THE  AMEEIOAN 
JOURNAL  OF  PHARMACY 
NOVEMBER,  1918 
EDITORIAL. 
A  QUASI  RECOGNITION  OF  PHARMACY. 
In  the  "  Correspondence  "  in  this  number  appears  a  communica- 
tion from  Dr.  A.  R.  L.  Dohme,  the  retiring  president  of  the  Ameri- 
can Pharmaceutical  Association.  This  is  a  sincere  effort  to  secure 
recognition  by  the  War  Department  of  pharmacy  as  an  essential 
industry  so  that  the  required  number  of  registered  pharmacists  and 
of  assistants  necessary  to  provide  for  the  nation's  needs  for  medical 
supplies,  may  be  given  a  deferred  draft  classification  if  they  can 
show  that  their  retention  in  the  positions  that  they  are  filling  is 
"necessary  to  the  enterprise  in  which  they  are  engaged." 
That  there  is  at  present  a  lack  of  a  sufficient  number  of  apothe- 
caries and  of  competent  assistants  to  attend  the  actual  needs  for  such 
in  many  communities,  was  most  emphatically  demonstrated  during 
the  recent  epidemic  of  influenza.  The  widespread  demand  for  addi- 
tional pharmaceutical  assistance  was  such  a  practical  exhibition  of 
the  dependence  of  the  people  upon  the  druggists  and  the  importance 
of  the  practice  of  pharmacy  to  the  welfare  of  the  nation,  that  there 
should  be  left  no  room  for  doubt  in  the  minds  of  the  military  au- 
thorities as  to  the  necessity  for  the  recognition  of  pharmacy  as  "  an 
industry  essential  to  the  maintenance  of  national  interest." 
The  American  Journal  of  Pharmacy  is  pleased  to  devote  the 
space  to  this  communication  and  unhesitatingly  to  support  this 
proposition  which  is  based  on  undeniable  facts  and  logical  reasoning, 
and  merits  the  endorsement  of  every  thoughtful  citizen. 
The  columns  of  this  Journal  have  always  been  open  to  all  com- 
munications in  the  interest  of  pharmacy  or  the  public  good.  As  the 
oldest  and  foremost  American  journalistic  advocate  of  the  ethical 
practice  of  pharmacy,  it  has  consistently  for  ninety  years  supported 
