The Sun.
London, England, 1830-01-28 00:00:00

will be the last to cry out for reduced taxation.
But we know very well what you do. want : we
know what has been agitated among you. Many
of you spoke of a higher protection for your corn
and wool, your butter and cheese, while some of
you were insane enough to insinuate a heavy
duty on the produce of oppressed Ireland. You
want, in short, to keep all you have, and that
his Grace should, in addition, give you some-
thing out of the pockets of some other class.
He can't do it, and therefore let us beg of you
seriously to apply yourselves to the follovving
consideratiom. Calculate and try it. Is it better
for you that the revenue should be sustained at its
present amount, and that its accustomed part
thereof should be distributed among your mili-
tary sons, and naval nephews, and diplomatic
brethren, and your kinsmen in the boards and
commissions, and offices and colonies,—" cum
muftis aliis quce nunc perscribere langum est,"
or that you should pay a less amount of taxes,
and that the distribution above-named should be
curtailed to the degree which such diminished
amount would render necessary ? If the
former be most for your advantage,—if you
really have an interest at variance with that
of all other classes of your countrymen,
at least have the decency to hold your peace.
If the latter,—send able and active men to
represent you in Parliament, who will insist on
retrenchment, who will fearlessly tell the Mini-
ster that his predecessors began their calculations
at the wrong end, when they estimated that such
and such establishments were necessary for the
country, but that his Grace must consider what
amount the nation can pay for its establish-
ments. But, in the name of decent English in-
dependence, address no more whining memorials
to a Prime Minister.—Times.

We almost take blame to ourse:ves for not
having called public attention sooner to the im-
portant decision given in the Court of King's
Bench last week, in the case of " Handey v.
Herson," whereby an apothecary and general
practitioner is declared legally entitled to charge
for his visits separately from his medicines. Up
to this time it has been conceived, that the sur-
geon-apothecary or general practitioner was only
entitled to charge for the medicines which he
supplied, and not for the trouble which he in-
curred, or the time which he lost, in visiting his
patient, to ascertain their necessity, or to direct
their use. He was considered as a kind of com-

pounding tradesman, who was paid for the arti-
cles which he sold, and not for the advice which
he gave. His fee could only be obtained in the
shape of a surcharge upon the price of his drugs,
and in order that he might thrive, his patients
were obliged to empty his laboratory as soon as
possible. While the consulting physician was al-
lowed a fee for every visit, the general practitioner,
regularly attending the family, was obliged
to depend for his recompence on his ingenuity
in making out a long bill at Christmas. Nothing
could be worse than this system of including re-
muneration for attendance in the prices of
articles supplied from the shop or the labora-
tory. It degrades the profession, by exciting
mean suspicions of professional men ; while it
places the conscience and interest of the prac-
titioner in direct opposition to each other, by
tempting him to deluge his patient with medi-
cines, that he may only obtain a just reward of
his skill and labour. It may be laid down as
an axiom, that no man will undertake the studies,
undergo the labours, and incur the expenses,
necessary for acquiring the science andsexperi-
ence necessary to professional utility or emi-
nence, without the prospect of a recompence
in reputation or income ; and it is a notorious
fact, that many of ..the general practitioners
acquire and spend considerable fortunes. If
they are not paid by fees like a physician, it
is evident that they must often indemnify
themselves either by the superfluous quantities
or the high prices of the drugs which they sup-
ply. Attendance three or four times in the day,
which a vigilant attention to the progress of the
disease or the state of the patient may render
necessary, cannot be given without the consump-
tion of as much medicine as will re-pay, not
only the original cost of the articles,, but the
visits of the doctor. This quantity must be
swallowed, or wasted, whether the case requires
it or not ; and if the unhappy patient escapes
'with impunity, he only owes his safety to the In-
nocence or weakness of the doses adminiStered,
and may bless his stars at the uuavoidable de-
ception practised upon his senses. Let us only
reflect how many powders, draughts, or lotions,
—how many pill-boxes, phials, and bottles, at
the ordinary prices, must issue from the shop of
the surgeon-apothecary, before he can purchase
his horses, mount his carriage, pay his cook and
coachman, and fashionably entertain his friends,
and we shall see the danger which his clients
(as the French call his patients) run of his
too liberal distribution of the means of health.
How much alchemy is required to es-
tract a large fortune out of such materials
without doing mischief to families !—how
much of that mysterial ingredient, aqua Pura,
must be expended that an expensive establish-
ment may be maintained! We are far from
wishing to cast any reflections on the generality
of the medical profession by remarking on this
necessary tendency of our present mode of pay-
ing professional aid, though we know that there
are instances in which the system is grossly
abused,—in which families are not only plun-
dered, but their health deteriorated, and in which
medicine is profusely administered, not because
it is good for the patient, but because it is good
for the apothecary. The most selfish, the least
conscientious, and the least skilful part of the

profession have it thus in their power to derive
the greatest emolument from their labours with-
out exciting attention; and a family that would
grudge to pay for one unnecessary visit, if charged
directly, is obliged to pay for searcral in the
disguise of unnecessary or hurtful prescriptions.
We hail, therefore, the recent decision in the
King's Bench, as laying the foundation of a bet-
ter practice. Let the general practitioner send
only the medicines necessary for the restoration
of his patient's health, and if his visits are more
numerous than can be paid for by the bottles or
phials supplied from his shop, let hint charge for
his attendance. Much has of late been tiwm to

promote the respectability and usefulness of the
profession. The requisite preparatory qualifica-
tions of the candidate for Ai licence have been

raised—the examinations at Apothecaries'-hall
have become more strict, a.nd thus have inter-

cepted ignorance or inexperience iu their-way to
mischief; and further improvements in the sys-
tem of medical education are still contemplated.
Let the practice be adopted of sanding no unite-
cessary medicine, and demanding payment for
!necessary visits, and we shall at once exalt the
character of the practiti4;ner, and benefit the
health of the community.—/bid,
There is, perhaps, no one proposition more
unquestionably true than this, that irresponsible
power will always be abused, It has been our