COMMUNIA, IOWA 243Schau mit Lächeln auf den Käfig,
Der mich so gefangen hielt.
Singe, was der freie Sanger,
Wieder in der Freiheit fühlt.
Dass er nimmermehr im Leben
In den Vogelbauer geht,
Wenn auch gleich, von Gold umflochten,
Drin das beste Futter steht.
Und nie mehr den blossen Worten
Sogenannter Brüder traut,
Bis er auch in ihre Seelen
Bis er in ihr Herz geschaut.
Reprinted in Rep. d. Arb., January 1, 1854.troubles of the colony did not end with Koch's departure, and
further divisions resulted. When Weitling's Arbeiterbund finally
became identified with the colony there were from ten to eighteen
men left in Communia (the evidence is not clear), and some
worked at trades in neighboring towns during the winter months.
Weitling asserted later that the whole settlement could have been
bought at the time for from $1,500 to $2,000 and protested that
he did not discover the true condition of the colony until several
members of the Arbeiterbund already had invested their money
in it.
Weitling set foot on "the sacred soil of brotherly association"
for the first time in the fall of 1851. He found the members ready
to pledge all the assets of their colony as security for whatever
amounts the projected Arbeiterbund was prepared to invest in the
enterprise, and he immediately wrote out a contract intended to
consolidate the resources of the two organizations. In his initial
enthusiasm, he paid out $80 of the Arbeiterbund's money at once
for the benefit of the colony and added another $400 within the
next few months. He planned to use the colony as security for all
Mach'ich wieder frei und ledig
In die Welt nun meine Reis',
Sing wie sonst jetzt meine Lieder
Wieder nach der alten Weis'.