The Utopian Communist: A Biography of Wilhelm Weitling

IN AMERICA
of Weitling's theories, not a newspaper in the modern sense of
the term. Its advertising was so limited that little revenue was
derived from this source, especially since the charge was but five
cents a line. Weitling refused to accept money from clairvoyants,
astrologers, "embryo killers," quacks and patent-medicine fakers,
who advertised extensively in other papers. In its earlier numbers
the paper carried a small amount of paid, classified advertising by
German pharmacists, doctors, lawyers, bookdealers, watchmak­
ers, bookbinders, and hotelkeepers. It also carried announcements
of the meetings and activities of workers' and trade associations
and provided a sounding board for their many factional quarrels.
Occasionally, Weitling announced the birth of a new paper, like
the Skandinaven i Amerika, or the New York version of the
Kladderadatsch, edited by Max Conheim. More often he adver­
tised free of charge the appearance of new liberal journals like
Mathilda Anneke's Die deutsche Frauenzeitung.
Though Weitling usually wrote a clear, forceful, and even
eloquent German, it is interesting to note the slow infiltration of
"German-Americanisms" into his newspaper style. The rapidity
with which the German spoken by immigrants deteriorates into a
strange jargon that is neither grammatical German nor English
is notorious in the United States. In the later issues of Die Republik
der Arbeiter, one can discover such borrowings and corruptions
as "setteln," "recorden," "Expensen," "Verrenten," "Settlung"
and "geentert."
The bulk of each issue of Weitling's paper was devoted to
discussions of such topics as "Value," "Speculation," "Capital and
Interest," "Property," "Inheritance," "Law," and the progress of
the labor movement here and abroad. Contributions came from
workers, or were extracted from papers of a similar viewpoint,
like Essellen's Atlantis or Fritz Anneke's Volksfreund. Occasion­
ally the editor translated from the New York Tribune, especially
on the progress and experiences of the co-operative movement in
Great Britain. Communist activities in Europe were covered by
correspondents such as August Willich, and there were numerous