IN SWITZERLAND 53
for money, he maintained, also was "a real product of labor."
Weitling's invective against the power of money knew no
bounds. It was an "excrescence of hell." The lust for money had
nailed Christ to the cross in exchange for thirty pieces of silver.
Not satisfied with their ill-gotten property and with their money,
its tainted symbol, men had gone on to create the titles and sine
cures that mark the drones of society: the armies which were
"lifeless machines without a will," the police, the priesthood, flags
and national symbols, and all the false concepts of honor and
morality. Weitling considered merchants who did nothing but
sell and store the products of the labor of others as utterly worth
less and the source of economic waste, deceit, speculation and
adulteration. He closed this portion of his book with a long quota
tion from Victor Considérant, whom he called the "St. Paul of
Fourierism." The second section of the Garantieen presented its
author's plan for the reorganization of society and will be sum
marized in the next chapter which deals in detail with Weitling's
"system."
The Garantieen in many ways was merely an elaboration of
Weitling's earlier writings. It showed the influence of Saint-
Simon, Owen, and Fourier. Its author derived his ideas from many
sources, never completely assimilated them, and sometimes became
involved in inconsistencies. It must be remembered that Weitling
was a man of remarkable native intelligence and great facility
with the pen, and what he knew he learned from life itself. There
fore he never acquired a detailed systematic knowledge of any
subject, such as Fourier, for example, had of economics and trade.
His ideas were born and molded in the clubs and taverns, largely
from conversations and discussions with his comrades.
The Garantieen, as will become apparent in the next chapter,
stressed a co-operative, handicraft system of production, despite
the fact that industrialization was making rapid progress. It de
scribed a Utopia of skilled workers. Weitling's restless and active
mind saw things too simply, but his heart could not find peace in
a world torn by suffering, inequality, and injustice. Weitling
barré
(Barré)
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