To Horace’s mind, logic dictated that the door to a future Guardian was closed.

Waiting until the Universal House of Justice was elected seemed too distant during a period fraught with During the Conclave, the Hands had concluded from their study of authoritative texts that only the Universal House of Justice could make a definitive statement about the future of the Guardianship, and, as of 1957, a date had not been fixed for the establishment of the House of Justice. To Horace’s mind, logic dictated that the door to a future Guardian was closed. He believed the conditions set forth in the Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Baha could no longer be met. The Will had been widely disseminated for decades, making it possible for all Baha'is to study it and draw conclusions, as he had. Concerned by various reports brought to its attention, the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States encouraged the Hands living in America to draft a statement to explain why there could not be another Guardian. Horace produced a draft in consultation with Paul Haney and the National Assembly, giving it the title ‘A New Baha'i Era’. It opened by declaring that, since the passing of Shoghi Effendi, “The landscape has changed; in some aspects it is unfamiliar; we pause in temporary confusion until we become accustomed to the new condition and can see its relationship to the eternal verities of the revelation we have accepted with all our hearts.’’ As this statement circulated, segments of it were sent to the Custodians in the Holy Land who immediately became alarmed, because they thought it interpreted the Proclamation issued by the Conclave. They cabled the American Hands to delete several sentences, specifically the ones stating that the door to another Guardian was closed and that the Custodians had the authority to expel individuals from the Faith. Horace responded quickly, asking his colleagues in Haifa to consider the full statement, not just the excerpts. After studying the document, the Custodians firmly insisted that ‘A New Baha’i Era’ be removed from circulation at once and the matter dropped. Horace was shocked, not only because he believed the statement was a necessary prophylactic, but because he felt the Custodians were censoring believers who were making determinations based upon their own reading of ‘Abdu'l-Baha’s Will and Testament. He wrote them a frank letter, begging them to reconsider. The response he received showed that the Custodians had a broader view than the Hands serving in the field. Their concern was not the accuracy of the statement, but the wisdom of promulgating it. They wanted the crucial matter of the future of the Guardianship to be addressed with one voice taking into consideration how the message would be understood globally.

(Infinite Horizons - The Life and Times of Horace Holley by Kathryn Jewett Hogenson)