harmony! After the meeting, the Mormon preacher came to me, acknowledging "that I had something," and asked for literature.
In Phoenix, one of Miss Bailey's letters of introduction brought to us an invitation to the home of some lovely Christian Scientists, to meet at dinner the Governor of Arizona and his wife, and several well known New York City people. All were interested in the message. Our hostess opened her home one afternoon and called a number of her friends to hear the glad tidings. The governor's wife was present and brought the wife of the governor's private secretary. This secretary is the brother of our own dear Isabel Fraser.
About a hundred and fifty souls in Arizona, some in groups, some individually, have heard the message, and now the ground has just been broken for other traveling teachers to accomplish a fuller work in the glorious Cause of God.
Isabella D. Brittingham.
A Pilgrimage in Persia
NOTE where we are,—in Afjeh! We have come over the ground trodden by the feet of Baha'o'llah all the way from Teheran. He walked every step of the way down to Teheran in the hot summer sun without covering on his head, and loaded with heavy chains. Sorrow overflows at the thought of his enduring all so submissively that his glorious Cause might be established and that we, so unworthy, might hear of it, accept and obey his commands.
The valley of Afjeh is wide and fertile, with everflowing mountain streams, terraced wheat fields, and thousands of goats and sheep which flock down the steep paths at dusk about the time the sweet-voiced singer chants the Azan. And here at the head of the valley stand the ruins of the castle where Baha'o'llah dwelt at that time of the beginning of trouble. Many evenings at the twilight hour we go upon the roof of the palace and there hold you all in remembrance while chanting prayers and poems of Baha'o'llah in Persian and English. We pray that all the world may soon awake and acknowledge his power and that we, his followers, may all be established in integrity and more consecrated to service.
We have a few days longer in this blessed retreat, and then go down the mountain again, tracing the path his feet have trod, to begin our life so full of work and of pure satisfaction. We hope for renewed consecration. (Dr.) Susan I. Moody.
The Economic Teaching of Abdul-Baha
(Continued from page 7)
will remain for the benefit of all. The employés must benefit from them as well as the managers.
Abdul-Baha has also said some remarkable things along the line of income and inheritance taxation. He said, for instance, while in this country: "In future a manufacturer will not be allowed to leave all his property to his own family. A law will be made something like this,—that he must leave one-quarter only of his property to his family, and the other three-quarters must go to the factory workers who have created his wealth."
Indications of the realization of these predictions are already evident along many lines. A new feeling is manifesting itself in the commercial life of our country. Many of the great department stories which furnished formerly the most vivid illustrations of money mania, are now showing the new spirit. For instance, the fine establishment of Filene's in Boston has for years carried on a profit-sharing plan with its employés, which has worked admirably for the enrichment of the concern, and has created an excellent feeling both among employés and customers. Moreover, the influence of the heads of this establishment has gone far and wide, and always in the same direction. The principle of the house has been that the endeavor of an institution must not be first of all to make money, but first to give good service to the public and fair treatment to employés. Filene's is the pioneer enterprise in realizing such principles and has given them wide publicity. Meanwhile the idea is bearing fruit everywhere and one sees its expression in the trade journals and in advertising. In former days we looked to our poets and preachers for the enunciation of noble sentiments and inspiring ideals, but now we find these not only on the stage, but in the advertising columns of our daily papers. For instance, here is an expression of feeling from Henry P. Willlams who is the head of an advertising firm in Chicago:
"The man of real progress is always mentally, just a little ahead of where he is now. The idealist, the man of real imagination, seizes upon the present fact,
and transforms it mentally into what it may be in the future, and projects it before him. Such a man is the really practical man.
"So long as the host saw God in the pillar of cloud by day, and the pillar of fire by night, they went forward with confidence; they followed an ideal. It was only when they lost the imaginative vision, when the cloud and the fire, being seen every day and every night became mere meteorological phenomena, that the host began to wander aimlessly.
"Blessed is the man to whom the ideal is always real; to whom the 'pillar of fire' of the sunset is always a sacred mystery of beauty; to whom the stars are forever an awe-inspiring revelation; to whom the business he happens to be in—the making of clothes, of shoes, or machines, or the selling of any merchandise in a fair way—is a continuous enthusiasm; to whom the prosaic business duties of each day offer a recurring opportunity for the advancing of the interests of good business, and thereby the interests of good people."
This sentiment printed upon a card hangs upon the wall in the big store of Willard Ashton in Rockford, Illinois, and expresses the spirit of the institution, which is one of the many now endeavoring in our country to spiritualize capital, or capitalize spirit, realizing that in this day the two opposite ends of creation must be brought together.
There is a school for saleswomen in Boston, conducted by Mrs. Prince, which has had an admirable influence. This lady wishing to improve the condition of saleswomen, and believing that education, skill and intelligence would do this better than anything else, opened her school, and has had such remarkable success that her graduates are in all the leading department stores of the country, and their presence seems to carry everywhere at new atmosphere of intelligence and the necessity for justice and kindness, which are the foundation for real brotherhood.
The famous establishment of Altman's in New York is one where these principles have been evident for many years, and when Mr. Altman died recently he left a large portion of his fortune to be divided among his employés and as a fund for the future conduct of the store. The action of Henry Ford in declaring that his employés must share in the prosperity of his establishment has had enormous influence upon the public mind, and he has extended his generosity of late by equalizing the pay of men and women in his factory. Edison has done the same thing more quietly and for a long time has shared his profits with his employés. Both instances illustrate the statement of Abdul-Baha. that in the coming time men of wealth cannot enjoy their own luxury unless they use their means to improve the condition of others.
On the Pacific coast the fruit growers and farmers have formed co-operative alliances in business which have already broken the power of the commission men, whose intensely competitive practices threatened to drive the entire Pacific coast into bankruptcy. The fruit growers are now able to sell their product independently, and while the consumer pays no more than formerly, the producer is able to live in comfort. An interesting fact in connection with the growth of the "exchanges" is that there seems to be no temptation towards graft or dishonesty in this form of business. As all transactions are for mutual benefit, no one seeks to defraud another for his own enrichment. Nor do the men try to "corner" the market to increase the price. Wall Street practices are naturally banished from these associations where the desire is to benefit the many and not the few.
In California 70 per cent of the fruit growers have formed these co-operative exchanges and last year Governor Johnson appointed Mr. Weinstock, who had become famous through his organization of the raisin-growers' exchange, Supervisor of markets for California, which meant in reality, as the Californians
understood it, supervisor of co-operative progress, and his appointment was hailed with great delight. Recently President Wilson, through the department of agriculture sent a committee of three to the northwest to assist the farmers of that section in forming co-operative exchanges like those of California.
In these enterprises the working people do not yet share the profits. The associations have been made to break the grasping power of the middle man, and people have not yet wakened to the broader ethical aspects of the case. But the rights of the harvester must be recognized in the near future, because it is the day when the worker is coming into his own, and fortunately the harvester is at present one of the best paid workers in the United States, and cannot complain of a badly ventilated factory.
While in this country in 1912 Abdul-Baha gave a remarkable talk before the socialist club of Montreal, in which he outlined the economic development of the coming time, and suggested a form of the income tax entirely new. He gave as an illustration of the way in which the plan would work, an agricultural community.
In the beginning he said, "In reality all mankind represents one family, God desires that each individual member of the body politic should live in the utmost well being and comfort. If all do not enjoy life there is a lack of symmetry in the body politic."
He then outlined a scheme by which the utmost justice could be brought into the communal life. He said the products of the community should be stored in a storehouse, that each man's share should be noted and when the property was sold, each should receive his proportion, and the tax he should pay to the community would be estimated from his share in the property.
At the time when Abdul-Baha spoke, no such thing as a community storehouse had been heard of in this country, but during the past two years its reality has been rapidly developing in North Dakota. The farmers in that section have been almost driven into bankruptcy by the exactions of the banks and the grain dealers. The farmer had no elevator in which to store his grain, and the banks would lend no money until the grain was harvested. Moreover he could get no accommodation except at a rate of from 12 to 14 per cent., and even then with ruinous restrictions. So he was obliged to look on while the middle man came along and bought his grain at starvation prices, to the producer, stored it in his elevator, and then immediately borrowed money on it at the bank, with which he went forth to buy more grain at starvation prices.
When the situation became unendurable the North Dakota farmers rose up in more than protest. They formed a "Federal Association" which included the entire state. They had already endeavored in vain to elect legislators, either democratic or republican, who would pass a law enabling them to build state elevators. So this year they broke the machines of both parties, sent their own men to the legislature, and are to build state elevators for the grain of North Dakota. Naturally in the process of this communal action, the country has developed a communal feeling quite unprecedented, and certain to lead to unusual progress in the future. Meanwhile the Rural Credits law has passed, assuring them easier money, and relieving them from the exactions of the banks. The Rural Credits Law is by no means perfect. It surrounds the issuing of money to the farmer with too many restrictions and is not yet freed from the over suspicion of the banking system. But it is a step forward and brings relief where it is much needed. Undoubtedly, in the future, its restrictions will be removed, and it will enable the needy one to obtain help without such a superfluity of red tape.
However, North Dakota is to have elevators, and the first step toward the remarkable plan suggested by Abdul-Baha has thus been taken. For his plan as to
the income tax is unique, as has been said, and unlike any other that has been thought of. Most conservative people object to an income tax, and the most progressive yet attempted is to make the tax an increasing one, in proportion to the income taxed. Abdul-Baha says the tax must be levied in proportion to the excess of the income over the needs of the person taxed. If a man has an income of two thousand dollars, and expenses of two thousand dollars, he shall not be taxed at all, but if he has an income of ten thousand dollars, and expenses of two thousand or five thousand, he shall be taxed on the amount left over from his expenses. Thus if a man has an income of twenty thousand dollars, and expenses of only five, he could pay a large tax; if an income of fifty thousand dollars, and expenses of ten a still larger one.
This suggestion of taxation seems to imply a growing simplicity of life, and sincerity of heart, which do not exist today, because many a man would increase his expenses to decrease his tax, from the point of view of our time, and indulgence is so intensified by opportunity, that expenses often keep pace fully with increased income. In his illustration, however, Abdul-Baha is placing before us a condition in which communal equality and communal fair dealing have already been established, and the most surprising feature of his income tax is yet to come.
In ordinary economic planning the increased income tax is simply intended to enrich the community, and reduce excessive wealth, but in Abdul-Baha's scheme it is an elastic measure, benefiting rich and poor alike, because it takes from the citizen possessed of a surplus, to relieve the one suffering from a deficiency. Thus while the man with a surplus pays a large percentage into the treasury, the man whose expenses are greater than his income can draw from the common fund the sum lacking for the comfort or education of his family. If a man has expenses of two thousand a year, and his income has been cut down to one, he draws the necessary surplus from the common fund, until his affairs are adjusted, and he in his turn has a surplus.
The conservative will immediately cry out against such a measure, as one encouraging mendicancy, but we must remember that this adjustment only applies to the ideal community of the future, from which both suspicion and mendicancy have been banished. The steps toward the establishment of such a commonwealth have already been taken, and may be completed in a surprisingly short time. Abdul-Baha says that in future the accumulation of immense private fortunes will cease, because man's power of spiritual vision will increase so noticeably that he will be conscious of existence after death. He will realize that the present life opens the door to the coming one, and he will not be willing to expend all his energy in the attainment of wealth or fame, which have nothing to do with eternity, which on the contrary would act as a hindrance to the advancement of the soul in its onward career. He will prefer to use his energies for the benefit of society of which he is a member, after he has provided for his own needs, and he will lose the desire to centralize splendid power in himself. He will prefer to establish qualities which will remain his in the other life, rather than accumulate merely material advantages which he must leave behind him when he goes yonder. A great pugilist, or a successful financier may be enormously honored by his contemporaries, but he may not find himself too well supplied with capital in the other realm when he reaches it.
When man realizes that the continuation of life means the endless development of talent and opportunity, he will know that what he begins here, he will have the certainty of completing farther along in his career, and he will therefore look at existence from a vastly different point of view.
Abdul-Baha says the trouble with our
economics heretofore has been twofold. Its system and application have been purely material, instead of material and spiritual, they have been purely masculine, instead of masculine and feminine. We need the feminine influence in the world housekeeping, says the great educator. When he met the suffragists of London in 1912, he expressed his opinion in regard to equal rights, and then asked Mrs. Pethick Lawrence to say what she thought was wrong with the world. She replied that in her opinion humanity had been trying to fly with one wing, when in reality it needed two for perfect flight. Abdul-Baha, replied, "What would you think if I said that humanity not only needs another wing, but the wing that has been lacking is the stronger, and with its aid humanity will take a wider flight than it has ever achieved before?" Then he went on to tell the beautiful story of Zenobia, Queen of Palmyra, and her attainments, showing that the supreme woman is not only capable of leadership and government, but that she possesses a faithful love, a power of self-sacrifice, in which she remains completely feminine, no matter what public functions her life may compass.
When Abdul-Baha, had completed his tour of the western world, in 1912, he returned to London, and the editor of the Asiatic Quarterly Review thought it would be intensely interesting to have the opinion of the "greatest prisoner" in regard to western civilization, so different in every respect from that of the Orient. He therefore asked Abdul-Baha to write this article, and the result was a most luminous expression as to the meaning of civilization and the faults evident in that of the West.
Abdul-Baha says: "All that one observes in the Western Hemisphere are the appearances of the material world, and not of the divine world.
"As there are many defects in the world of nature, the lights of divine civilization are hidden, and nature has become the ruler over all things.
"In the world of nature the greatest dominant note is the struggle for existence—the result of which is the survival of the fittest. The law of the survival of the fittest is the origin of all difficulties. It is the cause of war and strife, hatred and animosity between human beings.
"In the world of nature there is tyrrany, egoism, aggression, overbearance, usurpation of the rights of others, and other blameworthy attributes which are the defects of the animal world. Therefore so long as the requirements of the natural world play paramount part among the children of men, success and prosperity are impossible. For the success of the human world depends upon the qualities and virtues with which the reality of humanity is adorned; while the exigencies of the natural world work against the realization of this object.
"Nature is warlike, nature is bloodthirsty, nature is tyrannical, nature is unaware of His Highness the Almighty. That is why these cruel qualities are natural to the animal world.
"Therefore His Highness the Lord of mankind, having great love and mercy, has caused the appearance of the prophets, and the revelations of the holy books, so that through divine education the world of humanity may be released from the corruption of nature and the darkness of ignorance; be confirmed with ideal virtues, the susceptibilities of consciousness, and the spiritual attributes, and become the dawning place of merciful emotions. This is divine civilization. Today in the world of humanity material civilization is like unto a lamp of the utmost transparency, but this lamp—a thousand times alas—is deprived of light. This light is divine civilization, which is instituted by the holy divine Manifestations.
"This century is the century of light. This century is the century of the appearance of reality. This century is the century of universal progress."
Abdul-Baha goes on to tell us how we can incorporate the divine laws into
the government of the world so as to create an ideal civilization, and he says we are to do this through the study of reality, the promotion of universal fellowship, the inculcation of divine love through the power of religion, the abandonment of religious, racial, patriotic and political prejudices, and in all those pathways leading to perfection which he points out so clearly and beautifully.
In Abdul-Baha's teaching, we cannot separate religion from life—as soon as that is done religion becomes a theology. True religion is the foundation of perfect government, but this religion is the feeling of the heart, not an established hierarchy.
Speaking of the enjoyment of the animal world in this remarkable essay, Abdul-Baha, goes on: "Such then is the happiness of the animal world. But the happiness of the human world comes from the virtues of the world of humanity, which enjoyment the animals know not of. That comes from the extension of the range of vision, the excellencies of the world of humanity; the love of God, the knowledge of God, equality between the people, justice and equity and ideal communication between hearts."
While in the United States in 1912, Abdul-Baha foretold the outbreak of the great war in 1914, and said it would be followed by the formation of a world council, to which all countries would send delegates, with power to settle international difficulties, which would result in a permanent peace. He said the twentieth century is the century of federation and that all the world would become united in a bond so close that war would be impossible, governments and laws would be changed everywhere for the betterment of humanity, poverty would be eliminated, and justice would reign in human affairs more completely than had ever been possible in previous times.
He seemed to have perfect faith in the ability of the United States to maintain peace in the period of the terrible war which was imminent, and said it was her destiny to be "the peacemaker of the world," and that she would be the first of the great nations to establish ideal social conditions. He revealed a number of most beautiful prayers for this commonwealth, of which the following is one:
"O God, let this American Democracy become glorious in spiritual degrees, even as it has aspired to material degrees,—and render this great government victorious, confirm this revered nation to hoist the standard of the oneness of humanity, promulgate the Most Great Peace, to become thereby most glorious and praiseworthy among all the nations of the world."
The conclusion of the article in the Asiatic Quarterly contains a glorious promise for the future of humanity, which gives us hope that in the coming time we shall be able to incorporate, into our material civilization, those elements which will make it representative of the divine teaching we have received and of that love which will fully drive out injustice:
"In this age his holiness Baha'o'llah has breathed the holy spirit into the dead body of the world; consequently every weak soul is strengthened by these fresh divine out-breathings—every poor man will become rich, every darkened soul will become illumined, every ignorant one will become wise, because the confirmations of the holy spirit are descending like torrents. A new era of divine consciousness is upon us. The world of humanity is going through a process of transformation. A new race is being developed. The thoughts of human brotherhood are permeating all regions. New ideals are stirring the depths of hearts and a new spirit of universal consciousness is being profoundly felt by all men."
Mary Hanford Ford.
