The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1866-06-27
Advertising Patent Medicines.

vertising patent medicines had be-
come a-nuisance. u We regret exceed.
ingly to notice that some of our
Southern exchanges, in their anxiety,
We presume, to present large sheets
to their readers, are verifying the
words of one of the apostles: cit is
happened unto them, according. to
the true proverb-'The dog has re-
turned to his own vomit again, and
the sow that was washed, to her wal
lowing in the mire -
Why this degeneracy in the. con-
ductors Of Southern papers, we can
not imagine. They have returned,
as their columns daily give evidence
of, to the old style of publishing, at
less than one-fourth the rates our
home advertisers are charged, the
advertisements of the properties of
various patent medicines manufac-
tured in New England and the North
generally. We regret this, because,
in the most of instances, these loud
trumpeted and widely-extended ad-
vertised patent medicines are manu-
factured for one purpose-to make
money-withcut their possessing any
actual medicinal value.
There may be exceptions to this
denunciation of s'patent medicines"
as class, but they are rare The
majority Of them are utterly wo' "
less, and in many cases they are abso-
lutely injurious. In this view of the
subject, we respectfully suggest to
Southern newspaper publishers, that
the publication of these ADVERTISE
ments, especially at the rate they are
compelled to take, is not only inju-
rious, but is a positive injustice to
their home advertisers. The Pheeni.r
has received proposals from at least
forty of these all-healing gentry, but
as the rates offered were, in a majori-
ty of the cases, ridiculously low, the
proprietor declined nearly all of them,
feeling satisfied that, in every sense,
it was better for the community, ..nd
more satisfactory to subscribers, to
publish. what was MS object prima-
rily, ae,cs-paper, than to give them,
every morning, patent medicine
advertising sheet.
We urge this subject upon the con-
slderation of our brethren of the
Southern press. Let them, when
applications are made to them from
these patent blood-suckers, compel
them to pay q fair compensation IN
adrance. This is unquestionably the
true policy, even if in consequence
the publishers are constrained to di-
minish the size of their sheets. The
home subscribers will be better
pleased, and the home advertisers will
have the satisfaction of knowing that
the Yankee nostrums, patent inven-
tions, &C., cannot be brought before
the Southern people at u less rate
than they pay, agreeable to the pub
lished terms Of advertising.
1t is remarkable, although not less
than we expected, how readily the
Northern-we might MS we'll say
Yankee"-business character adapts
itself to the new state Of things at
the South. In connection with our
remarks given above, and as some
what kindred to the subject, we quote
the following paragraphs from cor
respondent of the Cincinnati COM
mercidl, who received the statement
from gentleman connected with the
Post Office Department ut Washing
ton:
while in New Orleans he made
the acquaintance of an ex-Confede-
rate officer, in whose company he
soon after entered one of the fashion
able restaurants of the Crescent City.
Observing card with the words,
Our own Southern Bitters, conspicu-
ously printed on it, and alluding to
it, he said to his new-made friend,
why do you try in this way, even in
such II place as this, to perpetuate