Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
June,  1917. 
Corresp  0  nd  en  c  e . 
279 
would  care  to  have  me  do  so  I  will  be  very  glad  to  take  the  matter 
up  further  with  you  and  go  into  details. 
Pharmaceutical  Corps  in  the  U.  S.  Army. 
Philadelphia,  May  11,  191 7. 
Hon.  Nelson  D.  Baker, 
Secretary  of  War, 
Washington,  D.  C. 
Dear  Mr.  Secretary: 
The  Board  of  Directors  of  the  Philadelphia  Drug  Exchange 
earnestly  urges  the  establishment  of  a  Pharmaceutical  Corps  in  the 
U.  S.  Army  analogous  to  the  Medical  Corps,  the  Dental  Corps  and 
the  Veterinary  Corps,  for  the  following  reasons  : 
1.  The  present  system  of  enlisting  pharmacists  in  the  Army, 
not  as  pharmacists,  but  as  privates,  is  hopelessly  antiquated.  France, 
Germany,  Japan  and  other  foreign  countries  have  a  Pharmaceutical 
Corps  in  their  armies  in  charge  of  a  pharmaceutical  expert. 
2.  The  present  system  is  unjust  to  pharmacy  and  pharmacists. 
Pharmacy  is  a  profession  and  the  pharmacist  of  to-day  has  had 
years  of  collegiate  training  and  practical  experience  in  scientific 
work.  To  enlist  professional  men  as  privates  is  not  only  unjust  to 
the  men,  but  is  unjust  to  the  Army,  because  it  denies  to-  the  Army 
the  possibilities  of  service  which  such  men  could  render. 
3.  The  present  system  is  faulty.  The  status  of  pharmacists  in 
the  Army  is  very  unsatisfactory.  Officiallyy  they  are  not  pharma- 
cists, but  non-commissioned  officers  with  responsible  duties  and  no 
possibility  of  advancement  in  the  Service  as  pharmacists.  They 
can  excel  as  privates  and  be  promoted  as  privates,  but  they  cannot 
excel  as  pharmacists  and  be  promoted  as  pharmacists ;  and  this  in- 
jures the  service. 
4.  The  present  service  is  detrimental  to  the  efficiency  of  the 
Army  itself,  because  it  fails  to  recognize  the  importance  of  proper 
and  sufficient  pharmaceutical  service  and  denies  to  the  sick  and 
wounded  the  best  pharmaceutical  service  that  the  Nation  can  give. 
5.  The  present  system  is  unfair  to  the  medical  corps,  because  it 
denies  that  body  the  assistance  and  support  that  a  properly  trained 
pharmaceutical  corps  could  give.  The  pharmaceutical  service  could 
be  made  most  valuable  to  the  medical  profession,  not  only  in  the 
hospitals,  but  also*  in  the  field. 
