THE TWENTY-THIRD ANNIVERSARY OF 
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year to read in the accounts of the Society a sum of £4G4. 2s. 4 \d. for law expenses, and 
all for nothing. Admitting every little chemist and druggist to the full benefits of the 
Society was like conferring the title of M.A. on every person who knew the first three 
rules of arithmetic, in which case the legitimate ones would cry out and ask why they had 
been so treated. He thought they were acting most wisely in introducing such a Bill, 
which would work beneficially for all parties. 
Mr. OmtiDGE said that before the discussion proceeded further, he wished to say a few 
words with reference to Mr. Collins’s motion. Some gentlemen appeared to think that 
they were conspiring with the body of chemists and druggists, but that was not the fact, 
and in proof of that he had received sixteen letters from' local secretaries, and also one 
from Mr. Proctor, of Newcastle, in which they stated that the Pharmaceutical Chemists 
in their neighbourhoods were favourable to all chemists and druggists becoming mem¬ 
bers on the payment of an entrance fee. It was upon those letters that he founded his 
letter which appeared in the Journal. 
Mr. W. B.Kandall, of Southampton, said the question appeared to be not whether some¬ 
thing should be done in the shape of legislation, but what should be done ; and the great 
difficulty they w T ere met with was the strong opposition that existed from a large portion 
of the chemists and druggists. He was not prepared to say there was not some reasonable 
opposition to the proposed measure, and therefore he suggested whether it was not advis¬ 
able to open the door to such an extent as would in a great measure disarm it. He thought 
there was some weight in several of the objections that had been put forward to the Bill in 
the ‘ Chemist and Druggist/ He was a Pharmaceutical Chemist, but not by examina¬ 
tion, and there were gentlemen in his town who were apparently quite as well qualified 
to act in every way as himself; and he could not help thinking that his putting up 
Pharmaceutical Chemist to maka the public believe he wa^ a better man than his neigh¬ 
bours was a sham. Now he wished for something to be done that was fair between all 
parties; and the question was whether they could not meet the views of all without asking 
for such compulsory powers as were contained in the Bill. He thought Mr. Edwards, in 
moving the adoption of the Bill, was not strictly correct when he said the Society 
did not propose in anyway to govern the chemists and druggists, but only to register them, 
because they proposed that after the passing of the measure none but those should dispense 
medicines, which would establish it as the governing body of the pharmaceutists of the 
country. If the Government wished to do anything in the matter, they would naturally 
come to the Society for information, when they would no doubt be able to get what they 
wanted. He suggested the possibility of their dividing the outsiders into two classes similar 
to that which existed in the Society between the examined and non-examined men ; one, 
those who were in business before the passing of the Pharmacy Act, and the other, those 
who had risen up since then, but had not come in, who were on a par with the examined 
men ; and then, if they would not come in, it would be well to apply for compulsory 
powers. The suggestion he had made would still make a distinction between them and 
the examined men, and they would not be doing so great an injustice to the examined 
men. He strongly urged the possibility of their being able to adopt a middle, course that 
would be satisfactory to all. 
Mr. Brady said, in reference to Mr. Proctor’s letter, that as a local secretary it ought 
to have come from himself. So far as he had gathered Mr. Proctor’s opinions they w'ere 
precisely his own, and he might add that in Newcastle and many other northern towns 
the members of the trade were of opinion that the proposed measure would not improve 
their position. When the Bill was before Parliament, that tribunal would consider its 
provisions with regard to expediency and policy, and not as Pharmaceutical Chemists. 
It would be a great pity to give their opponents an opportunity of mutilating it in 
Parliament; and therefore he thought they should be careful and not ask for anything 
they had no reasonable chance of getting. As an examined member, he was inclined to 
think they would yield their present rights for anything that would prove beneficial 
to the general interests of the Society. He should be very sorry to let his private feelings 
stand in the way of anything that would conduce to the benefit of the Society. lie 
was of opinion that a measure for regulating pharmacy must be more expansive than 
anything they had yet had. They were a comparatively small body, and he did not 
think those outside the Society had sufficient credit given to them, especially by the 
London Chemists, for the abilities they possessed. The Pharmaceutical Society was 
not held in so much estimation in the remote provinces as it w r as in the metropolis, 
