56 
Pharmacy  and  Medicine. 
(  Am.  Jonr.  Pharm. 
I    February,  1905. 
too  much  sympathy  and  advocacy  on  the  part  of  the  public,  when 
efforts  at  correction  are  aggressively  active. 
There  is,  however,  one  grand  principle  ever  potent  in  encouraging 
and  supporting  the  inevitable  progress  crowning  the  efforts  for 
standardization — it  is  law,  and  that  the  respective  professions  may 
be  better  acquainted  with  their  rights  and  privileges  to  apply  this 
power  to  their  duties  of  higher  citizenship,  the  following  quotation 
will  be  presented  : 
(From  U.  S.  Supreme  Court  Reports  for  1888,  Opinion  of  Chief  Jus- 
tice Field,)  (a  ffirmed  by  the  unanimous  opinion  of  the  Court !) 
"  It  is  undoubtedly  the  right  of  every  citizen  of  the  United  States 
to  follow  any  lawful  calling,  business  or  profession  he  may  choose, 
subject  only  to  such  restrictions  as  are  imposed  upon  all  persons  of 
like  age,  sex  and  condition. 
"  This  right  may  in  many  respects  be  considered  a  distinguishing 
feature  of  our  republican  institutions.  Here  all  vocations  are  open 
to  every  one  on  like  conditions.  All  may  be  pursued  as  sources  of 
livelihood,  some  requiring  years  of  study  and  great  learning  for 
their  successful  prosecution. 
"The  interest,  or  as  it  is  sometimes  termed,  the  estate  acquired 
in  them,  that  is,  the  right  to  continue  their  prosecution,  is  often  of 
great  value  to  the  possessors,  and  cannot  be  arbitrarily  taken  away 
from  them  any  more  than  their  real  or  personal  property  can  thus 
be  taken. 
"  But  there  is  no  arbitrary  deprivation  of  such  right  where  its 
exercise  is  not  permitted  because  of  a  failure  to  comply  with  condi- 
tions imposed  by  the  State  for  the  protection  of  society. 
"The  power  of  the  State  to  provide  for  the  general  welfare  of  its 
people  authorizes  it  to  prescribe  all  such  regulations  as,  in  its  judg- 
ment, will  secure  or  tend  to  secure  them  against  the  consequences 
of  ignorance  and  incapacity,  as  well  as  of  deception  and  fraud. 
"  As  one  means  to  this  end,  it  has  been  the  practice  of  different 
States  from  time  immemorial  to  exact  in  many  pursuits  a  certain 
degree  of  skill  or  learning  upon  which  the  community  may  confi- 
dently rely,  their  possession  being  generally  ascertained  upon  an 
examination  of  the  parties  by  competent  persons,  or  inferred  from  a 
certificate  to  them  in  the  form  of  a  diploma  or  license  from  an  insti- 
tution established  for  instruction  on  the  subjects,  scientific  and 
otherwise,  with  which  such  pursuits  have  to  deal. 
