THE ALUMNI JOURNAL, 



1.9 r 



would be responsible for their purity: 

 and thus the public would be protected 

 from fraud. Tax-free alcohol would un- 

 doubtedly greatly improve and extend 

 our knowledge of pharmacy. 



It is the retail druggist who directly 

 supplies the needs of the public, and 

 through him it will derive such benefit 

 as will result from the enforcement of 

 this act. vSome manufacturers have 

 urged upon the Secretary of the Trea- 

 sury such a restrictive application of the 

 law as would exclude the retail druggists 

 from its benefits. This, the very class 

 through whom the benefits will be dis- 

 seminated, and whose claim from a moral 

 and economical standpoint should be the 

 strongest, must now assert themselves, 

 lest they be entirely ignored and ex- 

 cluded from sharing in the advantages of 

 the act. 



While the law has been enacted, this 

 particular section requires that regula- 

 tions are to be prescribed by the Secre- 

 tary of the Treasury, and as such regu- 

 lations have not been framed, it remains 

 inoperative. The reasons assigned for 

 the non-enforcement of this section of the 

 act are: 



(i) The loss of revenue that would 

 legitimately occur if the section is 

 enforced. The amount of tax col- 

 lected by the Government from this 

 source, as shown above, is large ; 

 but, surely, this argument entirely 

 loses its force, but if we stop to think 

 who ultimately pays this tribute money 

 — the sick, the infirm, the wounded, the 

 dying. Can we admit for one moment 

 that the most enlightened nation of the 

 nineteenth century finds it necessary to 

 place a penalty upon her unfortunate 

 sick ? Surely such a barbarity cannot 

 be defended and continued by an Ameri- 

 can Congress. 



(2) The difficulty of framing regula- 



tions that would permit those entitled to 

 receive the rebate provided for by the 

 act, and at the same time amply protect 

 the Government from imposition and 

 fraud. This has been magnified into an 

 insurmountable mountain. The Govern- 

 ment has here a task, we believe, no 

 more difficult than that of preventing 

 illicit distilling, illegal brewing or manu- 

 facture of tobacco, with all of which it 

 has successfully dealt. This Committee 

 is not willing to admit that the great 

 body of American pharmacists are not 

 honest and ready to uphold any just reg- 

 ulations that may be imposed by the 

 Treasury Department in the enforcement 

 of this act. Pharmacists do not desire a 

 rebate of the tax on alcohol entering con- 

 sumption as cordials, bitters and bever- 

 ages, nor on spirituous, distilled or malt- 

 ed liquors sold as such, but only on such 

 alcohol as is legitimately used in the 

 manufacture of medicinal preparations. 



While hardly within the province of 

 this Committee to outline regulations for 

 the Secretary of the Treasury, we have 

 reason to believe that any practical sug- 

 gestion would be welcome. The Com- 

 mittee is of the opinion that regulations 

 can be adopted as safeguards against the 

 improper usage of alcohol on which tax 

 is rebated, and has in mind already an 

 outline of what those regulations should 

 be, and would request suggestions from 

 others on this subject. 



(3) The neglect of Congress to make 

 the necessary appropriation for carrying 

 this section of the law into effect. This 

 objection is not a permanent one, and 

 can be easily remedied at the next ses- 

 sion of that body. The cost of enforcing 

 this section of the law will depend largely 

 upon the regulations prescribed, but we 

 have no reason to believe that it will be 

 unduly large. 



The Committee would urge upon every 



