ity of each of the ten goal
countries included within its scope. The interior ornamentation of the
Mother Temple of the West has, before its appointed time, been completed.
Other tasks, no less vital, still remain to be carried, in the course of a
fast shrinking period, to a successful conclusion. The landscaping of the
area surrounding a structure whose foundations and exterior and interior
ornamentation have demanded, for so many years, so much effort and such
constant sacrifice, must, under no circumstances, and while there is yet
time, be neglected, lest failure to achieve this final task mar the beauty
of the approaches of a national shrine which provide so suitable a setting
for an edifice at once so sacred and noble. The responsibilities solemnly
undertaken to consolidate and multiply the administrative institutions
throughout all the states of the Union--a task that has of late been
allowed to fall into abeyance, and has been eclipsed by the spectacular
success attending the shining exploits of the American Baha'i Community in
foreign fields--must be speedily and seriously reconsidered, for upon the
constant broadening and the steady reinforcement of this internal
administrative structure, which provides the essential base for future
operations in all the continents of the globe, must depend the vigor, the
rapidity and the soundness of the future crusades which must needs be
launched in the service, and for the glory of the Faith of Baha'u'llah,
and in obedience to the stirring summons issued by the Center of His
Covenant in some of His most weighty Tablets. Above all, the accumulating
deficit which has lately again thrown its somber shadow on an otherwise
resplendent record of service, must, through a renewed display of
self-abnegation, which, though not commensurate with the sacrifice of so
many souls immolated on the altar of the Faith of Baha'u'llah, may at
least faintly reflect its poignant heroism, be obliterated, once and for
all, from the record of a splendid stewardship to His Faith.

There can be no doubt--and I am the first to proudly acknowledge it--that,
ever since the launching of the Second Seven Year Plan, and in consequence
of unexpected developments both in the Holy Land and elsewhere, the
American Baha'i Community, ever ready to bear the brunt of responsibility,
under the stress of unforeseen circumstances, has considerably widened the
scope of its original undertakings and augmented the weight