ting its members. The special stress laid on some of the fundamental
laws contained in the Kitab-i-Aqdas regarding daily obligatory prayers;
the observance of the fast, the consent of the parents as a prerequisite
of marriage; the one-year separation between husband and wife as an
indispensable condition of divorce; abstinence from all alcoholic drinks;
the emphasis placed on the institution of the Nineteen Day Feast as
ordained by Baha'u'llah in that same Book; the discontinuation of
membership in, and affiliation with, all ecclesiastical organizations, and
the refusal to accept any ecclesiastical post--these have served to
forcibly underline the distinctive character of the Baha'i Fellowship, and
to dissociate it, in the eyes of the public, from the rituals, the
ceremonials and man-made institutions identified with the religious
systems of the past.

Of particular and historic importance has been the application made by the
Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Chicago--the first center established
in the North American continent, the first to be incorporated among its
sister-Assemblies and the first to take the initiative in paving the way
for the erection of a Baha'i Temple in the West--to the civil authorities
in the state of Illinois for civil recognition of the right to conduct
legal marriages in accordance with the ordinances of the Kitab-i-Aqdas,
and to file marriage certificates that have previously received the
official sanction of that Assembly. The acceptance of this petition by the
authorities, necessitating an amendment of the by-laws of all local
Assemblies to enable them to conduct Baha'i legal marriages, and
empowering the Chairman or secretary of the Chicago Assembly to represent
that body in the conduct of all Baha'i marriages; the issuance, on
September 22, 1939, of the first Baha'i Marriage License by the State of
Illinois, authorizing the aforementioned Assembly to solemnize Baha'i
marriages and issue Baha'i marriage certificates; the successful measures
taken subsequently by Assemblies in other states of the Union, such as New
York, New Jersey, Wisconsin and Ohio, to procure for themselves similar
privileges, have, moreover, contributed their share in giving added
prominence to the independent religious status of the Faith. To these must
be added a similar and no less significant recognition extended, since the
outbreak of the present conflict, by the United States War Department--as
evidenced by t