ld, to assist in the eventual
application of the principle of federalism, underlying the government of
your own country, to the relationships now existing between the peoples
and nations of the world. The ideals that fired the imagination of
America's tragically unappreciated President, whose high endeavors,
however much nullified by a visionless generation, 'Abdu'l-Baha, through
His own pen, acclaimed as signalizing the dawn of the Most Great Peace,
though now lying in the dust, bitterly reproach a heedless generation for
having so cruelly abandoned them.

That the world is beset with perils, that dangers are now accumulating and
are actually threatening the American nation, no clear-eyed observer can
possibly deny. The earth is now transformed into an armed camp. As much as
fifty million men are either under arms or in reserve. No less than the
sum of three billion pounds is being spent, in one year, on its armaments.
The light of religion is dimmed and moral authority disintegrating. The
nations of the world have, for the most part, fallen a prey to battling
ideologies that threaten to disrupt the very foundations of their dearly
won political unity. Agitated multitudes in these countries seethe with
discontent, are armed to the teeth, are stampeded with fear, and groan
beneath the yoke of tribulations engendered by political strife, racial
fanaticism, national hatreds, and religious animosities. "The winds of
despair," Baha'u'llah has unmistakably affirmed, "are, alas, blowing from
every direction, and the strife that divides and afflicts the human race
is daily increasing. The signs of impending convulsions and chaos can now
be discerned...." "The ills," 'Abdu'l-Baha, writing as far back as two
decades ago, has prophesied, "from which the world now suffers will
multiply; the gloom which envelops it will deepen. The Balkans will remain
discontented. Its restlessness will increase. The vanquished Powers will
continue to agitate. They will resort to every measure that may rekindle
the flame of war. Movements, newly born and worldwide in their range, will
exert their utmost for the advancement of their designs. The Movement of
the Left will acquire great importance. Its influence will spread." As to
the American nation itself, the voice of its own President, emphatic and
clear, warns his people that a possible attack upon their country has been
brought infinitely closer by the development of aircraft and by other
factor