COMMUNIA, IOWA 263
unnecessary. The New York Tribune of October 24, 1853, re
ported the discovery of a lead mine in Clayton County, said to
yield 120,000 pounds a month, worth $31 a thousand pounds.
But alas, Weitling's silver turned into lead, or perhaps iron or zinc,
metals frequently found in that vicinity, and unfortunately the
colony lacked the resources to mine even these baser metals.
By Christmas the relations between Weitling and the former
treasurer of the Arbeiterbund had been severed; Kreter de
manded a special committee to supervise the transactions between
the colony and the Bund and insisted that Weitling make public
all the orders he had drawn on the treasury since he had become
administrator. To make matters worse, Simon Schmidt, stanch
friend from early Swiss days, joined the opposition and proclaimed
his utter disgust with the new constitution. Weitling, however,
continued to advertise the colony as a "homestead for our
pensioned members." The report for March, 1854, indicated ex
penditure of Arbeiterbund funds for Communia amounting to
$14,447.47. An inventory made on the preceding January 1 listed
the assets of the colony at nearly $20,000. The figure included
$5,700 spent on the ill-fated saw and flour mills. The colony owed
$818.07 to members in back pay at prevailing wage rates. "Trus
tees" had made loans totaling $4,483. The turnover at the colony
store amounted to $3,600 a year.
The year 1854 turned out to be the most turbulent in the
colony's history, and it became apparent that Communia was
moving fast toward final liquidation. The colonists continued to
press for the removal of the New York headquarters, the treasury
of the Bund, and Die Republik der Arbeiter to Iowa, hoping no
doubt that a majority vote of those actually in the colony thus
would be able to legislate for the entire Arbeiterbund. Weitling,
on the other hand, quite properly considered the colony as merely
one Gemeinde of the Bund with no more rights than any other
local group. He suggested calling a congress in 1855 and sub
mitting all controversial issues to that body for settlement. At
the same time, Die Republik der Arbeiter carried an article by