Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1914-11-20
DEFENDS POPULAR REMEDIES
Speaker Says Newspapers Should In
Vestieate 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 ]. Balliett, OF
Buffalo, N Y, at the convention of the
Advertising Affiliation 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 it is not right to
sshut down on all medical advertising
because there have been some takers,
ehny more than 1t would be right to
S,refuse to publish all department store
advertising because certain stores
have made a practice of lying about
bargain sales.
Disease and death are mysteries.
People 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 success but
the patient died." This so-called hu'
NOR has perhaps hurt the medicine
business with well 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 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 1t.
Mr. Balliett refuted the idea sought
to be spread about that patent medi
cines are unpopular by showing thai
from 1900 to 1912 the amount OF pre-
pared medicines consumed In America
increased from $1OO,000,000 to $3.50,
! 100000 annually. He showed that, al
though the American Medical Associ
alton is trying as an organization tt
exterminate so-called patent medi
cines, the family doctor, individually
is not fighting them but prescribing
them. He estimated that 40%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
cines; but that DR.. Wiley's ideas arr
not infallible is shown by cases where
his analyses were entirely wrong. Mr.
Balliett mentioned a case where, with
all the power of the Government, ht
fought preparation as being danger
GUS to health, and was ingloriouslJ
walloped.
There has been spread the idea thai
q clever faker can mix few useless
ingredients and, by smart advertising
sell tons of 1t and win sudden wealth
whereas as matter of fact, the medi
cine business is VIGOROUSLY difficult
and, where there has been one success.
at 1t, there have been hundred fail
ures. Any medicine which has nj
merit cannot live, because persons
who are duped into buying 1t once will
not buy 1t again, and the profit from
advertising a medicine can only come
from repeat sales to the same, salts
fed people. Therefore. any medicine
which has been on the market for 6
number of years and Is still adver
tised, must have merit behind 1t to &C
count for its success.
In conclusion Mr.. Balliett declared
that no newspaper Is doing justice t.
Its readers in the matter of medica
or other advertising unless IL inveSti