156 THE UTOPIAN COMMUNIST
special articles devoted to such topics as the misery and poverty of
New York's "five points" district, the progress of the labor move
ment in England, and the argument for a tax on the unearned in
crement of land.
Much space was devoted to the history of existing communist
colonies. Some of these descriptions were written after personal
visits to them by the editor, or by one of his correspondents; others
were copied from exchanges. In the course of several years, Die
Republik der Arbeiter carried interesting accounts of life at
Oleana, the unsuccessful colony of Ole Bull, the noted Norwegian
violinist; of Oneida, the community of the Shakers and Perfec
tionists; of Ebenezer, a settlement of German Pietists near Buffalo;
of the North American Phalanx at Red Bank, New Jersey, copied
from Madam Anneke's Frauenzeitung; of the colony of Trappist
monks in Iowa; of the New Buda of the Hungarian refugees in
the same state; of Friedrich Rapp's Economy in Pennsylvania;
and of Joseph Bäumler's Zoar in Ohio.
Foreign affairs always received considerable emphasis in Weitling's paper, and the first article of each issue usually was entitled
"What is going on in the world." Die Republik der Arbeiter
carried interesting reports from former colleagues in Europe
addressed to "dear brother Weitling," which chronicled the prog
ress of the movement which he had helped to found in Paris, Bern,
Geneva, London, and the German cities and gave details about
old comrades or about factional quarrels among the communists.
The paper circulated to some extent in parts of Switzerland, Ger
many and France, and occasionally was quoted by European
papers, such as the Deutsche Arbeiterhalle of Hanover. Quite
often it published appeals for funds for the relief of European
comrades.Material of this kind illustrates Weitling's continuing connec
tions with the communist movement abroad. In addition the paper
carried many other articles on foreign affairs. H. B. Oppenheim
reported regularly on British politics from London, and there were
other contributions on conditions in England and the prospects