and as a convenience for His servants. We
exhort the friends of God to act with fairness and justice, and in
such a way that the mercy of His beloved ones, and their
compassion, may be manifested toward each other....

The execution of these matters has been placed in charge of the
men of the House of Justice, in order that they may act in
accordance with the exigencies of the time and with wisdom.

No Industrial Slavery

In the Book of Aqdas Baha'u'llah forbids slavery, and 'Abdu'l-Baha has
explained that not only chattel slavery, but also industrial slavery, is
contrary to the law of God. When in the United States in 1912, He said to
the American people:--

Between 1860 and 1865 you did a wonderful thing; you abolished
chattel slavery; but today you must do a much more wonderful
thing: you must abolish industrial slavery....

The solution of economic questions will not be brought about by
array of capital against labor, and labor against capital, in
strife and conflict, but by the voluntary attitude of goodwill on
both sides. Then a real and lasting justness of conditions will be
secured....

Among the Baha'is there are no extortionate, mercenary and unjust
practices, no rebellious demands, no revolutionary uprisings
against existing governments....

It will not be possible in the future for men to amass great
fortunes by the labors of others. The rich will willingly divide.
They will come to this gradually, naturally, by their own
volition. It will never be accomplished by war and bloodshed.

It is by friendly consultation and cooperation, by just copartnership and
profit-sharing, that the interests of both capital and labor will be best
served. The harsh weapons of the strike and lockout are injurious, not
only to the trades immediately affected, but to the community as a whole.
It is, therefore, the business of the governments to devise means for
preventing recourse to such barbarous methods of settling disputes.
'Abdu'l-Baha said at Dublin, New Hampshire, in 1912:--

Now I want to tell you about the law of God. According to the
divine law, employees should not be paid merely by wages. Nay,
rather they should be partners in every work. The question of
socialization is very difficult. It will not be solved by strikes
for wages. All the governments of the world must be united, and