The Grenada sentinel. [volume] (Grenada, Miss.) 1868-1955, 1914-11-13
POPULAR REMEDIES
Speaker Says Newspapers Should In
vestigate Merits Of Medicines Be-
fore Barring Advertisements.

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 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 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 1t is not right to
shut down on all medical advertising
because there have been some takers,
any more than 1t would be right to
refuse to publish all department store
advertising because certain stores
nave made a practice of lying about
bargain sales.
anu uedtH dIc myStcIicS'
teople who are perfectly well 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 hui
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 1t be at the hands Of q
eguia doctor, a ~homeopath, an osteo
pain, a Christian Scientist or patent
medicine. There is nothing NOR
deadly than disease; nothing NOR
honorable than to cure it.
MT. Balliett refuted the idea sought
to be spread about that patent medi
clnes are unpopular by showing tina
from 1900 to 1912 the amount of pre-
pared medicines consumed in America
increased from 500, 600. 900 to $16O,
ooo,0O0 annually. He showed that, al
though the American Medical Associ
alton Is trying as ar organization t
exterminate so-called patent med
clnes. the family doctor, individually
Is not fighting them but prescribinI
them. He estimated that 400 Of tn
prescriptions written by doctors toda,
include proprietary medicines.
The writings Of DR.. Harvey w. W
ley. he said, have also aimed to de
stroy confidence in proprietary med
cines; but that DR.. Wiley's ideas ar
not infallible is shown by cases wber
his analyses were entirely wrong. Nj
balliett mentioned a case where, wit
all the power of the Government, h
fought a preparation as being DANCE.
Gus to health. and was ingloriousl
walloped.
There has been spread the idea thu
q clever faker a mix a few useles
ingredients and. by smart advertiser,
sell tons Of 1t and win sudden wealth
whereas. as a matter of fact, the med
cine business is VIGOROUSLY Difficult
and, where there has been one succe
at 1t. there have been a hundred faI
ures. Any medicine which has n
merit cannot live. because person
who are duped into buying 1t once wi
not buy 1t again. and the profit fro,
advertising a medicine can only con
from repeat sales to the same, sati
fed people. Therefore, any medicir
which has been on the market for
number of years, and is still a6ve
tised, must have merit behind 1t to a
count for its success.
In conclusion Mr.. Balliett declare
that no newspaper is doing justice
, Its readers in the matter of medic
, or other advertising, unless it inves
gates. not only the wording of the a
vertisement offered for publicatio
but the merits Of the article adve
tised. He pointed out that the fe
newspapers who have been delud,
into the policy of barring out medic
, advertising have adopted this gener
policy, rather than to form an invt
tigation bureau Of this kind viii
could, in a constructive and useful
fort, investigate and decide what
a good product and what is a frat
In not only the medicine business, b
, in every other business which adv,
tises it's wares to the public.
The audience seemed to agree wi
Mr.. Ballietts ideas on the subject a
= the chairman decided the question
issue in his favor.