COMMUNIA, IOWA 249wisps in his day, but he was honest and genuinely devoted to those
who faithfully followed his leadership. On the occasion when his
friend Friedrich Baumann, on whose farm in New York State he
had recuperated from a long illness, wanted to invest his earnings
of $1,300 in the colony, Weitling refused to accept the offer until
Baumann had made a personal inspection of Communia.
In order to safeguard the Arbeiterbund, already deeply in
volved in the finances of the colony, Weitling demanded that a
deed of trust, or mortgage on the property of the colony, for
$5,000 for one year at ten per cent interest be made out and de
livered to him as a protection for the members of his organization.
Griesinger, the president of Communia, who had been elected by
a majority of one, argued that a simple promissory note would be
sufficient and made a personal attack on Weitling and the Bund.
Thereupon, a new election was held amid great excitement, and
Griesinger was deposed by a vote of eight to five. The defeated
candidate immediately left the colony, taking with him three
others and their "dissatisfied women." They were paid $750 at
once and were promised an additional $50. Weitling pointed
proudly to the generous conduct of the colonists toward the
troublemakers, who had departed with their goods for Gutten
berg in three colony wagons, and cited the incident as a convinc
ing reply to attacks which Hassaurek continued to make in his
Hochwächter, charging him with dishonesty, embezzlement, and
collecting funds for workers' pensions under false pretenses.
Though the deed of trust remained a bone of contention be
tween Weitling and Communia, the colony had weathered its
first serious internal explosion. New members arrived, and the
colony planned further expansions with Arbeiterbund money.
Weitling was busy writing a new constitution and preparing for
an official act of incorporation. He appealed for twenty-five
guarantors who would be willing to make loans to the colony
without interest for a ten-year period in exchange for a vote on
colony matters to be exercised either directly or by proxy. Such
loans, he argued, would help secure the funds already invested