The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1909-02-04
how THE DRUGGISTS WON
They Had Il Hard Time to Win Out
Against the Dairy and Food
Commissioners.
Commissioner.

o0' o. AllC lllG Mllu
was bowling loud enough to drown
most that was said in the House of
Representatives Friday the long
looked for scrap between the Board
of Pharmacists and the Food and
Dairy Commissioners was pulled off
and the pharmacists came out of
the contest with the scalp of the
commissioner floating high in the
gale.
The issue came in the considera-
81 louise Bin No. 2, the bill
which is in the main the copy of
the National pure drug bill and
which places the administration of
the law in the hands of the Board
of Pharmacy. Opposed to this was
ii. b. SO, which is much more dras-
tic in its provisions, requiring "A
qualitative label upon all patent
medicines and placing the admin
istration in the hands of the Food
and Dairy Commissioner. The Board
of Pharmacy, have from the begin
ming of the session had a shrewd
committee upon the ground, the
patent medicine houses and the
druggists generally have been deep
iy interested in the Dairy and Food
Commissioner has been most active.
H. B. 2 was close to the foot of the
calendar but Sasse forced the fight
ing by a motion placing it at the
head. He won and at once the
scrap was on. Gable moved to amend
the bill by substituting the dairy
and food commissioner for the board
of pharmacy, and striking out the
compensation and appropriation fea-
lures. Taylor called for a division
of the question, and upon division the
house refused the substitution 54
to %. Gable in discussing the ques-
ton deplored the expense which
would be entailed in setting up a
new department and argued for
economy. Sasse and Bently, both
physicians, supported the pharma-
cists; Simonson said he had learned
a new method of securing the en-
forcement of the law and if this
bill prevailed, placing the enforce
ment of the pure drug bill in the
hands of the druggists themselves,
he would favor placing the enforce
ment of the liquor laws in the hands
of a committee of saloon keepers.
Fowler, Forbes and others support
ed the pharmacists and it was mani
fest from the start that "the skids"
we're creased for the druggists. With
the consent of the druggists the APP
preparation clause was stricken and
Sasse made an exhaustive talk in
favor of the bill. 1t went through
IS to IS.
The house passed one other bill
and adjourned because of the cold
storm. This was Wyman's bill re-
ducing the distance limit of a coun-
ty seat from a railroad from ten to
three miles, before the circuit judge
may order court held at a railroad
town. The existing law was made to
make it possible to hold terms of
court in Charles Mix county at some
railroad town in preference to
Wheeler which is in~conveniently To-
Gated; the Wyman amendment is
directed at the situation in Hutch
inson county where the county seat
is located at Olivet, three miles or
more from the railroad and where
accommodations are not very good.
The Hutchinson county delegation
supported the bill. There was a
! fierce fight in Hutchinson last fall
to remove the county seat to Park
! ston, but it proved unavailing and
this procedure is an incident.
Among the new bills is an in
genious proposition by Warner pro-
viding for double election boards in
each precinct, with a double outfit
of ballot boxes blank returns and
the like. These boards are to serve
alternate hours while the polls are
open. At the end of the first hour
the sitting board retires and counts
the ballots received during the hour
while the second board receives the
ballots in turn retiring to count
while the first again takes charge
Of the election.
The capitol building bill has beer
unanimously reported to the house
and seems to meet with popular ap'
prevail. 1t will if passed provide
the means to complete and furnish
the capitol creditably and begin thu
Improvement of the grounds ant
that without embarrassing the
treasury, though the credit of the
state will necessarily be pledged tt
make the warrants marketable il
case there should be a failure tt
dispose of sufficient lands to NEE
the bills as they arise.
nrAAncnArc nlccpunTl en-