THE WORKING MEN'S LEAGUE 193formal appeal of the German strikers, entitled "The Rights of
Labor versus the Rights of Thieves and Drones." Rioting broke
out on 38th Street when windows were broken in several tailor
shops. Strikebreakers were driven into their houses, and a mob of
German workers tore up unfinished garments in shops on upper
Broadway and, armed with sticks and stones, engaged in a battle
with the police. The latter reported that a mob of several hundred,
"apparently all Germans," were responsible for the disturbance
and thirty-eight Germans were arrested. The tailors insisted that
they had been provoked and attacked by the police while peace
fully engaged in trying to win new members for their union.^5
Late in July, a mass meeting was held in front of the New York
City Hall to protest against the conduct of the police. Weitling
addressed the German group, and Brisbane spoke in English. After
the oratory, the crowd marched through the Bowery and down
Hester Street to the headquarters of the German tailors, where a
rousing reception awaited them.
On August 19, Weitling again addressed the German tailors at
Hillebrandt's and announced that although he disapproved of
strikes, favoring co-operatives and banks of exchange instead, the
strike must be carried to a successful conclusion. Two thousand
workers promptly authorized the formation of an executive com
mittee of thirteen and chose Weitling as one of the group. This
committee sat almost continuously but, from the outset, was hope
lessly divided on principle and tactics. Thoroughly disgusted,
Weitling denounced the "tower of Babel of counselors and lead
ers" and argued that in times of crisis a temporary dictatorship
was absolutely necessary. Though he regretted and disapproved
of rioting, he wished for the Parisian proletariat, which would
neither have been inhibited by the Anglo-Saxon's regrettable in
nate respect for law nor divided as the workers were in America
"because of differences in language, nationality, and religion."
The divisions in the committee were not serious enough, however,
(^5) New York Tribune, August 6, 1850.