The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-07-26

alert. ready to seize upon and magnify every unfavorable circumstance. how few are the cases of accident or injury from the use of proprietary medicines Complaints in regard to the use of such remedies, while not unknown, are ex- ceedingly rare and utterly insignificant in comparison with the amount sold and the millions of people who avail themselves of these remedies. And you do not need to be- reminded that physicians are sometimes accused of
 malpractice and druggists have been
 known to make mistakes on prescrip- tions.
 Alcohol and Opium.
 Again. there Is the alcohol and opium argument. Unnrs Of medicines are said to become Alcoholic. So 8 law is
 suggested forcing the proprietor to
 label his bottle This bottle contains over per cent alcohol" claim to be a sincere advocate of temperance
 but you gentlemen know and l know what a base attempt has been made ir
 this direction to play on the pretudices
 of the ignorant. You know that the
 average doctors prescription contains
 fully as large a percentage of alcohol
 as the average proprietary The repu-
 table medicine proprietor puts not one
 drop more of alcohol in his products
 than is needed to act as a solvent or
 preservative of his ingredients. Alcohol
 is one of his most expensive articles
 and economy alone demands that he
 use as little as possible. What he does
 use he uses as he does a bottle-to pre-
 serve the ingredients of his medicine
 I have seen a published report of 1000
 cases treated by Keely institute for
 the opium habit. and not one appeared Of ha nf nrnnriat r V
 medicines. At the Chicago Bridewell
 recent investigations of the superinten- dent have failed to find a single patient there as the result of the use of pro- prietary medicines.
 Then there is the formula bill. This makes it necessary for every proprie-
 tary medicine house to print the for mula of the medicine on the label. With no real benefit to the public. this would open the door to a flood of imitators and frauds, who would endeavor to pro- fit by the advertising and reputation of the originator of the real formula It would do the public not one atom Of good and only result in the demoraliza- ton of trade conditions, besides making 1t possible for thieves to steal the stock in trade of an honest manufacturer. In all 1 have said in speaking of pro- prietary medicines, I do not refer to the fake" connections of cocaine or other admittedly harmful drugs or "booze.' put up in the guise of bona fide reme- dies. They are no more proprietary medicines than counterfeit bills are req dollars We all favor a reasonable fair and uniform anti-narcotic and poi
 son bill, and will unite with any organi- zation to obtain the same.
 Served One Purpose.
 This agitation has served at least one useful purpose Through legislative hearings and discussions in the public print, the real substantial foundations of the proprietary business have been
 shown. It has been clearly demon strated that the mass of the people want such products as you offer them and are benefited by, and satisfied with them. Package or specially branded goods are becoming widely used in every line of trade. The proprietary me- dicine makers were just a little in the lead of proprietary food makers and
 kindred lines. We certainly recognize
 that the entire tendency of trade Is
 towards the package rather than the
 bulk basis Having tried an article.
 the masses want to be assured of get
 ting the same thing regularly. Made
 in large quantities. the best appliances
 and skill can be obtained in its pro-
 duction. The loss of trade and pres
 tige to a proprietor, If he produces
 inferior or faulty goods. insures un-
 usual caution. The standard proprieta-
 ry is put in convenient form. The
 label shows exactly what 1t is for. It's
 merit has been proven. It Is cheap
 and easily obtainable everywhere. It
 ia the out come of the people, and as
 such can not and should not be legis-
 lated out of existence by sensational
 magazine editors or medical societies
 seeking to increase the revenue of their
 members.