THE WORKINGMEN'S LEAGUE
organized solely in the interest of those who toil for their living.
His ultimate goal was one great league of workingmen which
would exercise a powerful influence on questions of wages and
working hours and would unite all existing workers' insurance
and benevolent activities under a central treasury strong enough
to pay sick benefits and old-age pensions to all its members. Weitling's immediate objective was social insurance; his ultimate goal,
a complete social revolution.With his usual disregard for actualities, the founder of the Bund
forecast the enrollment of 1,000 dues-paying members the first
year, 3,000 the second year, 7,000 the third, and 125,000 by the
end of the seventh year. He solicited contributions to the social-
insurance fund, ranging from $1.00 to $10, and assured prospec
tive members that their investments would yield a substantial
interest rate and would be safer in the treasury of the Bund than
in fraternal lodges or private banks. To prove his point, he demon
strated how coal worth $100, bought at wholesale at a saving of
twenty-five per cent to forty-five per cent, could be resold at
retail to members for $125 to $145. The profit of at least twenty-
five per cent then would be used immediately to buy and sell flour
and other products, and these profits would be reinvested until the
total yield reached a figure adequate for use as the capital stock of
a workers' bank.
Recognizing that homogeneity and unity were the sine qua non
of success, Weitling advised extreme caution in admitting new
members; because of his distrust of the democratic process, he
urged as few meetings and as little debate as possible. After all, he
saw little to debate about a "mutual insurance company," and he
was convinced that to ensure success all authority must be vested
in the leadership of the Central Committee. That committee, meet
ing weekly, was expected to administer all the affairs of the Bund,
to provide pleasant and profitable social gatherings for its mem
bers, and to leave "the parliamentary apple of discord" to others.
Weitling regarded Die Republik der Arbeiter and the Garantieen
as the Bible of the new movement, and he wanted all questions of