COMMUNIA, IOWA 269
tion of colony property among the colonists. Brandenberger kept
the Gemeinde informed of the liquidation that already was in
progress under his leadership, reported that nine members had
left within the last two weeks, and announced that a petition had
been filed in the courts asking for a legal dissolution. Livestock was
being sold rapidly, and farms, houses, and the sawmill were rented
on private contracts to such members as chose to remain.
Weitling published his reply to Brandenberger on July 1, 1854.
In it, he described the latter as a "fool" and compared him to a
"cur barking at a bull dog." He also made comparisons between
the Germans and the Yankee and Irish settlers on the frontier, to
the decided advantage of the latter group. He stubbornly adhered
to the notion that a dozen stalwarts from the Arbeiterbund still
could go to Iowa and save the colony, and he hoped to raise an
other $3,000 to pay off all remaining claimants. Given dictatorial
power, he would rally the faithful who "are the light of the world"
and by means of the homestead legislation then pending in Con
gress, secure a new site. August Witzleben, a devoted follower
who sold Weitling's books in Brazil and lent him money from time
to time, advised his friend that ladies' tailors were much in demand
in Rio, and suggested that he come to South America and start life
all over again. Weiss, in an attack on his former leader released to a
number of German papers (although not to Die Republik der
Arbeiter), accused Weitling of claiming omniscience and being
totally ignorant of all practical matters. The latter retorted that
recent letters from the colony would make a good "library for a
psychologist."
In November, the harassed leader again spent several days in
Dubuque. He had made the journey on the request of several
friends as a final effort to protect the interests of the Arbeiterbund.
He discovered that the suit against him had been removed from
the docket, but that liquidation of the colony was going on rapidly
because of debts owed to outsiders. His attorney advised him to
let the law take its course, and he accepted the advice because
the Bund had nothing more to lose "except its hell." At the time,
barré
(Barré)
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