The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1886-07-18
His Sole 0ffense Being that He Was Witness
Against the BOycotters in the Recent
Prosecutions in Judge Barretts Court.
A Malicious and Ruinous Work Which
the Law Seems iOWerless to Prevent.
Cornelius Vanderbilt'S Provision for TIE Men
tai and Moral Improvement Of His Rail-
way yEmployes-The Literary Pirates.
THE EHRET BOYCOTT.

The Ingenuity and Malignity with which the
Central Labor Union Is Pressing 1t.
Special to the indianapolis Journal.
New YORK, July 1.-THE Ehret boycott goes
on. tits running the business Of the wealthiest
brewer in the United States, in spite of all thai
he, sincerely aided by his fellow brewers, can do
to stop it. Whether it will send its leaders to
prison, to keep company with the convicted boy
cotters whom they engaged in avenging re-
mains to be seen. The courts have decided that
it is now a crime to conduct boycott, but that
makes little difference in the effect of the con-
certed action against Ehret The boycotters
know that they are taking serious risks and gov
ern themselves accordingly. They are as unre-
mitting and secret in their efforts to crowd
Ehret's beer out of the market, as are the Rus
sian police in suppressng Nihilism. They dis
guise their action much as possible. and time
alone will tell whether they will escape a trial
and conviction for conspiracy.
The first step in the proceedings is taken in
business meeting of a union. A resolution ls
proposed and passed to the effect that George
Ehret's beer does not taste good" That is all,
except such steps as necessary to inform
other unions of the action, leaving them to follow
the example or not as they 6t. They do
| follow it, Of course, and the mere expression of
opinion the quality of the beer is asufficient
to prevent the members from drinking it. But
this is not all. If it were, it is very doubtful it
Judge Barrett's Interpretation of the statutes
would operate against the boycotters. There
can be no question that the unions exercise abso-
Lutte control over at least half of the beer-drink
ing public; but, on the other half brewer
might manage to build up a successful business,
and it is the desire of his enemies to drive Ehret
out of the business Therefore they must iniu-
ence men who do not belong to the unions and
who do not even sympathize with them. This is
the way they undertake to do it:
Workingmen go, sometimes in pairs but gen.
orally singly, into saloon where they have
been known as regular customers, and call for
beer. If it is a place where Ehret's beer is sold
the customer drinks a swallow of the beer, then
sets the glass down, and says there is something
the matter with it. If it is the barkeeper's first
experience, he is likely to draw off glass for
himself and of course he finds it is all right
The customer, perhaps, tastes again and says
significantly: This is Ehret's brewing, isn't it?"
When he is told that it is the same beer he has
been drinking for years without complaint, he
simply asserts that it ,is not good and that he
will not drink it, and goes out. In the course of
the day there will be many such occurrences in
the saloon, and he will be stupid proprietor
who fails to understand that his old customers
will go elsewhere with their patro mage unless he
supplies them with different brewing. The
constant recurrence of such scenes
in the saloon will attract the
attention Of other customers, for
the boycotters choose time to operate when the
bar is crowded with patrons and if it does not
prejudice many of them against the beer it will
at least make things disagreeable for them, SO
that they win wish to avoid o repetition of the
event The saloon keeper must have harmony
and peace in his place. and to secure it he must,
under the circumstances, get another kind of
beer
This crusade against Ehret is being carried
out systematically, not only in this city. bCt
elsewhere, and the saloon-keepers are weaken
ing. Many Of them have already changed their
brand, aud others are preparing to do so. The
association of brewers, which will do what it
can to sustain Ehret, is powerless. If people
will not drink beer, of what use is all the SYM
pathy in the worlda There could be no more
emphatic proof of the inability of the brewers to
help than the action of beerseller on the East
Side, at whose place association of boss
brewers are in the habit of meeting He re-
ceiyed hint that his beer was distasteful
to large proportion of his customers,
and desired to crafty them by change.
The members of German singing society that
also meets at this place signifed to him that
such was their dislike for the beer he served
that they really must go somewhere else if he
could not cater to their tastes. The result is
now that he supplies two kinds of beer, according
to the industrial complexion of his customers.
He has attempted to keep his policy secret, but
it will be difficult and what he will do when the
trick is discovered is hard to say. This scene is
now frequent occurrence in his place: Enter
boycotter; he takes his beer and makes the usual
sign of disgust
'sThat is Ehrets beer" ne says with a wry
face
mo, it isn't" replies the bartender indig-
nantly; ''look here" and he opens the door of
the ice-chest and shows the brand upon the kar-
rel it is of some other concern than Ehrets, and
the customer goes away satisfied. When the
boss brewers are about, the boycotted beer.
which is kept in another ice-chest, is produc ed.
The brewers undoubtedly want to help Ehret.
A saloon keeper who wanted to supply new
brand sent an order to a Brooklyn concern, and
the brewers, learning that he gave the order on
account of the hostility to Ehret, refused to sup
ply him. This sounds remarkably well, but of
course everybody knows that the man who
wants to buy beer will get it somewhere and
cannot be forced by the brewers to buy article
that his customars 4will not kaka
Although Ehret is a millionaire four or FIVE
times over, he is weil-nigh distracted by this
blow He has issued declaration that his tss.i-