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AMERICAN  PHARMACY. 
of  all  more  lucrative  and  more  respectable,  without  materially 
abridging  the  independence  of  any. 
The  evils  of  unrestrained  competition  and  want  of  united 
action,  seriously  affect  the  profits  of  our  business.  1st.  In  the 
undue  reduction  of  prices,  the  greatest  bane  of  Pharmacy.  2d. 
In  the  sale  of  quack  medicines,  in  place  of  standard  preparations 
of  our  own  manufacture.  3d.  In  the  failure  to  secure  from 
physicians  a  due  regard  to  the  rights  and  immunities  of  apothe- 
caries. 
Suppose  a  half  dozen  druggists,  who  supply  a  town  and  its 
vicinity  mainly  with  medicines,  to  enter  in  good  faith  into  a  com- 
pact to  keep  up,  or,  if  necessary,  to  elevate  the  standard  of  prices, 
so  as  to  be  amply  remunerative,  adding  to  this,  a  determination 
to  compete  with  each  other  only  in  the  improvement  of  the  char- 
acter of  the  business.  The  advantage  would  soon  be  experienced 
by  the  public  in  an  improved  Pharmacy ;  physicians  would  find  it 
expedient  to  give  up  the  preparation  of  medicines  to  those  to 
whom  it  legimately  belongs ;  the  sphere  of  each  qualified  Phar- 
maceutist would  be  extended,  the  business  would  begin  to  pay  ; 
quack  medicines  would  be  found  less  profitable  to  deal  in  than  the 
standard  preparations,  and  the  public  mind  would  soon  begin  to 
yield  to  the  united  and  steadily  directed  effort  of  the  apothecaries, 
and  the  physicians,  their  powerful  allies,  in  turning  back  the  tide 
of  quackery.  New  demands  would  soon  grow  up,  in  supplying 
which,  new  sources  of  profit  would  arise,  and  ultimately  the  de- 
sire for  self  improvement,  if  not  the  necessity  for  it,  would  lead 
to  a  closer  and  more  effective  union,  which  would  find  in  the 
great  national  organization  occasion  to  affiliate  with  other  and 
longer  established  Associations. 
Let  us  not  then  begin  by  measures  calculated  to  arouse  the 
prejudices,  or  wound  the  interests  of  any.  Let  us  not  too  much 
despise  self-interest  as  the  strongest  motive  we  can  invoke  to 
draw  together  those  we  seek  to  unite.  Once  present  this 
motive  in  all  the  force  of  which  it  is  capable,  and  organization, 
both  local  and  national,  will  be  the  result.  From  this  organi- 
zation alone,  we  may  expect  to  grow  those  extended  and  phi- 
lanthropic views  and  measures  which  will  challenge  the  respect 
of  the  nation  at  large,  and  give  character  and  influence  to  the 
Profession  of  Pharmacy. 
