The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1908-06-25
THE BREWERY LORDS FRIGHT
THE devil was sick. The devil a monk
would be.
The devil got well The devil monk
was he"

THE devil was sick. The devil a monk
would be-
The devil got well The devil a monk
was he"
The Brewer Lor6s have been singu-
larry slow to awaken to the danger i'm
pending over them. nut they have at last
seen it and are Mastering to place them
selves on record as strong temperance
men. President Lehman, of the
United States Brewers Association, said
in his opening address to the Conven-
ton:
1T is our duty to spread the convic-
ton that our Industry stands for tenn
perance in the best sense of the word
and will neither coBntenance or tolerate
anything not ;ho-oiy in accord with the
moral and physical welfare of the peo-
pie" 20
The resolutions adopted by the Con-
vention were, in tie same strain They
branded as utterly false TIE idea that
ther'beer men encouraged Or iconnived
at lawlessness;i they desired the exter-
minaton Of hfsorterly saloons, which
would not only puffy the community
but free the brewing trade from a ter
rible incubusli "t7 T''''''e
Acting upon this program there is a
general moveme: Il toward Kidding out
the more Objectionable beer joints. This
has begun in, Milwaukee itself. with
black list of ~ saloons that have to be
closed, and undoubtedly there will be an
overhauling OF the'saIoons in every large
city 0f-
This comes entirely too late. For a
half century now the Brewer Lords have
been arrogant and Inscriptions, and
made themselves so intolerabIe as to
give the greatest force and weight to
Prohibition. They could not tolerate
any restriction or regulation of the sa-
looms. They fought to the bitter end
every attempt to close the saloons at
midnight and on Sunday and to make
any more restrictions upon beer SELF
ing than there was upon groceries or
drygoods. They claimed absolutely the
same liberty for the joints that dis
pensed beer and WI! isky as was enjoyed
by cigar stores and news stands. When
they say now that they are not respon-
sible for the great multiplication of sa-
lOpiS lHtg tel d IdlSGAiOOu Which, tdl
be easily shown by the records in every
city. Every brewer was on the lookout
for places in which to TIT up saloons, and
when one of these was discovered it was
Immediately taken advantage Of room
was bought or leased by the brewer and
a man set up in ii, with furniture and
fixtures supplied by the brewer. This
Immediately became a political focus,
with the bartender, who was the crea-
ture of the brewer, doing his utmost to
control the politics of his neighborheod
and collecting about him crowd that
would vote as he dictated. The brewers
in this country became powerful politi-
cal factors, precisely as they are in Eng
land, where the surest way for a man
to get title is to own large brewery.
This controls an army of voters and
brings its owners share of the spoils
The brewers seemed to be In fair way
of having the politics of this country
similarly in their hands, but the wave of
prohibition has shaken them on their
thrones and now this fight that they are
putting up for regulation of the traffic
and extirpation of bad saloons is merely
desperate effort to save themselves
from absolute destruction.