Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1914-11-20
DEFENDS POPULAR REMEDIES
Speaker Says Newspapers Should ln.
Vestigate Merits Of Medicines Be.
fore Barring Advertisements.

That an organized attempt has been
made to blacken the reputation Of the
popular 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. Balliett, Of
Buffalo, N. Y, at the convention Of the
Advertising Afiliation at Detroit.
Mr.. Balliett is q 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 1t is
the duty of the newspaper publisher
to refuse the advertising of any fake
or fraudulent medicine. just as 1t Is
his duty to refuse any fake or fraudu.
lent advertising. but It Is not right to
shut down on all medical advertising
eau there have been some takers,
any more than it would be right to
refuse to publish all department store
advertising because certain stores
nave made a practice Of lying about
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
tney laugh again and again over the
many variations of the operation joke
- Inc operation was a success but
the patient died" This so-called hui
NOR has perhaps hurt the medicine
business with we'll people, but when
'ne hitherto healthy man feels a Sc
ere pain or illness, he Immediately
wants medicine, and will bless the
cure whether 1t be at the hands of a
regular doctor, a homeopath, an osteo-
pain. a Christian Scientist or patent
medicine. There is nothing more
deadly than disease; nothing more
honorable than to cure il.
Mr.. Balliett refuted the idea sought
10 be spread about that patent medi.
cines are unpopular by showing that
o 1900 to 1912 the amount of pre.
pared medicines consumed In America
increased from 500, OO0, 900 to $3.50.
ooo,ooo annually. He showed that, al.
though the American Medical Associ-
ation is trying as an organization to
eAterminate so-called patent medi-
clhes' the family doctor, individually,
Is not fighting them but prescribing
them. He estimated that 4O%o of the
prescriptions written by doctors today
include proprietary medicines.
The writings of DR.. Harvey w WI.
ley, he said, have also aimed to de-.
stroy confidence in proprietary medi-
clnes; but that DR.. Wiley's ideas are
not infallible is shown by cases where
MS analyses were entirely wrong. Mr.
mentioned a case where, with
all the power of the Government, he
fought a preparation as being danger.
GUS to health. and was ingloriouslv
walloped.
here has been spread the idea that
a clever faker can mix a few useless
ingredients and, by smart advertising.
sell tons of 1t and win sudden wealth.
whereas, as a matter of fact. the medi.
cine business is VIGOROUSLY difficult.
where there has been one success
at It, there have been a hundred fail.
ures. Any medicine which has no
merit cannot live, because persons
who are duped into buying it once will
not buy 1t again, and the profit from
advertising a medicine can only come
from repeat sales to the same. satis.
he'd people. Therefore, any medicine
which has been on the market for o
lumber of years, and is still adver.
tised, must have merit behind it to ac.
count for its success.
In conclusion Mr.. 3alliett declared
that no newspaper is doing Justice to
It's readers in the matter of medical
or other advertising, unless It investi.
gates. not only the wording of the ad.
vertisement offered for publication.
but the merits Of the article adver.
He pointed out that the few
newspapers who have been deluded
into the policy of barring out medical
advertising have adopted this general
policy, rather than to form an inyes.
bureau Of this kind which
could, in a constructive and useful eff.
fort, investigate and decide what is
a good product and what is a fraud.
in not only the medicine business, but
in every other business which adver-
tises its wares to the public.
The audience seemed to agree with
Mr.. Balliett's ideas on the subject and
the chairman decided the question at
in his favor.