94  Protection  Afforded  by  Law.  { ^f^iy^m?' 
themselves  to  know  if  every  man  calling  himself  a  druggist  is 
employing  qualified  help  in  the  shape  of  Q.  A.  and  P.  D.  back  of 
his  prescription  department,  to  determine  if  -the  same  class  of 
work  is  being  done  by  the  same  class  of  men  in  our  manufacturing 
plants,  thereby  fulfilling  the  present  law  and  bringing  about  an 
equitable  cost  of  production  between  the  manufacturer  and  retail 
pharmacist.  This  is  only  a  suggestion.  Also,  do  dental  companies 
employ  a  registered  pharmacist  in  their  drug  departments,  and  if  not, 
why  not,  under  our  present  law  ?  Also,  are  the  many  preparations 
put  up  and  sold  by  chiropodists,  barbers,  manicurists,  great  numbers 
of  which  contain  poison,  prepared  by  themselves  or  qualified  men  ? 
And  is  the  sale  of  such  preparations  legal  ? 
Much  complaint  is  heard  of  the  lack  of  competent  help.  Time 
was  when  men  paid  to  have  their  sons  learn  the  trade.  Why? 
Because  it  was  understood  to  be  a  law-protected  business  carrying 
with  it  a  fair  remuneration  and  the  highest  social  position.  To-day 
all  that  may  be  offered  is  a  nominal  salary  of  $16  to  $18  a  week 
after  graduation  with  only  a  slight  advance  over  these  prices  in 
remuneration  as  a  proprietor.  Any  movement  for  reform  to  meet 
with  proper  approval  must  have  an  underlying  principle  of  a  moral 
or  ethical  character ;  pure  mercenary  motives  seldom  achieve  success, 
and  until  the  pharmacists  of  the  country  become  alive  to  the  fact  I 
look  for  little  improvement  from  our  organization. 
Gentlemen,  the  druggists  of  the  country  to  day  need  to  make 
poison  their  watchword.  Poisons. — We  are  the  sellers  and  dispensers 
of  poisons  to  the  laity;  nobody  else  should  handle  same.  Our 
qualification  and  diploma  give  us  this  privilege  and  so  must  the 
law.  The  day  for  being  the  compiler  of  physicians'  prescriptions 
only,  has  passed ;  the  manufacturing  pharmacist  with  his  machinery 
has  changed  this,  but  as  a  distributor  ol  poison  and  poisonous  prod- 
ucts in  your  neighborhood  you  have  a  place ;  it  is  a  place  which 
may  have  to  be  fought  for,  but  when  attained  we  will  have  more 
use  for  college-bred  men.  We  will  have  control  of  all  patent  medi- 
cines and  innumerable  articles  which  we  have  not  now,  and  then 
our  organization,  working  on  a  solid  foundation  with  a  trade  which 
controls  its  products  by  law,  can  talk  the  betterment  of  prices  and 
trade  conditions  with  some  assurance  of  success. 
You  then  will  not  stand  before  the  public  as  sellers  of  5  and 
10-cent  articles,  cigars,  soda  water  and  penny-worth  of  candy,  but 
