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Nor can I dismiss this subject related to the progress achieved in the development of Baha'i international institutions in the Holy Land without a special reference to the continual extension and embellishment of the international endowments of the Faith in the plain of `Akka and on the slopes of Mt. Carmel, the value of which now exceeds five million two hundred thousand dollars, as well as to the ever-swelling crowds of visitors flocking to the Baha'i Shrines in both of these places, and particularly to the number of those entering the Tomb of the Bab which, during a single day, in a three-hour period, has exceeded a thousand. (109:1) THE TEN-YEAR PLAN IN THE UNITED STATES- In the United States of America, the cradle and citadel of the embryonic World Order of Baha'u'llah, the elected national representatives of the American Baha'i Community, acting as the representatives of the International Baha'i Community, charged with the defense of the cause of their persecuted brethren in the cradle of the Faith, have energetically pursued their efforts, through representations made to the United Nations officials and agencies in New York and Geneva, through their contact with high-ranking officials of the American State Department and through measures of publicity in the American Press, all culminating in the victory won over the adversaries of the Faith, to which reference has been made earlier in these pages. (109:2) The landscaping of the Temple area, including the operation of the nine fountains, as envisaged by `Abdu'l-Baha , has been completed at a cost of two hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars. The number of visitors who, since public guiding has been instituted, have flocked to the doors of this Mother Temple of the West, now standing amidst such attractive surroundings, has exceeded seven hundred thousand, whilst more than three thousand have entered its doors in the course of a single day. Authorization has moreover been recently given by the Wilmette Village Board for the construction of the Home for the Aged, the first Dependency of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar. The value of national and local endowments owned by, and under the control of, that community, whose members have so spontaneously and effectively championed the cause of the persecuted and the down-trodden, and so generously contributed to their relief in the past, is now four and a half million dollars. The number of American Indian tribes with which contact has been established in the Western Hemisphere - an achievement in which the members of this Community have played a leading role - is now over forty-five. No less than eighteen American Indian tribes are now represented in the Baha'i communities of that same hemisphere, mainly as a result of the assiduous endeavors exerted by the members of this Community. The number of territories, federal districts and states where official authorization for the conduct of Baha'i marriages has been obtained is now twenty-eight, whilst the number of localities, in that same country, where the Baha'i Holy Days are officially recognized is one short of forty.
(109:3)
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