hants were not
obliged to defend the country. In lieu of labor the grandees received the
taxes. Lycurgus, in order to establish this forever as a law, brought nine
thousand grandees together, told them he was going upon a long journey and
wished this form of government to remain effective until his return. They
swore an oath to protect and preserve his law. He then left his kingdom,
went into voluntary exile and never came back. No man ever made such a
sacrifice to ensure equality among his fellowmen. A few years passed, and
the whole system of government he had founded collapsed, although
established upon such a just and wise basis.

Difference of capacity in human individuals is fundamental. It is
impossible for all to be alike, all to be equal, all to be wise.
Baha'u'llah has revealed principles and laws which will accomplish the
adjustment of varying human capacities. He has said that whatsoever is
possible of accomplishment in human government will be effected through
these principles. When the laws He has instituted are carried out, there
will be no millionaires possible in the community and likewise no
extremely poor. This will be effected and regulated by adjusting the
different degrees of human capacity. The fundamental basis of the
community is agriculture, tillage of the soil. All must be producers. Each
person in the community whose need is equal to his individual producing
capacity shall be exempt from taxation. But if his income is greater than
his needs, he must pay a tax until an adjustment is effected. That is to
say, a man's capacity for production and his needs will be equalized and
reconciled through taxation. If his production exceeds, he will pay a tax;
if his necessities exceed his production, he shall receive an amount
sufficient to equalize or adjust. Therefore, taxation will be
proportionate to capacity and production, and there will be no poor in the
community.

Baha'u'llah, likewise, commanded the rich to give freely to the poor. In
the Kitab-i-Aqdas it is further written by Him that those who have a
certain amount of income must give one-fifth of it to God, the Creator of
heaven and earth.

1 July 1912
Talk at 309 West Seventy-eighth Street, New York

From Stenographic Notes

I desire to make manifest among the friends in America a new light that
they may become a new people, that a new foundation may be established and
complete harmony be realized; for the foundation of Baha'u