New-York tribune., 1917-08-19
Fake Medicines Can't Run
Blockade in Cleveland

fake, and Chichesters Nlake HHOA
pills, his vehemence ~ eXplleaple.
der the caption, "The Lawlessness "
Another Health Board MI SlOhs W
lifts his strident editor1al sotSe
denunciation Of the CIeVelanu NnIi.,
Department and City CheInIst nv,
whom he denounees (not D! Many
course, courage not being ore OF 'ne
patent medicine editors attriouIesl S
a lawless "young upstart ana caito
upon the LEGAL drug trade 70 ISHgLe
the misbranding orders, Ny Stroh. pc
ing apparently ignorant OF the proGes.es
of the law against which ne SO VloIeus,!
inveighs. Again, in a late issue Mr'
Strong has an editorial ague fit lest the
pernicious example of Cleveland spread
10 other cities or extend over the whole
nation. Hosting the advertising sian
dards of Swamp Root, hho9-N HnJ
Chichester-booZe, venereaI taAery anu
abortion-he utters this clarion can "
a drug trade so inconceivaoly spa
thetic as 20 have closed us ears " "''
former rallying cry:
1--WE repeat the hope, therefore thas
some brave, aggressive druggist' w..n
the spirit of Hampden within hifn' alteI
Rrst getting the assurance or the mora
and financial support or ms assocla-
tion or of some prominent mshu1aSt-
urer, will take il upon himset 10 !e'
the board of health know that ne ~,
tends to disregard their orders ana VIII
sell in defiance Of them the very rem
edies they have prescribed. II thls IL
done. II some one in this manner VIII
call the Health Boards blum, we oelleyei
il will settle the matter once for al
and the trade will be mo!estea no
more"
Though the Strong editorial matter
has been circulated through the drug
trad. of Cleveland in the form OF re-
prints. in plain envelopes mysterlousiy
lacking in any sign OF their source
an old d-time method of the Proprietary
Association of America-yet the brave,
aggressive Hampden of the retail drug
trade. with his soul full of patent medi..
cine defiance and his pockets full OF
patent medicine money, has not YET ap-
peared to make the fight when EDITOR
Strong's hackers dare not MAKE fos-
sibly some one will be found, put IL IS
difficult TO see, as explained ABOVE,
what profit the banned and exposed
frauds can expect OF 1t. Ot course II
one of them should sue for libel-the
most direct method-and get verdict,
that would alter the situation radl-
cally. But that won't happen. Lioel
4 is a word of i'll omen to the n>strum
| faker. "The heart knoweth lis own
! weakness" and the patent medicine
heart is very weak organ indeed!
: Cleveland has not solved the patent
medicine problem or eliminated the
patent medicine menace by any means.
: n atrttr n there
as fraudulent and dangerous as those
already banned. But the cleanup"
| committee doesn't expect to do every
/ thing at once. II is content to 60 slow
ly and surely. How truly dangerous
/ such a course is to the fraud medicines
may be judged by the rage, despair and
grief of their mouthpiece. Mr.. henry
J Strong. =,
Meanwhile the work in Cleveland
| goes on with the most favorable pros
pects. Through the better business
| committee a dozen of the largest mer-
camille establishments have offered the
use of their show windows for educa-
| tional displays showing the danger OF
| indiscriminate use of patent medicines.
| Thus the educational work which can
! not be accomplished through the news
PAPERS, the normal medium of public
| enlightenment, can be carried on. The
| Cleveland dailies, which, though by no
! means clean as to their advertising
| policies, nevertheless are rather above
| than below the general American aver
! age, will not go so far counter TO the
| interests of their nostrum advertisers
as to support the new movement. lt
| il at least negatively to their credit
| that they have thus far played fair
| and have not lifted finger against the
anti-fraud crusade. This is radical
/ change from the old days when the
( patent medicine interests, when as
sailed, could whip the press of any city
into line through fear Of losing ad-
vertising.
/ Finally, the local drug trade, both
! wholesale and retail, is working Loyalty
/ and honorably with the health author
/ tiles. Nor has the retail trade suf-
/ fered any appreciable diminution of
/ business through the new policy. The
! druggists find.that the public has about
] so much money 10 spend on proprie-
( taries anyway, and if they can't get the
! fraudulent fake -advertising-bolstered
ones they will turn to something else.
at works this way" explained a
| pharmacist. "A customer comes in and
/ asks for some hair preparation banned
! by the rules. | show her the Health
/ Department order. She doesn't want
anything that is officially declared
/ harmful. But she wants something,
and ] have a chance 10 sell her some
reliable, harmless article and make a
/ better profit, very likely, than on
/ tie heavily advertised proprietary on
which my profits are cut down SO that
they hardly cover my cost of doing bus
| mess"
Here, indeed, is one cause of the
drug trades disatFection toward the
nostrum business, existing elsewhere
as we'll al in Cleveland; the hard deal
ing of the manufacturer which leaves
hardly any margin of profit to the re-
! taller. Then, having advertised heavily
! and compelled the retailer 70 stock up,