Evening star., 1933-10-22
REDUCING TRADE "SPREAD"
SEEN SPUR TO RECOVERY
Producers Get Too Little and Consum
ers Pay Too Much for Success of Ma.
tional Drive-Vast Powers Pent Up.

NOlNcO.
The old pure food and drugs act be-
been substantially changed 1t no
the consumer The Food and Drug Ad-
ministration of the Department of Ag-
riculture is under constant criticism for
laXneSs in permitting the advertising
and sale of drugs. foods and cosmetics
which are absurd in their claims and
frequently dangerous. In most cases
it is helpless. The old law forbids
fraudulent claims on labels; but it does
not prevent them in advertising and
it Is does not touch cosmetics at all.
Cancer cures and obesity remedies are
offered freely in those parts of the press
which accept such advertising and are
presented over the radio with all the
trappings and cararhernalia of exact
laboratory science. frequently accom-
panied BY testimonials and the sencti-
monious lectures of quack physicians.
There is no way of stopping this at
present. But it would be possible un-
der the new law. A shudder OF fear
hes run all through this str 1ge sub
terranean world Of charlatanrv which
lives on the fears and superstitions OF
the ignorant and the diseased. The bill.
offered by Senator Copeland as S. 1914,
does not go very far. perhaps not far
enough. in view of the growth Of these
businesses But it would stop the worst
abuses and it Is probably the most that
can be done at present.
The criticisms against it which seem
to be taken most seriously are two
that it would prevent Standardization
and that it would set up . censorship.
Neither of these is justified. Any one
who wants to treat himself for disease
will still be able to do so. so far as
the proposed law is concerned. 1t will
1t will, however. be impossible for nos
prediction for treating himself A lit
tie common blauber'S salts will no
longer be offered as rheumatism cure
at 10 times the price under a fancy
name; extracts of some common weed
will no longer be represented as dia-
betes remedy; dangerous poisons will be
removed from the list Of advertised
depilatories. The consumer will not be
persuaded to treat himself for incurable
ailments. nor will he be fooled into
accepting inflated claims concerning
remedies for durable ones. The illegiti-
mate drug and food trades will vanish
along with their obnoxious advertising
But this ought. it seems to me. to be
an advantage to the legitimate drug
and cosmetic trade and it ought to en-
courage a confidence among consumers
which is fast disappearing. The lost
confidence is directly traceable to what
Editor and Publisher in a recent edi-
torial called "a gang of charlatans
busily mixing the devils concoctions."
Censorship Not Favored.
AS to censorship. nothing. certainly.
is further from the mind of those who
had part in writing the bill 1t is
true that there is difficult shadow
line between what is merely putting
and exaggeration, for which the con-
sunler ought to furnish his own sales
resistance, and what is fraudulent and
dangerous to health. And it is further
true that the Government must reserve
TO itself the right to draw this line.
But there is no reason to suspect un-
reasonableness in advance. Those who
are wholly IN the clear ought to be our
pest supporters on this. as on the other
count. But so far they seem to be
more interested to protect their lower
fringe OF takers and quacks than to set
the whole trade on a defensble and
upright basis, beyond suspicion. and not
afraid. from moment to moment. that
some power of government or public
opinion will turn and destroy them
Ihey are on the defensive now because
of their vulnerability.
washington seethes with special prob
lens just now which require technical
persistence and close application for So
luton. 1t IS just as we'll to remember.
as these questions are discussed, some
Oh their implications. They need to be
oriented to general policy. I think, for
instance, of the significance of such a
thng as water. This may seem remote
nom our present concern with codes
ana agreements, with strikes and rising
prices. Yet it has an immediate ref.
erence to the policy of the Public
Works Administration
IL ralned out in Taos on the morning
was there. Estimates of the volume
Oh precipitation varied; it seemed TO
me not to be more than about four
drops, out apparently it was enough
10 excite nope for more and to stinn-
late conversation whenever two or three
ieaIoeIltS were gathered together. A 6rv
four drops. e'e1i All
In the East, of course, we have no
proper understanding of waite Il 'io ie
TOO accessible. Drought is news. ro;,, -
not. In the semi-arid country of the
southwest the reverse is true. and We
cannot understand the needs there
until we become familiar with this
simpie 1act In the East We NAV raise
sAeptlcai eyebrow whenever West
erners speak OF the need for q new dam
or % OF new irrigation canal costing
nMI;liIoHs OF dollars; We may question the
aiiocatlon of millions of dollars from
Tn public works fund for States whose
population Is less than that of many
an eastern city. and we may prefer to-
exclude land area as a criterion of Fed
eral expenditures.
Parts 10 Be Utilized.
There would be pretty general agree
Heht, ne!ertheless, that those parts of
our country potentially richest in ma
tural resources ought at some time tn
be utilized. If we are serious about
discovering favorable environments: if
IL is true that some cities have alto
gether too many people for comfortable
nVlng; II industry is really on the way
TO decentralization, then surely we had
better be preparing. We shall want the
West developed. not for local reasons,
but because the Nation will have to
make use of its richness If we are to
live richly. The choice is not between
East and West, but rather between two
kinds OF living in both East and West,
one being rich in possibilities, the other
poor.
The East has water usually at the
time and in the quantities desired; the
West rarely does, and the conservation
and distribution of water are an acute
interest. When Westerners argue 80
necessarily about dams and reservoirs
and canals, and when they lombard
Washington with insistent demands
that more attention be devoted to their
water needs. they are not necessarily
pleading for pork" They are strug-
Cling for preservation. They know
the history of their territory. In times
past. water shortage has depopulated
whole communities. driven them to the
banks of the larger rivers which never
quite go dry.
The self-suf1icient cliff dwellers OF
Mesa Verde 700 years ago were forced