The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1873-04-24

- sAAe AneoSccso VI tue AmeIlcdu peOple csAuuoI
be refused by them, unless like so many Of
their predecessors, they have been subjected
to those influences the corrupting character
of which their investigation has so strikingly
demonstrated.
Beer I'm Its Relations 20 Govern
ment-Lcssons from tho Frankfort
Riots. Mr
Frankfort, we are informed, is on the Main,
but judging by its late performances it is
on the Spree. On last Monday, it will |
be admitted, popular excitement ran very
high when we recall the extensive scale on
which the 'tsober and industrious German
element set up a beer riot in the city OF the
money bags The cause Of the outflow of
feeling was one that lies deep in the
profundity of the Teutonic nature. II
was beer. The bloated brewers and the grasp
ing beersellers united in an infamous and un-
patriotic conspiracy against the people Ru-
mors of the intended movement by the mag
mates of the beer-bung reached the ears Of
the masses, who have had enough modification
in being obliged to swallow the German Con-
federation. The last-named blow at their
liberties was as much as they could bear. With
the aid of cheap lager the children of the
old Free Town managed to gulp down their
rage BY taking ON extra supply they could
always appear even festive under the grind
ing yoke of Prussian pansclavism. But the
movement of the brewers to raise the price Of
the foaming, amber-tinted beverage was last
straw that would in other times have drawn
Rienzi or Savonarola to the rescue Of in
jured right. 1t will, in considering this ques-
ton, be wise to remember that beer is an older
German institution than the most ancient
German Empire, not to speak of the modern
institution Of Kaiser Wilhelm. Long before
the days Of Frederic Beerbeerossa had the
genial fluid elevated" the German mind.
Deeds Of high emprise in camp and court
were born of the brewings, and in the
old Walhalla the very gods grew
gay on beer. Through all Teutonic
peoples the beer tradition has been handed
down. Let him who has taste for the COM
parative ethnology pause by the English vii
lage ale house where Hodge and his chaw-
bacon compeers are gathered Is it ''God
Save the Queen or "Rule Britannia" that
greets the ear? No! The keynote Of race
is struck which is wider than nationality, and
the defiant words of faith in beer are heard.
They are denouncing the oppressors of
poverty, and this is the strain
To rob poor man Of his beer,
TO rob poor man OF his beer
oh darn their eyeSl
III ever they tries
To rob poor man OF his beer.
When we observe that the Goths, who con-
quered Spain SO long ago, left their impress
for to-day in church edifices and ale, we see
how the percolation of beer will affect remote
nations Is not the question Of free lager
potential one in politics among US in America
to-day? The spirit that rouses the sluggish
blood Of the English agricultural laborer
to the verge of treason burns in fiercer way
in the bosom Of Germany itself. In last Sep
tember, when the three Caesars Of Europe
met at Berlin to pledge the peace of CONT
nent when the victorious legions of Ger
many marched past with thousand drum
mers beating the Prussian tattoo under the
eyes Of Alexander of Russia and Fran
els Joseph of Austria when all Europe had
its eyes fixed upon the Emperors, the sacred
cause Of beer drove some thousands of the
sons of Vaterland into open revolt against
wealthy brewer named Hopf who dared to
raise his prices. His establishment was
Quilted in one end of the city while the troops
were parading in the other. Translated into
plain English it meant that kings
and warriors might become intoxicated
with glory. but the German civilian
must perform the feat on cheap beer.
Now the tide of revolution has rolled to
Frankfort The brewers and beersellers
attempted the rise in price and up arose Hans
and Friedrich, Gustav and Theodor, Jacob
and Adolph, with the battle cry Of sBier oder
Bhar' and straightway sixteen breweries
were Quilted and every vat and cask,
tun and key, drained in twinkling.
There is something sound and practical
in this mode Of rebelling. The enemy's
works are not merely captured, but swallowed.
Twelve persons, we regret to learn, were
killed and forty wounded, but no account is
given Of the number of gallons engulfed.
One hundred and twenty Of the rioters were
arrested, and at last accounts the city was
quiet. But will the lesson of this last solemn
assertion of great principle be lost upon Bis
marck? The bauble Of an imperial crown
and the bayonets of an immense army may
prove Intellectual to charm people into con-
tent whose beer is sold at famine prices.
Around him the German sees the force Of
government opposed to his mild beverage. If
the poor fellow rebels against the brewer
in solitary town he is shot at and
stabbed at by the military, while his
only weapons Of offence are his capacious