492 
PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE 
members  includes  persons  engaged  in  every  department  of  this  business, 
each  of  us  anxious  to  contribute  what  he  can  for  the  general  advancement 
of  the  whole  ;  our  ultimate  object  being  the  most  honorable  and  surest  way 
of  securing  to  ourselves  a  just  pecuniary  reward,  at  the  same  time  we  are 
doing  our  utmost  for  the  greatest  benefit  to  the  public.  Our  customers,  or 
rather  I  may  say  the  consumers,  as  a  general  thing,  are  unacquainted  with 
the  properties  of  the  articles  we  are  daily  dealing  out  to  them,  and  conse- 
quently rely  upon  us  to  protect  them,  and  supply  wants  unlike  any  others 
of  which  they  may  be  capable  of  judging  for  themselves  ;  the  commerce  of 
our  vocation  is  therefore  unlike  any  other,  inasmuch  as  the  producer  or 
vender  is  the  party  who  knows  the  value  of  the  article,  and  not  the  con- 
sumer ;  but  the  laws  of  commerce  are  the  same  in  all  commodities,  and  are 
regulated  by  the  supply  and  demand. 
Unquestionably  our  mission  as  an  Association  is  to  create  a  demand.  On 
sanitary  grounds  the  public  good  requires  us  to  create  a  demand  for  phar- 
maceutical qualifications  of  a  high  grade  of  character,  as  well  in  morals, 
care  and  attention  to  business,  as  in  practical  attainments,  in  judgment  and 
manipulation;  this  can  best  be  done  by  informing  the  public  as  to  the  value 
of  such  services,  and  the  danger  of  sustaining  a  dishonest  and  ignorant 
competition. 
As  to  the  medicinal  articles  in  which  we  deal,  it  is  clearfy  our  duty  to 
create  a  demand  for  pure  medicines  of  reliable  quality,  as  the  only  safe 
articles  for  our  patrons  to  purchase  ;  we  should  therefore  strive  to  create  a 
demand  for  this  class  of  goods  in  preference  to  the  medium  and  lower  grades 
of  quality.  As  traders,  the  temptations  are  as  great  in  our  profession  as 
perhaps  any  other;  the  public  does  not  seem  to  comprehend  that  commerce 
furnishes  as  many  grades  of  quality  in  drugs  as  among  other  articles,  and  that 
competition  in  price  is  fully  equal  to  competition  in  quality;  that  it  is  easier 
for  the  time  to  meet  the  former  than  the  latter.  Now  the  law  which  governs 
commerce,  is  to  furnish  any  article  for  which  there  is  a  demand,  and  in  my 
judgment  those  who  deal  in  medicine  prefer  to  furnish  pure  articles  at  the 
same  profit ;  there  would  therefore  arise  no  opposition  to  improvement  in 
quality  from  any  class  of  dealers,  unless  from  adulterators,  and  those  who 
delight  to  offer  inducements  in  price  at  the  expense  of  quality.  The  evils  of 
such  competition  have  to  be  met  by  all  honest  men  under  all  circumstances. 
But  aside  from  our  duties  as  guardians  of  the  public  health,  and  to  our 
patrons  who  confide  in  us,  is  it  policy  for  any  of  us  to  act  otherwise  in  any 
transaction,  than,  by  a  conscientious  discharge  of  duty,  to  protect  our 
customers  even  when  they  do  not  appreciate  it,  to  yield  to  no  temptation 
for  the  sake  of  present  gain,  and  to  acquire  a  character  for  integrity  as  an 
investment  equal  to  capital  ? 
In  many  respects  our  characters  as  pharmaceutists  are,  with  the  public, 
like  those  of  physicians,  in  proportion  to  our  integrity,  judgment  and 
ability  ;  and  a  large  portion  of  the  community  prefer  to  employ  the  services? 
of  a  high-priced  to  a  low-priced  physician  or  pharmaceutist. 
