He wrote the ... Assembly urging upon them the necessity of cooperating with the National Assembly. He also pointed out to them that the attitude of "all for one and one for all" was very incorrect. An assembly constitutes within its area of jurisdiction the Trustees of the Faith. Its members must at all times put the interests of the Faith above personality and impartially go into any matter brought to its attention. Theoretically it is always possible for a member of an assembly to be unworthy or insincere. To take the attitude that any blame cast upon or any charge made against an assembly member is a charge against the body itself is very wrong. An assembly must protect the Faith and neither blindly accuse nor blindly defend one of its members. The ... Assembly has taken the attitude that the remarks referring to ... are an insult to the entire Assembly; at the same time it accuses the National Body of being dominated by one individual, an accusation which because of its own attitude could equally well be aimed at itself! The Guardian feels that all this is only evidence of the immaturity of the friends in relation to their Administrative Order.
The Bahá'ís must learn to forget personalities and to overcome the desire--so natural in people--to take sides and fight about it. They must also learn to really make use of the great principle of consultation. There is a time set aside at the 19 Day Feasts for the Community to express its views and make suggestions to its Assembly; the Assembly and the believers should look forward to this happy period of discussion, and neither fear it nor suppress it. Likewise the Assembly members should fully consult, and in their decisions put the interests of the Cause first and not personalities, the will of the majority prevailing.
Over and over, in going through the correspondence he received from your Assembly, he was struck by the fact that the friends acted so unadministratively. Instead of taking up their accusations and problems and unhappy feelings with their local Assembly, or the National Assembly, they referred to individuals or individual members of the Assembly, or they refused to meet with the Assembly. The first thing a believer should do is to turn to an Assembly--That is why we have assemblies! He feels this trouble would never have arisen if the Bahá'ís utilized their assemblies as they should. One of the healing remedies Bahá'u'lláh has given to a sick world is the Assembly (which in future will become a House of Justice); its members have very sacred and heavy responsibilities, its power to steer the Community, to protect and assist its members is likewise very great.