126  Wholesale  Druggists'  Association.     {^"mSX  um'"' 
of  narcotic  legislation.  This  seems  to  have  become  a  favorite  sub- 
ject for  new  bills.  Three  important  ones  are  now  under  considera- 
tion; the  Mann  Bill,  the  Collum  Bill,  and  the  Foster  Bill.  The 
Mann  Bill  requires  that  all  sellers  and  shippers  of  habit-forming- 
drugs  shall  keep  an  exact  record,  regardless  of  what  the  shipment 
may  be,  and  requires  a  record  of  such  shipment  to  be  kept  by  the 
receiver.  A  number  of  minor  points  in  the  bill  seem  calculated  to 
work  injustice,  and  the  committee,  therefore,  considers  that  this  Bill 
should  be  revised  before  it  receives  the  support  of  the  drug  trade. 
The  Collum  Bill  was  introduced  in  the  Senate,  but  being  a  revenue 
measure,  was  rejected,  as  such  legislation  could  only  originate  in  the 
House.  The  Foster  Bill  purposes  to  place  the  control  of  the  traffic 
in  narcotic  drugs  in  the  charge  of  the  Internal  Revenue  Department. 
In  order  to  accomplish  this  purpose  it  provides  that  every  wholesale 
dealer  and  retail  dealer  shall  be  registered,  and  no  sale  shall  be 
made  excepting  to  those  who  have  been  properly  registered.  A  fine 
of  $500  or  imprisonment  for  one  year  is  the  penalty  for  shipping  to 
any  one  not  properly  registered.  It  also  provided  for  an  Internal 
Revenue  tax  of  5  cents  a  pound  or  fraction  of  a  pound  on  opium, 
chloral,  and  cannabis,  and  i  cent  a  pound  on  coca  leaves.  A  num- 
ber of  methods  of  keeping  the  accounts  are  provided.  The  plan 
to  carry  out  the  Internal  Revenue  control  is  to  put  on  a  stamp, 
sealing  the  package,  before  it  is  released  from  a  bonded  warehouse. 
The  general  attitude  of  the  committee  is  that  this  measure  would  be 
exceedingly  burdensome  and  that  it  might  be  possible  to  accomplish 
the  result  in  some  way  less  burdensome.  Mr.  Hamilton  Wright,  the 
United  States  Opium  Commissioner,  pledged  himself  to  the  passage 
of  some  bill  regulating  the  traffic  in  opium,  when  he  was  a  delegate 
to  the  International  Opium  Congress.  He,  therefore,  considers 
that,  in  order  to  keep  faith  with  the  Congress,  it  is  exceedingly 
desirable  that  some  legislation  should  be  passed  in  the  near  future. 
He  is  somewhat  in  favor  of  the  Foster  Bill,  but  not  definitely  com- 
mitted to  its  passage.  The  representatives  of  the  N.W.D.A.  have 
attempted  to  persuade  him  that  if  this  measure  should  be  passed  it 
should  be  made  applicable  to  cocaine  alone  at  first,  until  the  measure 
is  tried  out.  This  suggestion  Mr.  Wright  has  under  consideration. 
There  is  400,000  lbs.  of  opium  imported  into  the  United  States  in  a 
year.  Of  this  it  is  estimated  300,000  lbs.  is  used  for  purposes  other 
than  medicine.  This  figure  is  very  high  as  compared  with  the 
amount  consumed  in  other  countries  where  they  have  effective  laws 
