The Caldwell watchman. (Columbia, La.) 1885-1946, 1914-11-13
DEFENDS POPULAR REMEDIES
Speaker Says Newspapers Should In
vestiaate Merits of Medicines Be-
fore Barring Advertisements.


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 Attiliation at Detroit.
Mr.. Balliett is a 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
his 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 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 well are
sEeptlcal. They laugh at the time
worn patent medicine Joke, just as
they laugh again and again over the
many variations of the operation joke
ne 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
the hitherto healthy man feels Sc
we're pain or illness, he Immediately
wants medicine, and will bless the
cure whether it be at the hands of a
regular doctor, homeopath, an osteo.
path. a Christian Scientist or patent
medicine. There is nothing more
deadly than disease; nothing more
honorable than to cure it.
Mr. BaIliett refuted the idea sought
10 be spread about that patent medi-
clnes are unpopular by showing that
from 1900 to 1912 the amount of pre-.
| pared medicines consumed in America
increased from s100,OOO,OOO to $780,.
100000 annually. He showed that, al
though the American Medical Associ.
| atlon IS trying as an organization to
eXterminate socalled patent medi
clnes, the family doctor, individually
Is not lighting them but prescribing
them. He estimated that 400 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
cines; but that DR.. Wiley's ideas are
not infallible is shown by cases where
his analyses were entirely wrong. Mr.
Balliett mentioned case where, witt
all the power of the Government. he
fought preparation as being danger
GUS to health, and was ingloriously
walloped.
There has been spread the idea thai
a clever faker can mix few useles:
ingredients and, by smart advertising
sell tons of it and win sudden wealth
whereas, as matter of fact, the medi
cine business is VIGOROUSLY difficult
and, where there has been one success.
at it, there have been hundred fail
ures. Any medicine which has M
merit cannot live, because person.
who are duped into buying it once will
not buy it again, and the profit from
advertising medicine can only come
from repeat sales to the same, salts
fled people. Therefore, any medicine
which has been on the market for
number of years, and is still adver
tised, must have merit behind it to &C
count for it's success.
In conclusion Mr.. Balliett declared
that no newspaper Is doing justice tt
it's readers in the matter of medica
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
tised. He pointed out that the few
newspapers who have been deludet
into the policy of barring out medica
advertising have adopted this genera
policy, rather than to form an inves
tigation bureau of this kind which
could, in constructive and useful eli
fort, investigate and decide what il
a good product and what is fraud
In not only the medicine business, blu
in every other business which advel
tises its wares to the public.
The audience seemed to agree witt
Mr.. Balliett's ideas on the subject an,
the chairman decided the question a
issue In his favor
| W,, AL