The Baha'i Faith & Religious Freedom of Conscience

Together with Dr. Mitchell's Report available at the link above, these documents constitute the entire collection
that Ruth White deposited with the Library of Congress in 1930.  Bibliography of Ruth White's books at the bottom of this page.

LC Control No.: mm 81000871
Type of Material: Archival Manuscript Material (Collection)
Personal Name: ?Abdul-Baha´, 1844-1921.
Main Title: Collection regarding the will of ?Abdul-Baha´,1930-1932.
Description: 9 items.
Biographical/Historical Data:
Religious leader.

Summary: Correspondence and reports by Ainsworth C. Mitchell and
Ruth White concerning the authenticity of a copy of the
will of ?Abdul-Baha´. Correspondents include the
assistant of Effendi Shoghi, officials of the government
of Palestine, and Ruth White.

Notes: MSS871
Forms part of: Miscellaneous Manuscripts collection.
Acquisition Source:
Gift, Ruth White, 1930-1932.
Additional Formats:
Positive photocopies and handwritten and type written transcripts.

Subjects: ?Abd ul-Baha¯ ibn Baha¯ Ulla¯h, 1844-1921.
Mitchell, C. Ainsworth (Charles Ainsworth), 1867-
Shoghi, Effendi--Correspondence.
White, Ruth.
White, Ruth--Correspondence.
Palestine. Chief Secretary's Office--Correspondence.
Bahai Faith.
Religious leaders. itoamc
Local Shelving No.:
MMC
Repository: Library of Congress Manuscript Division Washington, D.C.
_____________________________
CALL NUMBER: MMC
-- Request in: Manuscript Reading Room (Madison, LM101)
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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS ONLINE CATALOG
Library of Congress
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Washington, DC 20540
https://www.loc.gov

“That is to say, the writing does not agree with the hypothesis that it was all written by one person.”

“A minute comparison of the authenticated writing with the writing on every page of the alleged will . . . has failed to detect in any part of the will the characteristics of the writing of Abdul-Baha, as shown in the authenticated specimens.” -- Dr. C. Ainsworth Mitchell, 1930.

The attempts to discredit Dr. Mitchell and Ruth White have relied on, for over 75 years, slander and ad hominem and are no more convincing now than they have ever been. Note the attempt to shift, from his conclusion and call for an examination of the original, to the man himself. Classic ad hominem.

I ask the reader to reflect on the fact that Dr. Mitchell remains one of the most respected forensic researchers of the 20th century and is still quoted and cited by academics and legal experts. His professional integrity is beyond question as is and was his ability to assess the authenticity of the purported will itself. As the document curator for the British Museum, Dr. Mitchell used techniques and methods still widely used and recognized, whether or not one has a command of the language being scrutinized. Knowledge of a language in and of itself has never been the essential for handwriting experts, and informed people know that to be a fact. Those who seek to conceal the act of forgery hope to confuse the uninformed about what is involved. See the link below to one of his books available online.

Ruth White placed Dr. Mitchell's signed Report on the Writing Shown on the Photographs of the Alleged Will of Abdul-Baha with the Library of Congress in 1930. Certified copy below.

A bibliography of Dr. C. Ainsworth Mitchell's extensive published work is easily available from the Library of Congress catalog or WorldCat.
Or see professional genealogist Will Johnson's webpage on Dr. C. Ainsworth Mitchell

Download All Documents Deposited by Ruth White at the Library of Congress in one PDF

Dr. Mitchell was singularly qualified to judge the authenticity of the purported will of Abdul-Baha:

"In England, C. Ainsworth Mitchell was a public analyst interested primarily in questioned documents and the chemistry of inks during the early twentieth century" (25). FROM Introduction to Forensic Sciences. William G. Eckert. Published 1997 CRC Press. Legal Reference / Law Profession. 390 pages. ISBN: 0849381010. The authenticity of my quotation may be verified by Previewing the book and selecting page 25. On Amazon.com: ISBN: 0849381010

NOTE WELL: In 1997, decades after his Report on the Writing Shown on the Photographs of the Alleged Will of Abdul-Baha in 1930, Dr. C. Ainsworth Mitchell's reputation in the field of "questioned documents" continues to command the respect of colleagues, generations later, capable of evaluating his abilities and of educating new students of forensic science.

"Documents And Their Scientific Examiniation" (1920) Author: C. Ainsworth Mitchell, Date 1920. (can be downloaded in full)

Professional genealogist Will Johnson to a fundamentalist Baha'i who dismissed Dr. Mitchell:
From: "wjhonson" wjhonson@aol.com
Newsgroups: alt.religion.bahai,talk.religion.bahai
Sent: Saturday, April 21, 2007 10:36 PM
Subject: Re: 4-20-07 - Ruth White. Abdul Baha's Questioned Will and Testament.
>
> That's a bit disengenuous to his memory. Charles Ainsworth Mitchell
> wrote several books in which he details pencil, ink, writing styles,
> etc. It wasn't a hobby, he was a professional in this type of
> analysis.

Dr. C. (Charles) Ainsworth Mitchell - Certified Copy from the Library of Congress Report on the Writing Shown on the Photographs of the Alleged Will of Abdul-Baha. 1930.

All Documents Deposited by Ruth White at the Library of Congress in one PDF

[All documents in the PDF file typed and reordered, below, mostly by date, for ease of comprehension.]

Correspondence between the High Commissioner of Palestine and Ruth White, regarding the alleged Will of Sir Abdul Baha Abbas.
By Ruth White March, 1932.

In a previous pamphlet, "Abdul Baha's Alleged Will is Fraudulent" I published a letter that I had written to the High commisioner of Palestine on Dec. 31, 1928, asking him to investigate my charges that the alleged will of Abdul Baha is fraudulent. This request for an investigation seems to have troubled the minds of the adherents of Shoghi Effendi, since the following appeared in "The Baha'i News Letter," no. 31, for April 1929.

"Instructions concerning Attitude Towards Those Attacking Cause.

"A copy of the pamphlet publishe by Mrs. Ruth White was sent to Shoghi Effendi in January. This mater is taken up by the Guardian inhis letter to the National Spiritual Assembly recently reprinted (as recorded in summary of last Assembly meeting), but the following words written in a brieder letter on February 27, 1929 are instructive: 'I have in a letter addressed to the National Assembly set forth my views regarding the contents of Mrs. White's pamphlet, Ihave thus far received no intimation fromthe Palestine authorities, and have no reason to believe that they will consider it worthy of their consideration. The friends, however should avoid hurting her feelings and should abstain from provovation. Her case will suffer the fate which has met Dyar's opposition in 'Reality', and should be totally disregarded by the believers...'"

A sincere man in Shoghi's position should gladly have accepted my challenge for an investigation. Any man confident of the justice of his case would, in fact, have courted and insisted upon an impartial and judicial examination of the alleged will and of all the facts bearing on his claim to Guardianship. Shoghi Effendi however, it can be seen, was congratulating himself that there was no likelihood of the Palestine authorities considering the question. he shunned a test of the alleged will and of his claims. And I have every reason to believe that his advice to his followers not to hurt my feelings at that time was with a view to prevent me from pursuing the matter further.

In reply to my letter to the High Commissioner I received a letter fromHis Excellency written through his chief secretary and dated February 6, 1929 to the effect that any information I wished to obtain must be obtained privately and that I would be well advised to employ an advocate in Palestine. This letter was, of course, a great disappointment to me. Not until two years later did it occur to me that I could cite an instance which would prove indubitably that the fraud was one under the jurisdiciton of the Palestine authorities and that then the British Government would have to take notice. In other words, in my first letter Ihad cited only the fact that Shoghi Effendi was collecting money from the Bahais of America based on the authority granted in an alleged will of Abdul Baha. In my next letter to the High Commissioner, written 7, 1930, I brought the fraud forward as operating right in Palestine. And because of this fact, on account of the collection of money having taken place in Palestine I received a different response from the High commissioner. The following are the letters that have passed between us.

To His Excellency
The High Commissioner of Palestine
Jerusalem, Palestine.
October 7, 1930

Your Excellency:

As a victim of a fraud, which is being perpetrated under the Mandatory Power now governing Palestine, I wish to make a complaint against Shoghi Effendi, of the Persian Colony, at Haifa Palestine.

Shoghi Effendi is collecting money from the people of the various nations of the world under the powers granted him in an alleged will which he claims is the will of Sir Abdul Baha Abbas. I base my assertion that a fraud is being perpetrated by Shoghi Effendi on the following facts:

About three months after the death ofSir Abdul Baha Abbas, in November 1921, typewritten copies of an English translation of a document were sent to England, America, and other countries, which Shoghi Effendi alleged is the will of Sir Abdul Baha Abbas, appointing him his successor. This alleged will is undated, unwitnessed, unprobated, and unstamped by the Government. It also contradicts the intent that its alleged maker held during his lifetime. For the alleged will commands people to obey Shoghi Effendi as if he were God, and to pay a tax to him. This is the motive of the fraud—money and power.

I have submitted the photographs of the alleged will to Dr. C. Ainsworth Mitchell, the renowned English handwriting expert; and editor of The Analyst, at 85 Eccleston Square London, S.W.1. and his report shows that this document is fraudulent. No part of it was written by Abdul Baha, although Shoghi Effendi, and the family of Sir Abdul Baha assert that every word of its ten pages was written by Sir Abdul Baha. Shoghi Effendi ignored by reqeust for permission to send a handwriting expert to Haifa to examine the original document.

Aside from my having contributed to various Bahai activities in America Ialso sent $200 to Palestine, in response to a solicitation from Shoghi Effendi, which he made through The National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahais of the U.S. and Canada, urging them to send money to him to buy land on Mount Carmel, in order to protect the Tomb of the Bab. No financial statment was ever given to me regarding the purchase of this land, although I have requested an account of it. I enclose photostat copies of the appeal, and the receipt, for contributions to this fund, also two letters of acknowledgment of my contribution. I also enclose a photostat copy ofDr. Mitchell's report.

I am not making this complaint merely because of the money I have contributed, as this is small compared to the expense that I have incurred in collecting evidence against Shoghi Effendi. But I am making this complaint in order to protect the public from a fraud, and a movement, which under Shoghi Effendi has become far more subversive than that of Bolshevism. For Shoghi Effendi aims to become world dictator, and he is establishing enemy states within each state, and collecting taxes from the people of these enemy states. All this is contrary to the teachings of Sir Abdul Baha Abbas whose successor he claims to be.

Will you please investigate these charges, and upon verifying Dr. Mitchell's report take such steps as lies within your jurisprudence to prohibit Shoghi Effendi from perpetrating the fraud that he is the successor of Sir Abdul Baha.

Yours very truly, (Signed) Ruth White.

[Letter No. 1, facsimile and quoted by White] [Reordered by date]

Tel. Add. "CHIEFSEC, JERUSALEM"
Any reply should be addressed to
THE CHIEF SECRETARY, GOVERNMENT OFFICES,
JERUSALEM. and should quote No. 1232/29

SECRETARIAT,
GOVERNMENT OFFICES,
JERUSALEM.

25TH November, 1930.

Madam,

I am directed to refer to your letter of the 7th October regarding the will of Sir abdul Baha Abbas and to ask that I may be furnished with the docment purporting to be the will, or a photograph of it, which you caused to be examined by Dr. C. Ainsworth Mitchell.

Steps will then be taken, if possible, to compare that with the original will which is in Palestine.

I am, Madam, Your obedient servant, CHIEF SECRETARY

(Signed) Max Norock

Mrs. H. Lawrence White, Butler Hall, 88 Morningside Drive, New York City, U.S.A.

To the Chief Secretary
Government Offices
Jerusalem
December 12, 1930

Dear Sir:

Thank you for your letter of November 25, 1930, 1232/29. It gives me great pleasure to send you the photographs of the alleged will of Sir Abdul Baha Abbas which I herewith enclose. These photographs are copies of a set of photographs which Mr. Horace Holley lent me. Mr. Holley is the secretary of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha's of the United States and Canada, and this organization officially represents Shoghi Effendi, the alleged successor of Air Abdul Baha. I also enclose two samples of teh authentic writing Sir Abdul Baha. One sample is a photograph made from the Book of the Unitarian Church at Montclair, New Jersey, in which book he wrote directly after he delivered a sermon at the church on May 12th, 1912. The other sample is a photograph made from the Bible at the City Temple, London, in which book he also wrote directly after he had finished delivering a sermon there in 1911. One cannot be certain of any writings purporting to be those of Sir Abdul Baha except those secured from church records, and other public books in which he wrote. For almost all of his later letters were written by his secretaries, and many of these secretaries were related to him, hence they are interested parties, as all of Abdul Baha's family share in the tax that is derived from the powers granted in this alleged will.

If you will pardon me for digressing a little I would like to recount to you an incident that occurred while I was in London last May and June, having the alleged will of Sir Abdul Baha examined by Dr. C. Ainsworth Mitchell, which made me certain that a Higher Power was guiding this affair. Two years prior to this I had tried to get in touch with the British Analyst of Palestine (as I thought at that time that he was the proper official to address regarding the investigating of the alleged will of Sir Abdul Baha) and I was assured by one of the officials at the British Embassy, here in New York City, that there was no British analyst in Palestine. Then what was my astonishment one night in London, while at a meeting of distinguished scientists, to meet Mr. Gerald Baker, who I learned had been the Analyst there for Great Britian about nine years. I thereupon recounted to him the incident and asked him if he would go to Dr. Mitchell's office and see the enlarged photographs of teh alleged will, as well as the authentic samples of Sir Abdul Baha's writings. This he did. I am sure that he will be glad to tell you what he has heard personally from Dr. Mitchell.

Under separate cover I am sending you a copy of my book, "The Bahai Religion and Its Enemy the Bahai Organization." Between pages 165 and 200 you will find the printed reproduction of the alleged will of Sir Abdul Baha, and the English translation of its complete text. Also a sample of his authentic writing.

If I can do anything further to assist you, please call upon me as I shall be only too happy to help you in any way I can.

Yours very truly,
(Signed) Ruth White
P.S. Between pages 178 and 184 of my book you will find the appointment of Shoghi Effendi.

[Letter No. 2, facsimile and quoted by White]

Tel. Add. "CHIEFSEC, JERUSALEM"
Any reply should be addressed to
THE CHIEF SECRETARY, GOVERNMENT OFFICES,
JERUSALEM. and should quote No. 1232/29

SECRETARIAT,
GOVERNMENT OFFICES,
JERUSALEM.

7th January, 1931.

Madam,

I am directed to acknowledge the receipt of your letter dated the 12th December, enclosing photographs of the alleged will of the late Sir Abdul Baha Abbas.
2. I have also to thank you for the copy of your book "The Bahai Religion, and its enemy the Bahai Organisation" which accompanied it.
3. I shall not fail to inform you of the result of the comparison of the alleged will with the original document.

I am, Madam, Your obedient servant, CHIEF SECRETARY.

(Signed) Max Norock

Mrs. H. Lawrence White, Butler Hall, 88 Morningside Drive, New York City, U.S.A.

[Letter No. 4, facsimile and quoted by White]

Government of Palestine

In case of reply please quote the date of this letter and the following
No. Y/58/31.

Chief Secretary's Office, Jerusalem, Palestine
Registered
19th May, 1931.

Madam,

In continuation of my letter No. 1232/29 of the 7th of January, 1931, on the subject of the will of the late Sir Abdel Baha Abbas, I am directed to inform you that Mr. Afnan Shoghi Effendi Rabbani permitted a comparison to be made between the document which is reported to be the original will of the deceased and the photographs which you have produced.

Such examination revealed that the photographs appeared to be authentic reproductions of the document produced as the will of the deceased.

I am, Madam, Your obedient Servant, for ACTING CHEIF SECRETARY.

(Signed) Ruhi Abdulhady

Mrs. H. Lawrence White, Butler Hall, 88 Morningside Drive, New York City, U.S.A.

To His Excellency
The High Commissioner of Jerusalem
Palestine.
June 5th, 1931

Your Excellency:

Thank you for your letter of May 19th, Y/58/31, sent through your secretary.

I am glad that the first step has been accomplished, and that you have compared the photographs I sent yuo of the alleged will of Sir Abdul Baha Abbas with the original document purporting to be his will, and found that the photographs are reproductions of it. Thank you for taking this very necessary step. But you of course are aware that my request for an investigation was not in order to ascertain whether the photographs I sent you were copies of this purported document, for I never doubted that they were. My request was for you to ascertain whether the document is authentic or fraudulent. When Dr. Mitchell examined the enlarged photographs of the alleged will he said that he had done all he could with photographs, and that the next step should be for an expert to examine the original alleged will at Haifa in order to ascertain many points that can be ascertained only through an examination of an original document, as for instance--the chemical analysis of the ink, its age, and evidences of erasures, and also evidences of paper having been pieced together, and many other points familiar to a handwriting expert.

After Dr. Mitchell told me this I sent Shoghi Effendi Rabbani a registered letter asking him to grant me permission to send a handwriting expert to Haifa and have the original examined. But to this he did not reply, nor did I expect him to, inasmuch as he has done everything to prevent an investigation. Yet he has not hesitated to collect money from me and other Bahais under the powers granted in this alleged will.

I most respectully repeat my request to you that inasmuch as I am one of the victims of this fraud, and inasmuch as this fraud is continuing to be perpetrated internationally upon the public, and great sums of money colllected under the powers granted in this alleged will, that you have the original alleged will of Sir Abdul Baha Abbas examined by a handwriting expert and report your finding to me. Your report that the photographs examined by the handwriting expert to whom Isubmitted these (Dr. Mitchell) have been verified as accurate reproductions of the original document, in conjunction with the report of Dr. Mithcell make a prima facie case of fraud agains those who have used this alleged will as a basis of soliciting money from the public, and you will hence recognize the necessity of further action on your part.

You already have Dr. Mitchell's report which shows that his examination of the photographs of this alleged will proves it to be fraudulent. You also have photostats of the receipts showing that I contributed to this Bahai Fund (from which Shoghi Effendi receives his tax). And at the time I contributed to this fund it was without knowledge that the alleged will had not been fully authenticated. Therefore as all indications are overwhelmingly in favour of the belief that this alleged will, which was undated, unwitnessed, unprobated and unstamped by the government, is fraudulent, and especially as this belief is backed up by the report of Dr. C. Ainsworth Mitchell showing it to be fraudulent, I am confident that you will take the final step and have the document examined and make a report so that these victims may no longer be defrauded by Shoghi Effendi Rabanni, who claims to be the successor of Sir Abdul Baha Abbas, and that restitution may be made tome, and to many others, from whom large sums have been obtained under the false pretences.

A report coming from the British Government would have an overwhelming effect in putting a stop to the fraud and thereby His Majesty's Representatives would live up to the wonderful reputation they have established all ove rthe world for rectifying injustices.
I have great hope in the British Government, as I have lived many years in England, and am conversant with the fact that they do not pegeon-hole such matters as is often done in the United States. My confidence in the British Government's sense of justice also made me selecte Dr. C. Ainsworth Mitchell as the handwriting expert to examine this alleged will.

Please let me know what actionyou take in the matter, and please send your report by registered mail.

With many thanks for your prompt attention to this matter, I am

Very truly yours,
(Signed) Ruth White

[Letter No. 3, facsimile and quoted by White]

Government of Palestine

In case of reply please quote the date of this letter and the following
No. Y/58/31.

Chief Secretary's Office, Jerusalem, Palestine
Registered
10th July, 1931.

Madam,

I am directed to acknowledge the receipt of your letter dated the 5th June, on the subject of the will of the late Sir Abdel Baha Abbas, and to say that the Government do not feel disposed to take any further administrative actions in the matter.

I am, Madam, Your obedient Servant, for CHEIF SECRETARY

(Signed) Ruhi Abdulhady

Mrs. H. Lawrence White, Butler Hall, 88 Morningside Drive, New York City, U.S.A.

The reader will note that the High Commissioner, in his letter of November 25th asks for photographs of the alleged will in order to compare these photographs with the document from which they had been photographed! This letter astonished me as well as disappointed me as it so evidently evaded the thing I had asked for. I never doubted, nor did anyone else, that the photographs which I had received through Shoghi Effendi were photographs of the alleged will. There could have been no motive in his sending over photographs of something else and saying that they were photographs of this document.

What I had asked for, and what Dr. C. Ainsworth Mitchell, the expert in London, had said should be done, was for experts to go to Haifa and make a long and careful study of the original alleged will in order to ascertain many things that cannot be ascertained from a photograph such as, for instance, the chemical analysis of the ink and its age, water marks on the paper and the age of this paper, evidences of erasures, or of the piecing together of paper and many other things familiar to handwriting experts. This would have required weeks, and perhaps months of careful research by experts, and yet Ruhi confesses that so brief a time was consumed, in looking over thephotgraphs, that he waited in the office while this was being done. And now, in order to deceive the Bahais, Shoghi Effendi pretends that the comparison of the photographs of the alleged will with the document fromwhich they had been photographed is an authentification of the alleged will!

At first the statements emanating from Shoghi Effendi were worded very cautiously though clearly intended to mislead. Thus in a letter written through his secretary to Mr. E. E. Kluge of Chicago, dated July 10, 1931, he says:

"It might interest you to know, however, that the Will in its entirety has been closely examined by experts appointed by the Palestine government authorities. Note even the slightest objection or the faintest doubt has been expressed concerning its authenticity by them."

Here the implication is made that the alleged will was examined by the authorities with a view to ascertain whether or not it was authentic and that the result was that nothing could be discovered that impugned its authenticity. How far this is from the truth can be seen from the correspondence between the Palestine Secretariat and myself previously given here.

Those who begin to deceive by the implication of their words are likely soon to proceed to plain prevarication, and it is hard to regard as anything else another letter from Shoghi Effendi dated December 1, 1931 to Mrs. Carroll Smith of Dallas, Texas. Mrs. Smith wrote to Shoghi and stated that it had been reported to her that an official comparison had been made of the will with documents known positively to be in the handwriting of Abdul Baha, and she ends the letter as follows:

"Please tell me if such an official comparison really has been made and let the believers know that as a result the Palestine Government certified that the Will was in the Master's handwriting and was genuine.."

To this Shoghi Effendi replied through his secretary, Ruhi Afnan, in a letter part of which is as follows:

"About five or six months ago Mrs. White—who is at the heart of this movement to set the Master's Will aside—wrote the High Commissioner in Palestine on the subject and asked him to find about the authenticity of the document. The High Commissioner wrote to the governor of Haifa & sent the government expert to verify the hand-writing. Shoghi Effendi was written on the subject. Asked to send the Will to the government, he sent me with the will & the expert studied it before me & the governor in the office of the latter. The expert compared the original Will with the handwriting of the Master which Mrs. White had sent him as authentic samples. He said that they are both written by the same person & that the person who had decided otherwise does not know what he is speaking about. The expert was an Englishman who knew nothing of the Cause or the Baha'is & was absolutely impartial. I think the High Commissioner sent to Mrs. White the result of his findings but she preferred to keep quiet about it."

This statement of Shoghi Effendi asserts that "The expert compared the original Will with the handwriting of Abdul Baha which Mrs. White had sent him as authentic samples." This absolutely conflicts with the statement of the High Commissioner in his letter dated May 19, 1931 that "the photographs appeared to be genuine reproductions of the document produced as the Will of the deceased." As Soghi [sic] Effendi's statement stands it means that the photographs of the two samples of teh authentic writings of Abdl Baha which I had procured from two Bibles, in two different churches one in America and one in England, were duplicates of a Will which had been written in the Orient and buried under ground years before! This as the reader can see is not only sheer nonsense but was written with intent to deceive.

I wish to call the attention of the reader to another point also. Shoghi Effendi wrote Mr. Kluge that experts examined the Will. Later he wrote to Mrs. Smith that only one expert examined the Will--an Englishman. The extracts from these two letters are as follows:

"...the Will in its entirety has been closely examined by expertsappointed by the Palestine government authorities. Not even the slightest objection or the faintest doubt has been expressed concerning its authenticity by them.

Six months later he wrote to Mrs. Smith through his secretary as follows:

"The High Commissioner wrote to the governor of Haifa & sent the government expert to verify the hand-writing... the expert studied it before me & the governor in the office of the latter. The expertcompared the original Will... with the handwriting of the Master which Mrs. White had sent him as authentic samples. He said that they are both written by the same person... The expert was an Englishman..."

After the final statement of the High Commissioner in his letter of May 19th, the reader willnote that I again urged him in my letter of June 5th tomake the examination Ihad asked for, and his last letter to me, dated July 10th shows that the Govenment would not take the actions Ihad asked for, as the following statement shows:

"I am directed... to say that the Government do not feel disposed to take any further administrative actions in the matter."

The "further administrative actions" I had asked for was an examination of the alleged will by experts which would have required weeks and perhaps months of careful work. If the Government really had had the alleged will examined by experts, and had made a definite report showing whether it was spurious or authentic, then as that was all I had asked for there would have been no sense in their replying that, "The government do not feel disposed to take any further administrative actions in the matter."

Furthermore if there had been any authentification of the document wouldn't Shoghi Effendi have been only too eager to have blazoned this to the Bahai World, considering that for four years I had publicly challenged him with the fact that this document was spurious? Wouldn't he have gloried in publishing such a report in all the Bahai publications thereby trying to prove me wrong? But this he did not do. He has kept silent on the subject, except where he could not do otherwise in the two letters already cited. For in these two letters of mr. Kluge and Mrs. Smith, he has asked point blank whether there had been an official authentification of the alleged Will, and he therefore was placed in the embarrassing position which necessitated a reply. His policy has been, and still is to keep quiet, and caution the Bahais to keep as quiet as possible about the matter, hoping that by so doing it will die. But it will not die. What will die is the papistry that Shoghi Effendi and his coterie have set up. For in this enlightened age it is impossible for the people to revert to this mediaeval institution, especially as it is wholly irreconcilable with the Bahai teachings. The reader may ascertain for himself the truth of the statement that the papist group is rapidly diminishing by looking in THE WORLD ALMANAC for 1931 on page 391. There he will find that in 1916 the number of Bahais in the United States and Canada was listed as 2,884. But since this group became papists under Shoghi Effendi their numbes have diminished to 1,247 under his "Guardianship." On the other hand all the groups who have rejected Shoghi Effendi are rapidly increasing, with the result that the largest number of Baha'is are in the ranks of those who are no longer under this papist domination. [Note White indicates there were multiple Bahai groups who rejected Shoghi Effendi.]

There are three attitudes of mind among the Bahais today toward the alleged will of Abdul Baha. First there is the attitude of this papist group, known under the names of "Spiritual Assemblies", "Local Assemblies" and "National Spiritual Assemblies of Baha'is". The members of this group accept Shoghi Effendi as the "Guardian" whom they believe they are command to obey as if he were God, likewise feeling under the obligation to pay a tax to him, according to the directions given in the alleged will.

The second attitude of mind is that of certain dissident Bahais who although they have thrown off the authority of Shoghi Effendi still nominally accept as authentic the alleged will of Abdul Baha on which this authority is based. This attitude is not a very consistent one, for a Bahai who believes that Abdul Baha bequeathed the powers of "Guardian" to Shoghi and yet refuses to follow the latter is disobeying what he thinks are the commands of Abdul Baha. It is setting a harmful example to future generations to violate deliberately what one believes to be an important teaching of Abdul Baha. However I am confident that the Power which has guided these Bahais in breaking away from teh Papistry of Haifa will lead them further in the right path and that they will ultimately completely reject this so-called Will.

The third attitude toward the alleged will is the right one because it is following the course that Abdul Baha told us to take--to reject any document or letters, purporting to be his, which grants any authority to anyone unless it is proved beyond the question of a doubt that they are his. Therefore, as not only did this alleged will grant Shoghi Effendi more potential authority than a kind and pope combined but moreover the application of it nullifies the teaching of both Baha'o'llah and Abdul Baha, all those who remain true to the Bahai Teachings must reject it as it has never been proved authentic but on the contrary has already been shown to be spurious.

The papal group claimed that a successor or "Guardian" would keep the Bahais united. Far from this having proved true it has brought intense inharmony among the Bahais and chaos to the Cause. Their position is utterly unlogical. That is why we have the astounding spectacle of this group promulgating any number of conflicting principles, without being in the least aware that they are conflicting. For instance they purport to promulgate the principles of Baha'o'llah and of Abdul Baha, the foremost of which was to free all religions from sectarianism, and at the same time they promulgate Shoghi's ideas of a super-sectarian cult more dogmatic and narrower than any other in existence.

The attempt to pervert the Bahai Movement by subjecting it to Organization domination is a parallel to the corruption of primitive Christianity by ecclesiasticism. Recently in trying to ascertain on what authority Christianity was able to establish a papistry new light came to me on this matter. Christ said, after Peter had divined His station: "Blessed art thou, for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in Heaven...thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church." The meaning of this verse seems to have wholly escaped Christians. Christ meant that Peter's inner guidance had revealed to him the station of Christ, and on this spiritual principle of innate knowledge would the church of Christ be built. Not on an outer church or organization confined to bricks and stones but on an inner Church founded on the right of freedom of conscience of every individual. The necessity of freedom of conscience in religion was emphasized by Baha'o'llah and Abdul Baha and they laid great stress on inner guidance which is another aspect of it.

But there is this satisfaction about the whole matter. The officials of the British Government took these steps in order to secure all the information possible from me and to keep this information on file for use in the future should the emergency arise, and through the data I have put at their disposal they are in a position at any time to take decisive action against Shoghi and his organization should he and his adherents ever become powerful. But they will not become powerful, as already shown his organization is rapidly decreasing in numbers, for no movement founded on fraud can succeed.

(Photostat copies of the four letters of the High Commissioner of Palestine, and the two letters of Shoghi Effendi written through his secretary, have been placed on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.)

If the reader would like a more detailed history of this subject, the following books by the author, published by The TUTTLE COMPANY, RUTLAND, VERMONT, are recommended:

The Bahai Religion and Its Enemy the Bahai Organization - $2.00

The Alleged Will of Abdul Baha is Fraudulent. (Pamphlet) - .25

Abdul Baha and The Promised Age. 2.00

Those who feel they cannot afford these books may obtain them at half price (except the pamphlet) by writing direct to the author:

Mrs. H. Lawrence White
102 White Building
Utica, New York.

[ See also the following two books online,

Ruth White, Bahai Leads Out of the Labyrinth. Universal Publishing Company, 1944. 259 pages. (pages 257, 258, 259 restored)

Ruth White. Abdul Baha's Questioned Will and Testament. Beverly Hills: White, 1946.  ]

In the Documents Deposited by Ruth White at the Library of Congress, immediately following Dr. Mitchell's Report, the following two letters appear, signed by Shoghi Effendi:

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
MANUSCRIPT DIVISION
MISCELLANEOUS MANUSCRIPTS COLLECTION DATA SHEET
Gift, Mrs. H. Lawrence White, 1930 & 1932, [etc.]

Rabbani, H. 1931 Jl10 to E. E. Kluge photocopy
Shoghi Effendi note 4 pgs

Afnan, Ruhi 1931 Dec 1 to Mrs Carroll Smith photocopy
Shoghi note 4 pgs

[Letter No. 1]

Persian Colony,
Haifa, Palestine 1-12-1931

Dear Mrs. Smith:

Shoghi Effendi wishes me to acknowledge the receipt of your letter dated Nov. 5th 1931. Shoghi Effendi does not attribute much importance to those who deny the authenticity of the Will because their attitude is not due to a desire to seek the truth, but merely oppose and bring doubts to others. From the very start, he relegated that task to the spirit of the Master who is always vigilant to protect His Cause against the in-roads of its enemies. And thank God the Master has helped him and made their opposition a cause of success for His Faith, rather than a danger to its existence.

About five or six months ago Mrs. White—who is at the heart of this movement to set the Master's Will aside—wrote the High Commissioner in Palestine on the subject and asked him to find about the authenticity of the document. The High Commissioner wrote to the governor of Haifa & sent the government expert to verify the hand-writing. Shoghi Effendi was written on the subject. Asked to send the Will to the government, he sent me with the will & the expert studied it before me & the governor in the office of the latter. The expert compared the original Will with the handwriting of the Master which Mrs. White had sent him as authentic samples. He said that they are both written by the same person & that the person who had decided otherwise does not know what he is speaking about. The expert was an Englishman who knew nothing of the Cause or the Baha'is & was absolutely impartial. I think the High Commissioner sent to Mrs. White the result of his findings but she preferred to keep quiet about it.

The whole trouble is that Mrs. White & her sympathisers are animated with the wrong spirit, a spirit of hatred rather than impartial seeking.

No one could possibly write a will such as that of the Master so as to be able to make the forgery. The spirit of the Master runs through every word of it & clearly shows that its author was inspired by God.

In closing may I assure you of Shoghi Effendi's loving greetings & best wishes.

Yours ever sincerely,
Ruhi Afnan

With the assurance of my loving prayers for you at the holy shrines, your true brother, Shoghi

[Letter No. 2]

(To Mr E. E. Kluge)

July 10th, 1931

Dear Baha'i Brother,

I am directed by Shoghi Effendi to inform you of the receipt of your letter dated June 12th, 1931.

Your whole letter centers around the authenticity of 'Abdu'l-Baha's Will, a thing which no one in the Orient among the believers & the enemies of the Cause has thought to challenge.

Shoghi Effendi has felt it below his dignity to subject so sacred a document to a scientific expert examination so long as no serious doubt has been entertained by any considerable number of believers throughout the world.

2

It might interest you to know, however, that the Will in its entirety has been closely examined by experts appointed by the Palestine government authorities. Not even the slightest objection or the faintest doubt has been expressed concerning its authenticity by them.

'Abdu'l-Baha has even stated that the House of Justice would be the only [only underlined] body that would administer the affaires of the Cause after Him. The fact He has in a Tablet revealed to Persian believers who had questioned Him about this point stated plainly that this was "a hidden secret concealed within the shell of the Cause" & that its significance would surely be revealed in the future.

3

Shoghi Effendi never felt the need, nor does he feel it at present, in spite of your letter, to expatiate upon such matters. The very progress of the Cause, the extension of the Administration, will in themselves constitute the surest evidences of the authenticity of the Will as well as of the soundness of all its provisions.

He wishes you, therefore, not to indulge in premature & hasty considerations which can bring in their wake nothing but disillusionment & regret.

Even in Germany where a certain number of believers have fallen the dupe to Mrs. White's foolish assertions, a few among them have expressed themselves as having been misled in this matter. They have plainly stated that their objections have not been directed to either the Will or the institution of the Guardianship but to the personnel of the National Assembly & the manner it is functioning.

The future will surely reveal not only the truth but also will testify in a manner that none can question the wisdom of the verities enshrined in so priceless & momentous a document.

With the assurance of Shoghi Effendi's prayers for your spiritual advancement & the removal of every doubt that may still perplex your mind.

Yours sincerely, 
H. Rabbani

read & approved
Shoghi

Partial Copy of Letter in Ac. Div.:

September 2, 1930.

A photostat copy of a "Report on the Writing shown on the photographs of the alleged will of Abdul Baha." The report is by Dr. C. Ainsworth Mitchell of 85, Eccleston Square, London, England, and who is the editor of "The Analyst."

This is an important historical document concerning the Bahai Religion. I therefore wish you to place it on file in your library. Please file it under "Bahai Religion" or "Bahai Literature," and also under "Abdul Baha," otherwise researchers of the Bahai Religion would not find it.

Signed Ruth White (Mrs. H. Lawrence White, Butler Hall, 88 Morningside Drive, New York Cit

Dr. C. (Charles) Ainsworth Mitchell - Certified Copy from the Library of Congress Report on the Writing Shown on the Photographs of the Alleged Will of Abdul-Baha. 1930.

All Documents Deposited by Ruth White at the Library of Congress in one PDF

See the Ruth White webpage.

Professional genealogist Will Johnson's webpage, Dr. C. Ainsworth Mitchell

Compare: Abdul-Baha's authentic 1912 Covenant