spective countries.

Just as the formulation of Baha'i constitutions had provided the
foundation for the incorporation of Baha'i Spiritual Assemblies, so did
the recognition accorded by local and national authorities to the elected
representatives of Baha'i communities pave the way for the establishment
of national and local Baha'i endowments--a historic undertaking which, as
had been the case with previous achievements of far-reaching importance,
the American Baha'i Community was the first to initiate. In most cases
these endowments, owing to their religious character, have been exempted
from both government and municipal taxes, as a result of representations
made by the incorporated Baha'i bodies to the civil authorities, though
the value of the properties thus exempted has, in more than one country,
amounted to a considerable sum.

In the United States of America the national endowments of the Faith,
already representing one and three-quarter million dollars of assets, and
established through a series of Indentures of Trust, created in 1928,
1929, 1935, 1938, 1939, 1941 and 1942 by the National Spiritual Assembly
in that country, acting as Trustees of the American Baha'i Community, now
include the land and structure of the Ma_sh_riqu'l-A_dh_kar, and the
caretaker's cottage in Wilmette, Ill.; the adjoining Haziratu'l-Quds
(Baha'i National Headquarters) and its supplementary administrative
office; the Inn, the Fellowship House, the Baha'i Hall, the Arts and
Crafts Studio, a farm, a number of cottages, several parcels of land,
including the holding on Monsalvat, blessed by the footsteps of
'Abdu'l-Baha, in Green Acre, in the state of Maine; Bosch House, the
Baha'i Hall, a fruit orchard, the Redwood Grove, a dormitory and Ranch
Buildings in Geyserville, Calif.; Wilhelm House, Evergreen Cabin, a pine
grove and seven lots with buildings at West Englewood, N.J., the scene of
the memorable Unity Feast given by 'Abdu'l-Baha, in June, 1912, to the
Baha'is of the New York Metropolitan district; Wilson House, blessed by
His presence, and land in Malden, Mass.; Mathews House and Ranch Buildings
in Pine Valley, Colo.; land in Muskegon, Mich., and a cemetery lot in
Portsmouth, N.H.

Of even greater importance, and in their aggregate far surpassing in value
the national endowments of the American Baha'i community, though their
title-deeds are, owing to the inability of the Persian Baha'i community to
incorporate its national and l