Mrs. Grundy. (Tracy City, Tenn.) 1903-1930, 1914-12-03
DEFENDS POPULAR REMEDIES
Speaker Says Newspapers Should In.
vestisate Merits Of Medicines Be-
fore Barring Advertisements.

That an organized attempt has beef
made to blaeken the reputation of tn,
popular family remedies of this coun
try, and to mislead the newspape
publishers into rejecting the adver
Using of such medicines, was tn,
charge made by Carl j. Balliett, O
Buffalo. N. Y, at the convention of tn,
Advertising Afiiliation at Detroit.
Mr.. Balliett is director of the Pro
prietary Association of America, which
includes in its membership two hun
dred firms which make the popular
prepared medicines of America.
Mr.. Balliett pointed out that it Is
the duty of the newspaper publisher
to refuse the advertising of any fake
or fraudulent medicine, just as it is
MS duty to refuse any fake or fraudu
lent advertising. but it is not right to
shut down on all medical advertising
because there have been some takers
any more than 1t would be right to
retuse to publish all department store
advertising because certain stores
nave made practice of lying about
bargain sales.
Dsease and death are mysteries.
PEOPLE who are perfectly well are
skeptical, They laugh at the time.
worn patent medicine Joke, Just as
.ney laugh again and again over the
many variations Of the operation joke
me operation was a success but
the patient died. This so-called hu
NOR has perhaps hurt the medicine
business with well people, but when
tne hitherto healthy man feels a SO.
we're pain or Illness. he Immediately
wants medicine, and win bless the
cure whether it be at the hands of a
regular doctor. a homeopath an osteo-
path. a Christian Scientist or patent
hedicine' There is nothing more
deadly than disease; nothing moro
honorable than to cure it,
Mr. Bailiett refuted the idea sought
70 DC spread about that patent medI.
clhes are unpopular by showing that
from 1900 TO 1912 the amount of nre.
pared medicines consumed In America
increased from $1OO,00O,Oo to sl6O..
vVV'ouo annually. He showed that. al.
though the American Medical ascot.
a1ion is trying as an organization IA
exterminate so-called patent medi.
cines, the family doctor, indiyidual,y
y not lighting them but prescribing
tnem' He estimated that 40es of the
prescriptions written by doctors TODAY
include proprietary medicines. :,
me writings OF DR.. Harvey w Wi.
icy, ne said. have also aimed "a do.
stroy confidence il proprietary medi.
cines' but that DR. Wiley's ideas ara
not infailible is shown by cases where
MS analyses were entirely wrong Mr.
baiiiett mentioned case where. with
an .ne power OF thG Government, he
fought a preparatio las being tangar.
walloped.
mere has been spread the idea that
clever faker can mix a few usaless
INGREDIENTS and, by smart advertising
sell TONS OF 1t and win sudden wealth
as q matter OF fact the medi.
'ihe business is notoriously difficult
ma, where there has been one succesv
Y IT, there have been d hundred fail. |
'res. ANY medicine which has M
merit cannot live, because persons
VINO are duped into buying II once will
lot buy IL again, and the profit from
advertising a medicine can only coma
rom repeat sales to the same. salts.
'ed people Therefore, any medicine
when has been on the market far a
lumber OF years, and Is still advar.
ised, must have merit behind II 70 40.
cunt for its success.
In conclusion Mr. Balliett declared
hat no newspaper is doing Justice to
Is readers In the matter of medical
r other advertising. unless II investi.
ates, not only the wording OF the ad.
ertisement offered for publication
ut the merits Of the article adver.
sed. He pointed out that the few
ewspapers who have been deJudad
ito the policy of barring out medical
dvertising have adopted this general
olicy, rather than to form an inves.
CATION bureau Of this kind which
ould, in a constructive and useful ef-
'rt, investigate and decide what ia
good product and what is a fraud.
not only the medicine business, but
every other business which adver F.
ses its wares to the public.
The audience seemed to agree with
r. Ballietts ideas on the subject and
he chairman decided the question at
sue in his favor.
.