COMMUNIA, IOWA 273
exhibitions were held on the old picnic grounds and in the Com¬
munia "hall" as late as 1910, and the hall now owned by the Communia Turnverein is still used occasionally for dances.The collapse of the colony pushed the Bund and Die Republik
der Arbeiter into bankruptcy. Nietzche once observed that "who
falls gets kicked." Weitling's case was no exception. The New
York Demokrat in November, 1854, intimated that the poor
workers had given their money to an "evil doer." The Philadelphia
Frieie Presse charged that before bankruptcy came "Weitling had
looked out handsomely for himself." Years later, the Dubuque
Phönix referred to the leader of the "tailor Latin" colony as a
"clever fish" who, after the failure of Communia, was alleged to
have sold a patent for a buttonhole machine for $30,000 and,
having become a rich man, lost all interest in dividing with the
poor. In the closing days of the colony fiasco, the Philadelphia
Arbeiterbund had accused Weitling in an open letter of being an
egotist, of maintaining spies and secret records, and of being an
ordinary "swindler" who had robbed men of their hard-earned
savings and then had driven them off their land. "To the end of
time," wrote these former admirers, "Communia will make you
and your deeds abhorred." Charges of muddleheadedness and dic
tatorship were common, as well as sarcastic jibes about Weitling's
eagerness to write constitutions. The corruption of the Arbeiter
bund was compared with the misconduct of banks, decidedly to
the advantage of the latter. "You yourself destroyed your work
in America as you destroyed it in Europe" was the closing line of
an indictment by another group of erstwhile comrades. A letter,
signed by the "founders" of Communia, charged Weitling with
exploiting his fellowmen in the name of communism and brotherly
love and concluded: "If there is a hell for liars, you are ripe
for it."
Weitling lashed back in one of the last issues of his paper with
countercharges of "libeler," "defamer," and "slanderer." Then he
became silent and apparently never referred to colony matters
again, even in the intimate circle of his family. During his remain-