April 19. On this date in 1925, Shoghi Effendi wrote "there is undoubtedly truth in the contention that if, in a country where a reasonably high standard of living, of culture, etc., has been attained, people accustomed to a lower standard of life and culture are freely admitted, and allowed unrestricted rights of commercial and industrial competition, the standard of living and culture in that country is bound to suffer."
Major Norman Macleod, Army Headquarters, Victoria Barracks, Melbourne, Australia.12
Dear Bahá'í Brother,
Shoghi Effendi was very pleased to receive your letter of 11th March and to hear that you had become a Bahá'í through the instrumentality of Martha Root. Martha Root has just been here and stayed fully a month in Haifa. She has now gone forth again fired with fresh enthusiasm to resume her splendid work for the Cause. She is now in Cairo, but on 1st May will leave for Europe. After consultation with Shoghi Effendi, her provisional plan is to spend the next year or two in Europe, where teachers such as she are greatly needed. She will probably spend 3 or 4 months in Geneva and then to on to England, then to other European countries, including Russia, if circumstances permit.
With regard to your question about the "White Australia" policy, it is clear that this policy of rigid exclusion of coloured Asiatic races from Australia finds no justification in the Bahá'í Teachings.
Bahá'u'lláh and 'Abdu'l-Bahá taught in the clearest possible way the necessity of getting rid of all racial and national prejudices and of equal justice for men of all races and colours. That a white race should forcibly annex a country previously inhabited exclusively by coloured people and then proceed to forbid the admission of coloured people to that country - especially a country so large as Australia, many parts of which are obviously better suited for coloured races than for white people - is clearly unjust.
At the same time there is undoubtedly truth in the contention that if, in a country where a reasonably high standard of living, of culture, etc., has been attained, people accustomed to a lower standard of life and culture are freely admitted, and allowed unrestricted rights of commercial and industrial competition, the standard of living and culture in that country is bound to suffer.
Even if we got rid of racial and colour prejudice, this economic and cultured problem would remain. The Bahá'í method of solving the problem is to educate both the white and coloured races in the teachings of Bahá'u'lláh. The white races must cease to regard themselves as "superior" and as having, by virtue of that innate superiority a right to exploit, take unfair advantage of and even to exterminate coloured races, on the principle of the "survival of the fittest". They must cease to regard the colour of a man's skin as a legitimate index of his "superiority" or "inferiority" and must recognise that a good coloured man (of whom there are many) is better than a bad white man (of whom there are also many). They must adopt a policy of even-handed justice for white and coloured people and recognise that coloured and white people have equally the right to live and to have access to suitable land on which to live. If there are certain parts of the world which by reason of climate are more suited to coloured people than to white, then coloured people ought to have preference in rights of access to such land, if white people have preferential rights in cooler regions, more suited to their health and well-being.
The "backward" races must be educated and their standard of living and culture be raised as much as possible, their latent talents being developed to the fullest possible extent. If this is done their objectionable characteristics will disappear.
The so-called "advanced" races however, are by no means free from objectionable characteristics, such as commercial greed, love of domination, materialistic conceptions, want of spirituality. By true education and true religion these also must be got rid of.
When both the "backward" and the "advanced" races become educated in this way, then such questions as the admission of coloured races to Australian territories will no longer be settled by certain people who have seized such territory dictating to the rest of the world who shall be allowed admission to it, but by an impartial international tribunal in which all sections of the human race shall be fairly represented and which will consider the pressure of population in various regions, the suitability of various regions for the habitation of different peoples, etc., and decide what is best in the interests of humanity as a whole.
For the satisfactory solution of any one such question we need the progressive application of all the Bahá'í principles. For instance in this case it is clear that racial and national prejudices must be abolished, that universal education is necessary, that a universal league of nations must have an authority superseding that of any one nation, that impartial arbitration must be substituted for domination by powers which are backed by strong armies and navies, that an international language is needed to promote international understanding, that materialism and selfish greed must be replaced by true religion and mutual love, and so on.
The ideals of the Oneness of God, the oneness of religion and the oneness of humanity must be instilled into the minds of the children throughout the world, and when a generation grows up thoroughly imbued with these great ideals, the solution of the economic and political problems that now cause so much misery, strife and even blood-shed in the world will become easy.
Meantime in political and economic matters, compromise is necessary but we must use our influence to see that the compromise is ever being modified and advanced in the direction of justice for all - not in the direction of the exclusive advantage of one section of the world's population over others.
We are delighted to hear of the growth of the Bahá'í Group in Melbourne. In the growth of the Bahá'í movement, it seems to me, lies the hope of the world for the solution of all the problems that now vex and trouble it. It is very encouraging to note not only the steady increase in the number and size of our Bahá'í groups, but the steady trend of public opinion throughout the world towards acceptance of the great fundamental principles laid down sixty years ago by Bahá'u'lláh. There are backward eddies in the current, of course, and this "White Australia" policy seems to me to be one of them, but on the whole the progress of Bahá'í principles seems to me to be amazing during the last half-century and this to me is one of the clearest proofs of the true prophethood of Bahá'u'lláh.
From your name I presume that either you or your parents hail from the same side of the Tweed as myself. My native town is Aberdeen. The name of Norman MacLeod was a highly honoured one in Scotland in my childhood's days and is still. Are you a near relative of the great Presbyterian Divine we used to hear so much about?
Shoghi Effendi is looking forward to meeting Rev. D. Millar of Melbourne. We had a delightful visit from Effie Baker of Melbourne and four New Zealand friends. They spent about 3 weeks here and then went on to England.
Shoghi Effendi and the friends here join in warmest regards and best wishes to yourself and all the friends in Melbourne especially to Mr. and Mrs. Dunn, who are doing such fine work for the advancement of the Cause.
Your brother in the Master's service, J.E. Esslemont.
12 Major MacLeod became Bahá'í during Martha Root's visit to Melbourne in 1924, and was subsequently Vice-President of the Melbourne Assembly. Little is known of him after 1926.
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