226 THE UTOPIAN COMMUNIST
With his usual enthusiasm, he had listed promises from several
hundred sympathizers who he believed were ready to make pay
ments and loans to his central bank. In a memorandum which he
prepared he announced that the new notes would be ready in a
week but would not be put into circulation until the co-operative
movement had made more progress and had been properly unified.
He promised, however, to distribute specimens of the new cur
rency among the "dear brethren" and explained how each city
could have "a special plate," to print its own notes as needed.^3
In April, 1851, Die Republik der Arbeiter reported that a con
vention of American workers in Philadelphia had by unanimous
vote approved the Exchange Bank. In May, a "farmers' and work
ers' protective association" was organized in Weedport, New
York, with a subscribed capital of $10,000 and a paid-in capital of
$1,000. Their ambitious plan was to organize at least 100 other
communities of the state into co-operatives, to build a common
storehouse, operate a fleet of canal boats, and establish a bank of
exchange so that "farmers will no longer be milked by merchants
and speculators." From Louisville came reports of "fiery debates"
about the issue, and in Cincinnati, 65 members began to contribute
regularly to a Tauschassoziation. An American, Charles Sully,
published an Association-Manual in English which included the
"Constitution of the Mutual Provident Exchange Society, by
William Weitling." The author paid his membership dues to the
latter's organization. There were intimations also that the head
of the New York Labor League, which was composed entirely of
non-Germans, was friendly to the movement.
As a matter of fact, the undertaking was never realized; it was
never even started, except for a few contributions from a few
widely scattered individuals. Weitling carefully recorded these
receipts on a few loose sheets preserved in the back of what he
called his Little Note Book. The reasons for the complete failure
of the plan need hardly be discussed seriously. It was apparent at
(^3) See memorandum of February 11, 1851, MS in Library of Congress; also
Eduard Bernstein (ed.), Dokumente des Sozialismus (Berlin, 1905), V, 180.