igi2] Reprint frotn Journ. Amer. Med. Association 395 



facturers. Which of these groups will be kept in mind in the selec- 

 tion of the man? The newspapers announce that President Taft 

 immediately telegraphed to the leading universities asking for sug- 

 gestions as to the right man to succeed Wiley. This looks as 

 though the President were anxious to get the right man. But the 

 right man in this case need not necessarily be the best chemist in 

 the country. What is needed is a man who is fundamentally 

 honest; who has the good of the public and not of the 'interests' 

 at heart: one, above all, who has honest convictions and has the 

 courage to carry out such convictions. But will the President dare 

 to ask such a man to take a position in which he will be surrounded 

 with the restrictions that made Wiley consider it nearly useless? 

 No self-respecting man, no man who is thoroughly qualified in 

 every way for the position, would accept it under present condi- 

 tions. There must be a further change in the personnel of the 

 bureau which is by law presumed to enforce the Food and Drugs 

 Act and a removal of the restrictions on its activities. Until that 

 change is made, no one worthy to succeed Wiley ought to be ex- 

 pected to accept the position." [Reprinted from the editorial pages 

 of the Journal of the American Medical Association, Iviii, pp. 865- 

 866: March 22,, 1912.] 



