The Lehi banner. [volume] (Lehi, Utah) 1891-1917, 1914-11-14
DEFENDS POPULAR REMEDIES
Speaker Says Newspapers Should In
vestlgate Merits Of Medicines Be.
fore Barring Advertisements.

That an organized attempt has bSen
made to blacken the reputation of the
popular family remedies of this coun-
try, and to mislead the newspaper
publishers into rejenting th> adver-
using OF such medicines. ras the
charge made by Carl J. Balliett, OF
Buffalo. N. Y, at the convention of the
Advertising Afilliation 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 poplar
prepared medicines of America.
Mr.. Balliett pointed out that 10 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 sraidu-
lent advertising. but 1t is not right to
shut down on all medical advertising
because there have been some takers,
any more than Il would be right to
refuse TO publish all department store
advertising because certain stores
have made practice OF lyiSg about
bargain sales.
Disease and death az mysteries.
People who are perfectly well are
skeptical. They lauAA ut the time
worn patent medicine joke. just as
they laugh again and again over he
many variations OF the operation joke
THE operation was n success but
the patient died" This so-called hui
NOR has perhaps hurt the medicine
business with we'll people, but |hen
the hitherto healthy man feels Sc
we're pain or illness. he Immediately
wants medicine. and will bless the
cure whether II be at the hands c. n
egular doctor. homeopa,N. an osteo-
path. Christian Sc,sntist or patent
medicine. There Is nothing more
deadly than disease; nothin- uore
honorable tina" 20 cure Il.
Mr.. Balliett refuted the idea sought
10 be spread about that patent medi
cines are unpopular by showing tina,
from 1900 to 1912 the amount of pre-
pared medicines consumed in America
increased from siOO,OOO,OOO to slGO,'
100000 annually. lie showed that. al
though the American Medica, Assocl
alton Is trying as an organization 10
exterminate 80 called patent medi'
cines, the family doctor individually
Is not flgating them but prescribing
them. lie 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 m>ii'
cines; but that DR.. Wiley's ideas are
not infallible is shown by cases where
his analyses were entirely wrong. Mr
| Ralliett mentioned case where, with
all the power OF the Government, he
fought a preparation as being danger
Gus to health, and was ingloriously
walloped.
There has been spread the idea that
a clever faker can mix a few useless
ingredients and, by smart advertising
sell tons OF Il and win sudden wealth,
| whereas, as a matter OF fact. the medi
| cine business Is VIGOROUSLY difficult
and. where there has been one success
az Il, there have been a hundred fail
ures. Any medicine which has nc
merit cannot live, because persons
who are duped into buying II once will
not buy It again, and the profit from
advertising a medicine can only come
from repeat sales 10 the same, salts
fed people. Therefore. any medicine
watch has been on the market for a
number OF years, and is still adyer
tised. must have merit behind II 10 &C
count for It's success,
In conclusion Mr. Balliett declared
that no newspaper is doing justice q
lbs readers In the matter OF medical
or other advertising, unless II inyesti
gates. not only the wording OF the ad
ysrtisement offered fer publication
but the merits OF the article adyer
Used Tie pointed out that the FEW
rev spapers who have been deludec
into the policy OF barring out medical
advertising have adopted this general
policy, rather than 10 form an inyes
luEltion bureau of this kind which
could In a constructive and useful az
/ ].