IN AMERICA 151
February, 1851, however, 10,000 copies were stored in his room
as "dead capital." He requested a contribution of six cents a month
from each member of his Arbeiterbund to enable him to start an
effective propaganda in England and France, and for several years
he considered the possibility of publishing an English edition of
his paper. It was clear almost from the outset that lack of funds
would make such a project impractical.
By the summer of 1851, Die Republik der Arbeiter had en
countered new difficulties and its editor was in serious financial
straits. He wrote to his friend J. Kriege to describe his "Hercu
lean" patience and suffering and explained that editorial costs had
been reduced to as low as $4.00 a week, and that two agents who
had promised to provide $25 and $12 respectively had failed to
deliver the money. Of the 350 copies dispatched regularly to St.
Louis less than a fourth had been sold, and subscribers in that city
owed him $125. Though postage amounted to only $2.00 a week,
his helpers received $9.00 a week, and total operating costs
amounted to no more than $21 a week, Weitling was in arrears
for five weeks' rent, amounting to $45. The harassed editor minced
no words about subscribers who did not pay their debts, but he
had no intention of abandoning the venture.^20 The charge was
frequently made, even by fellow radicals like Struve, that Weitling was in debt primarily because he lived beyond his means and
did not work as hard as he should. Such accusations drove him
into a rage and always brought forth the same answer, namely,
that what he owed were "honest debts, incurred for the cause";
that he lived with his workers and drew less pay than his type
setter; and that besides carrying the editorial burdens, he per
formed much of the heavy manual labor connected with a print
ing establishment.
Weitling decided that his troubles would diminish substantially
if he could find more reliable carriers for his paper, convert it into
a weekly at four cents an issue, deliver it each Saturday evening,
and print half of it in English and half in German. With his weak-
(^20) Weitling to Kriege, June 25, 1851. MS letter in Library of Congress.