Nor will the sacrifices willingly and universally accepted by the
followers of the Faith in East and West for the sake of so noble a Cause,
so transcendent an enterprise, fail to contribute their share towards the
upbuilding of the World Administrative Center of that Faith, and the
reinforcement of the ties already linking this Center with the recognized
authorities of a state under the jurisdiction of which it is now
functioning, ties which the newly formed International Baha'i Council are
so assiduously striving to cement.

Already the completion of the construction of the arcade of this majestic
Sepulcher and of its ornamental parapet has excited the admiration,
stimulated the interest, and enlisted the support, of both the local
authorities and of the central government, as evidenced by the series of
acts which, ever since the emergence of that state, have proclaimed the
good will shown and the recognition extended by the various departments of
that state to the multiplying international institutions, endowments, laws
and ordinances of a steadily rising Faith.

The recognition of the sacred nature of the twin holy Shrines, situated in
the plain of Akka and on the slopes of Mount Carmel; the exemption from
state and civic taxes, granted to the mansion of Bahji adjoining the Most
Holy Shrine, to the twin houses, that of Baha'u'llah in Akka, and
'Abdu'l-Baha in Haifa, to the twin archives, adjoining the Shrine of the
Bab and the resting-place of the Greatest Holy Leaf, and the twin pilgrim
houses constructed in the neighborhood of that Shrine, and of the
residence of 'Abdu'l-Baha; the delivery of the mansion of Mazra'ih by the
authorities of that same state to the Baha'i Community and its occupation
after a lapse of more than fifty years; the setting apart, through
government action, of the room occupied by Baha'u'llah in the barracks of
Akka, as a place of pilgrimage; the recognition of the Baha'i marriage
certificate by the District Commissioner of Haifa; the recognition of the
Baha'i holy days, in an official circular published by the Ministry of
Education and Culture; the exemption from duty accorded by the Customs
Department to all furniture received for Baha'i holy places as well as for
all material imported for the construction of the Bab's Sepulcher, the
exemption from taxes similarly extended to all international Baha'i
endowments surrounding the holy tomb on Mount Carmel, stretching from the
ridge of the m