Buchanan County bulletin. [volume] (Independence, Iowa) 1869-1891, 1876-11-24
ICOmmunicatcdl
Humbug-aeneral and Special.

claim place in the list of the world
great philosophers, yet for one single ut
terance he comes very near deservin:
such position. He not only said tina
the people loved to be humbugged or i'm
posed upon, but based life work upol
the proposition, and by his success, mad,
founded Il philosophy or not, he enjoys
the distinction of having enough follow
crs to satisfy the vanity of the most am
bilious leader. 1t cannot be denied thai
Americans suffer especially from this eM
of unlestrained imposition. Our pecu
liar legal system, or want of legal system
in this direction, one that expects every
man to work out his own financial sal
Walton, and giving the largest liberty to
individual effort, enables imposters, cheats
and swlndlers to drive their calling with
an case and certainty of success unknown
IN other civilized communities. In the
cndeavor to remove obstacles to honora-
bic and honest effort, it Is frequently
found that advantage is given to class
who thrive only by swindling. In this
| fact we find one reason why real merit is
so often driven from the field by dishon.
csty. 1t is Idle to claim that truth or merit
will come out ahead" in the end; it
should be ahead at the start and all the
time. A good article, it is said, should
recommend itself. but experience proves
that the counterfeit invariably outshines
the original. sufficiently, at least, to ac-
complish its purpose of mischief. Merit
is unobtrusive and quiet, while its oppo-
citn &c y,c,,11x, hold Nd nn;cv Tho
reliance of the genuine often fails to be
of any avail from the fact that it is not
recognized. This proves that genuine
worth needs and is entitled to protection,
simply because it is not understood
How is the average citizen able to Judge
of the soundness of business corpora
ton located thousands of miles away
An agent calls to insure life or property /;
he is oily tongued, exhibits mass of ly-
ing documents and easily ropes in his
victim. Hard earned money thus goes
into the hands of villains who employ it
to decoy others. Statistics show that
over ninety out of every hundred land
they reach far into the hundreds) so called
insurance companies organized in this
country, have proven swlndles and fail
ures. But people still bite this humbug
hook as greedily oday as if an insurance
swindle was unknown. That remedy
exists for such gigantic evil is proven
by the history of legislation in IA state
that has given us the great Hartford COM
panies whose careers so grandly demon
strate business honor and success, when
protected from wild Cat" competition
The humbug field is so immense that
one hardly knows what phase of the evil
to specially view, and yet some are so
villalnous in their nature as to attract
particular notice. The three great pro-
LESSONS arc chosen fields for the quack
and impostor. Quack preachers and
quack lawyers abound but medicine sut-
fers most. The quack lawyer deals with
and imperils money interests only; the
Quack preacher may dispense living
truths, albeit he is far from being their
embodiment; but for the quack doctor,
the grave tells no tales. His practice en-
joys the protection CT sick room seciusion,
which security the impostor pleading at
the bar or occupying the pulpit does not
possess. The critical eye of the public
is always upon the lawyer and preacher;
but the shrewd medical quack may prcse-
cute long term of murderous and igno-
rant practice without detection. He calls
the results of his work the "hand of
Providence and after his victim is be-
You'd recall, there is little disposition on
the part of friends to prosecute an inves-
tigation as to the cause of their bereavc
ment.
Again, we find that people are slow to
confess having been humbugged, although
convinced of it, and in this way many
bad job is apologised for simply because
the victim is ashamed to own having been
imposed upon. II We consider that vic
Tins of quackery not only have crippled
limbs and broken constitutions TO show
for their credulity, but us ually pay enor
nous fees for such Injuries, it is little
wonder that the celebrated" quacks are
sure of their silence. There is but one
objection urged against rigid legal protec
ton from the great army of villainOus
prctenders that infest our land 1t is
claimed that qualified physicians cannot
usually afford to occupy new and spar C.
ly populated districts, thus obliging the
employment OF any man within reach
oilt pllHSiplc IutttS tuiS pUlHi-lilil llO
aid is better than bad treatment. Trust
nature to cure "a thousand times before
once risking ignorant tnmpcring. Time,
here, as elsewhere, will secure salutary
legislation regulating the practice of
medicine, but the road thereto is lined
with tombstones innumerable, the silent
witnesses of IA mistaken policy and fatal
delay The hoStlcr of Prof Lston of
Edinburg enjoyed for some years lucra-
tive practice III one of the suburbs of
Boston. With devilish art and mealy-
mouthed utterance he induced the public
to trust him with their lives. His class
are still to be found the whole couhtry
over, on the keen scent for victims, and
whose success makes good the adage 'thc
fools are not yet all dead"
Millions of dollars annually pass from
the pockets of the poor and others for
patent remedies which analysis proves to
be either worthless or dangerous. A pop
ular ointment, found in all the shops, is
known to contain ingredients that never
fail to peril or destroy life when used as
recommended by the patentee. The
"balm of thousand flowers proved to
be scented soap suds, which entities it to
the claim of superiority in its class, al
though expensive in view of Its useful
ness. The endless number of this class
of frauds and the above views so abun
dainty proven, but merely touched upon,
compel the conclusion that Barnum as a
philOsonher