In the United States of America, the cradle and citadel of the embryonic
World Order of Baha'u'llah, the elected national representatives of the
American Baha'i Community, acting as the representatives of the
International Baha'i Community, charged with the defense of the cause of
their persecuted brethren in the cradle of the Faith, have energetically
pursued their efforts, through representations made to the United Nations
officials and agencies in New York and Geneva, through their contact with
high-ranking officials of the American State Department and through
measures of publicity in the American Press, all culminating in the
victory won over the adversaries of the Faith, to which reference has been
made earlier in these pages.
The landscaping of the Temple area, including the operation of the nine
fountains, as envisaged by 'Abdu'l-Baha, has been completed at a cost of
two hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars. The number of visitors who,
since public guiding has been instituted, have flocked to the doors of
this Mother Temple of the West, now standing amidst such attractive
surroundings, has exceeded seven hundred thousand, whilst more than three
thousand have entered its doors in the course of a single day.
Authorization has moreover been recently given by the Wilmette Village
Board for the construction of the Home for the Aged, the first Dependency
of the Ma_sh_riqu'l-A_dh_kar. The value of national and local endowments
owned by, and under the control of, that community, whose members have so
spontaneously and effectively championed the cause of the persecuted and
the down-trodden, and so generously contributed to their relief in the
past, is now four and a half million dollars. The number of American
Indian tribes with which contact has been established in the Western
Hemisphere--an achievement in which the members of this Community have
played a leading role--is now over forty-five. No less than eighteen
American Indian tribes are now represented in the Baha'i communities of
that same hemisphere, mainly as a result of the assiduous endeavors
exerted by the members of this Community. The number of territories,
federal districts and states where official authorization for the conduct
of Baha'i marriages has been obtained is now twenty-eight, whilst the
number of localities, in that same country, where the Baha'i Holy Days are
officially recognized is one short of forty.