The Republican journal., 1905-11-09
PATENT MEDICINES.

PATENT MEDICINES.
Some of the magazines and news
papers The Woman's Home
Journal and Golfers Weekly-have in
augurated crusade against patent
medicines. Much that they say is no
doubt true; but would apply equally as
we'll to many other articles offered to
the public. !, The patent medicine habit
is no worse than some other habits;
the cigarette habit, the rum habit, the
opium habit, for example. Some patent
medicines are frauds; but all are not.
Some may be properly classed as stand
ard remedies, and are in daily use by
the best physicians. Some are house.
hold remedies and may be found in
nearly every home. The testimonials
in some cases may be fraudulent, but
others are genuine, and many whose
names never appear in print are ready
to testify to the virtues of remedies
which come under the general head of
patent medicines. We have before us
as we write a paragraph from the At
Gibson, Kansas, Globe, which says:
Zone of the biggest business men in
Atchison told the writer of this the
other day that, to his personal knowl-
edge, had cured one of his clerks
of a very bad case of catarrh. The
business man himself said he had taken
with good results" "Ihe
writer of this was annoyed several
times this summer by an itching about
the ankles. He paid few cents for
bottle of --, and was permanently
cured. He heard of this advertisement
through a newspaper advertisement.
We know this statement to be fact;
no guess work about it,
On the other hand it would not be
very difficult to obtain statements from
persons who have been injured by TAX
ing patent medicines. "Whats one
mans poison is another's meat OF
drink" Much stress is laid upon the
alleged fact that three or four of the
we'll known patent medicines contain a
large percentage of alcohol, and in one
the percentage of drugs is said to be so
small as to have no effect. The ''medl-
cine" may therefore be set down as a
stimulant, pure and simple. 1t is fur
Their alleged that it is largely used as
drink by habitual drinkers and that it
has led unsuspecting persons into Inc
briefly. No one will deny that stlmu-
lants have their uses. In many cases
they are indispensable; and this is no
doubt the active principle III many OF
the patent compounds whose efficacy is
so lavishly advertised Many who use
such remedies could not be prevailed
upon to touch wine, whiskey, gin or
any other liquor under its rightful
name. Thus it seems to us that it is
the abuse and not the use OF patent
medicines that should receive attention.
The war against patent medicines
is not confined to the two publications
mentioned above. Other magazines
have excluded patent medicine adver-
tisements, and some of the weekly
newspapers are following suit. In
March last the Maine Farmer notified
those having advertising contracts that
it would accept no more advertisements
from "patent medicine concerns and
that unexpired contracts would be fill
ed or cancelled at the option of the adj
vertiser. The Journal While not en-
gagged in the crusade against patent
medicines. decided some time ago to
greatly restrict its patent medicine adj
vertising for the reason that 1t pre-
| fers local advertising, and its liberal
patronage in this direction enables 1t
to dispense with what in a newspaper
Office is usually termed foreign adver-
tising.' In a letter to The American
Press an Indiana publisher says that
one patent medicine concern submits
| the proposition that because magazines
are waging war upon patent medicines,
newspapers should consent to cut rates
or to take the same rate this year that
| they charged last year or three years
ago; and the American Press says edl-
torially that it does not think the
patent medicine men display good
judgment when they make such plea:
1t concludes eff the newspapers should
also turn against them they would not
sell anything With the newspapers
on their side they can do very re-
spectacle business independent OF the
magazines
WEDDING BELLS.