The Columbus courier. [volume] (Columbus, Luna County, N.M.) 1911-1920, 1914-11-13
DEFENDS POPULAR REMEDIES
Speaker says Newspapers Should IN
vestiaatc Merits Of Medicines Be
fore Barring Advertisements.

Tore Batting RuNeFtlsenente'
-
That an organized attempt has been
made 20 nlacken the reputation OF the
populs9 family remedies Of this coun'
try, and TO mislead the newspaper
/ publishers into rejecting the adver-
Using OF such medicines, was the
charge made by Carl j. Balllett, OF
Buffalo, N. Y, at the convention OF the
Advertising Amllstion at Detroit.
Mr.. Balliett is a director Of the Pro
prietary Association OF America, which
includes In It's membership two hun
daed 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 II is
his duty 10 refuse any fake or fraudu-
lent advertising, but II is not right 10
shut down on all medical advertising
because there have been some takers,
any more than II would be right TO
refuse TO publish all department, store
advertising because certain stores
| hAN1 AhUA0 n ~ aAkAA1 VI hgAhh eANAN
bargain sales.
Disease and death are mysteries.
People who are perfectly we'll are
skeptical. They laugh at the time.
worn patent medicine joke, Just as
they laugh again and again over the
many variations OF the operation Joke
THE operation was a success but
the patient died" This so-called hu.
NOR has perhaps hurt the medicine
business with we'll people. but when
the hitherto healthy man feels a Sc
we're pain or illness, he Immediately
wants medicine. and will bless the
cure whether II be at the hands Of a
regular doctor, a ~homeopath, an osteo-.
path. a Christian Scientist or patent
medicine. There Is nothing more
deadly than disease; nothing more
honorable than TO cure II.
Mr.. Balliett refuted the idea sought
20 be spread about that patent medi.
cincs are unpopular by showing that
from 1900 to 1912 the amount OF pre-
, pared medicines consumed In America
increased from 500. coo, 600 to $500.
100000 annually. lie showed that. al.
though the American Medical AssoCi-
alton Is trying as an organization TO
exterminate so-called patent medi.
cines. the family doctor, individually,
I Is not fighting them but prescribing
e them. He estimated that 400 OF the
y prescriptions written by doctors today
include proprietary medicines.
A The writings of DR.. Harvey W. Wi.
q ley, he said, have also aimed to dc.
. stroy confidence In proprietary medi.
@ cines; bTt that DR.. Wiley's ideas are
@ not infailible is shown by cases where
q his analyses were entirely wrong. Mr.
n Balliett mentioned n case where, with
y all the power OF the Government, be
fought a preparation as being danger
Gus to health, and was inglOriously
q w~alloped.
n There has been spread the idea tha'
:. a clever faker can mix n few useless
~ ingredients and, by smart advertising
, sell tons of II and win sudden wealth
d whereas. as a matter OF fact, the medi
n cine business is VIGOROUSLY difficult
and, where there has been one success
at II. there have been a hundred fail
ures. Any medicine which has n,
merit cannot live, because personI
- who are duped into buying It once viii
= not buy II again, and the profit from
advertising n medicine can only COM
from repeat sales 10 the same, salts
y fed people. Therefore, any medicin.
= which has been on the market for
~ number OF years. and is still advei
:, tised. must have merit behind It to az
=, count for it's success
20 In conclusion Mr.. Balliett declare
a. that no newspaper is doing Justice {
its readers In the matter OF medlcs
- or other advertising. unless IL invest
gates, not only the wording OF the aC
vertisement offered for publication
but the merits OF the article adve
G tised. He pointed out that the fe
newspapers who have been delude
into the policy OF barring out medici
advertising have adopted this generi
policy, rather than TO form an lnve
tigation bureau OF this kind whiC
/. could, In a constructive and useful c
fort, investigate and decide what
,ts a good product and what is a frau
In not only the medicine business, b
in every other business which adye
M tises its wares TO the public,
The audience seemed to agree wi
Mr.. BAlliett's ideas on the subject al
W the chairman decided the question
" issue in his favor.
ihh
nd II takes a capable wife 10 yank q