The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-08-26
The "AntE" Brewers and saloon Keen
Men Attempt to Capture.
CHARGES AGAINST COLBERT
MAYOR TAGGART REFUSES TO DROP
THE POLICE SUPERINTENDENT
Afiidavits Showing the Way the Police
Are Being Used by Albert Lie
Der to Crush Outsiders.

The saloon keepers Of the city to the
number of about two hundred gathered at
Mozart Hall yesterday and INDUCED in
haIcyon and vociferous time. The meeting
mad been called by the representatives of
the Home and American breweries and the
outside agencies including the Terre Haute,
Anheuser-Busch and Pabst. The purpose
OF the meeting was to organize a protest
against the methods pursued by the admin
istration in giving the syndicate" the best
Of it in the enforcement of the liquor laws
but the syndicate managers had become
aware Of the move and about sixty of those
in attendance were there to fight it's battle.
This made things interesting and resulted
in double-header with two chairmen, two
sets of resolutions and everything, just like
the old Uncle Tom" shows, with two
Topsies, two Uncle Toms and a double lay
out of Markses, Legrees and bloodhounds.
Maurice Donnelly and Captain Bieer were
the chief pushers for the anti-syndicate
crowd and Charles Polster, Fred Kissel and
Joseph Schaub did most Of the talking for
the syndicate.
The cause of the gathering has been go
ing on ever since Taggart was made mayor
and Colbert came in as chief of police. The
outside breweries and their patrons MAIN
cratic administration has been used to drive
them out of business by a strict enforce
ment of the law against their patrons, while
the users of syndicate beer were permitted
to violate the law at will. During the last
three weeks the anti-syndicate people have
been busily employed gathering evidence
to show the methods of the syndicate and
when they had the matter ready they
called the saloon keepers together yester-
day.
The trouble at Mozart Hall began about 3
O'Clock. Andrew Hagan, president of the
Home Brewing Company was elected
chairman amid as much confusion as or
dinarily exists at a Democratic primary,
and the syndicate forces, under the leader
ship of Polster, at once bolted. They
elected Joseph Schaub chairman and the
uble-headed meeting began with Hagan
presiding at one end of the table on the
stage and Schaub presiding at the other
end and everybody talking at once. Finally
q Semblance of order was restored, and
Donnelly asked the privilege of reading the
aftidavits. In doing so he made a warm
speech denOuncing the syndicate as prac-
ticing species of tyranny over the saloon
keepers that was nothing but slavery.
The meeting was a bit stormy while Mr..
speech, but they accorded him a fair
amount of attention while he was reading
the aftidavits, as the syndicate people were
as anxious as the others to hear what they
contained. The substance of the charges
made is given elsewhere.
LIKE IRISH COERCION.
AS soon as the reading was finished the
hubub broke out afresh and "Bill' Flynn,
who once put the silver push to rout In
Taggart's interest, moved the appointment
of a committee on resolutions, while Polster
and others, all unmindful of the fact that
they had started an independent show Of
their own, holly opposed them, on the
ground that Mr.. Leber. manager of the
matter that should be settled by the State
Brewers Association anyway. The protest
was not effective and the chair named
Chris. c. LutZ, Philip Unger, William
Flynn, J. H. Wilson and Jacob Crone as
committee on resolutions. This committee
retired a moment and returned with the fol-
lowing "hot stuff" prepared by Maurice
Donnelly:
''The action of the Indianapolis Brewing
Company in resorting to the spy system
is not alone reprehensible and disgusting,
deserving of the cenSure of every American
citizen, but it is intolerable outrageous and
revolving to- every sense of decency and
manhood. it is introducing the system the
English have practiced on the father of our
country The mercenarieS of the English
stockholders of this syndicate are but car
rying out the behest Of those tyrants,
ghouls and cormorants who feast on the
profits of their investments. We call the
attention of the American public to those
disgraceful methods in coerclng men to buy
their products, and forcing upon an unwiD-
ing public the products of breweries belong
ing to a foreign element or rack-rentlng
landlords whose filthy lucre was filched by
similar means out of an industrious peas
antry 49, ,oao,,,4,o,,a 10 n,,b
These were put through the anti-syndi-
cate side of the house with a whoop and
Mr.. Hagan declared his END or the meet
ing adjourned
THE SYNDICATE RESOLUTIONS.
In the meantime the syndicate crowd,
seeing that resolutions were to be adopted
anyway decided to have some Of their own.
Polster was prepared for such an emergen-
cy, and had in his pocket set prepared in
the office of the syndicate by Tom ONeil.
Upon his motion a committee on resolu-
tions was appointed by Mr.. Schaub, COM
posed of Charles Polster, George De
Luse, NJ. NJ. Scott, William Miller and
James Munroe They came in in a mo-
ment with the following resolutions, which
were adopted by their side of the house:
whereas, be it known that certain brew
ers and brewery agents have combined
and called q meeting or saloon Keepers TO
further their ends in besmirching the char
acter of MIR. Albert Lieber, president of
the Indianapolis Brewing Company, and in
a measure attempt to damage the business
of the aforesaid brewing company, and,
Whereas. it has come TO our knowledge
that the said agents and brewers are at
tempting to use the saloon Keepers as tools
to accomplish their purpose-that is to say,
that they are trying to nclte an III aHu
wilful feeling against the said Mr.. Albert
Lieber in the breasts and minus or the
loon men of Indianapolis and elsewhere by
circulating reports by word OF mouth and
by various other methods the truth of
which is very questionable, to say the least,
Resolved That we saloon men here as
sembled do enter our solemn protest against
the dCspicable means adopted by the afore-
said brewers and agents in attacking Mr..
Ldeber in the manner and form above men
toned
Resolved That we deem their speech
and actions as cowardly, and smacks TO a
certain degree of the assassin, inasmuch as
they are cogni2ant of Mr.. Liebers absence
in Europe and not here to defend himself
against their cowardly assaults
Resolved That we pledge ourselves to
use every honest endeaVor to ward off all
assaults on Mr. Liebers name until his re-
turn, when he will be able TO defend him
self.
Resolved That we will use our best eff
forts to discOuntenance any attempts made
by the said diSgruntled agents and brewers
to further the sales of their brands of
beer at the expense of the Indianapolis
Brewing Company by such methods.
Resolved That a copy Of the above res
olutions be transmitted to the daily papers
and that copies of the said papers be dis
tributed throughout the state, thereby
showing to the trade the nefarious proceed
ings of the said brewers and agents"
After these fOTmalities both sides al
journed 70 the saloon below, where a whole
lot of beer WAS punished. and nobody asked
whether it was syndicate beer or not.
GUARANTEEING POLICE PROTECTION
Grave Charges In the Aridavits Read
by Maurice DonneIly.
The affidavits read by Donnely yesterday
afternoon were made by John Siebert So