Am.  Jour  Pharm.-) 
August,  1895.  J 
Editorial. 
EDITORIAL. 
THE  UNIVERSAL  TRADE  ASSOCIATION  AND  THE  PENNSYLVANIA  PHARMACEU- 
TICAL ASSOCIATION. 
The  "Universal  Trade  Association  "  is  a  corporation  located  at  Detroit,  whose 
avowed  object  is  to  unite  all  the  retail  druggists  of  the  United  States  and  Can- 
ada into  one  stock  company,  with  a  capital  of  $1,000,000. 
When  organization  has  been  completed,  by  securing  thirty  thousand  of  the 
forty  thousand  druggists  of  America,  the  business  of  the  corporation  will  be  to 
correct  the  abuses  which  exist  in  the  retail  drug  business,  notably  the  "  cut- 
ting of  prices  "  in  patent  medicines. 
Of  the  merits  or  demerits  of  this  proposed  "  plan,"  we  are  not  disposed  to 
speak,  but  any  corporation  or  "trust"  that  is  proposing  to  raise  $1,000,000 
from  the  retail  druggists  of  America  should  carry  itself  so  far  above  the  suspi- 
cion of  sharp  practice  as  to  absolutely  prevent  the  slightest  reflection  on  its 
character. 
The  following  communication  will  show,  however,  that  the  conduct  of  the 
aforesaid  corporation  towards  the  Pennsylvania  Pharmaceutical  Association 
has  not  been  such  as  to  win  for  it  the  confidence  of  the  members  of  the  latter 
body: 
Editor  American  Journal  of  Pharmacy. 
Sir: — I  notice  in  the  June  issue  of  The  Retail  Druggist,  the  organ  of  the 
*'  Universal  Trade  Association,"  a  corporation  having,  its  headquarters  in 
Detroit,  that  the  Pennsylvania  Pharmaceutical  Association,  at  its  last  meeting 
in  Eagle's  Mere,  in  June  last,  gave  an  unqualified  indorsement  of  the  "  Uni- 
versal Trade  Association  "  by  the  adoption  of  the  following  resolution: 
"  Having  heard  the  details  of  the  objects  of  the  Universal  Trade  Association 
for  the  protection  of  the  trade  interests  of  the  retail  druggists  of  the  United 
States  and  Canada,  that  we  hereby  express  our  approval  of  the  same  and' 
strongly  recommend  the  retail  druggists  of  the  State  to  join  the  Association 
with  a  view  of  promoting  its  universal  adoption  by  manufacturers,  wholesalers 
and  retailers." 
The  publication  of  this  resolution,  after  the  action  taken  by  the  Pennsylva- 
nia Association,  puts  the  Universal  Trade  Association,  to  say  the  least,  in  a 
very  unfavorable  position  before  the  drug  trade  of  the  country,  and  will  damage 
them  in  the  estimation  of  all  right-thinking  persons.  It  is  true  this  resolu- 
tion was  passed  at  one  of  the  sessions,  and  only  because,  without  the  knowledge 
of  the  meeting,  its  author  had  induced  Dr.  Charles  A.  Heinitsh,  an  old  and  hon- 
ored member,  to  present  it.  In  such  esteem  is  Dr.  Heinitsh  held,  that  it  was 
not  seriously  opposed.  After  the  action  was  taken,  it  was  felt  by  many  that 
there  had  been  too  much  haste;  that  nothing  was  known  of  the  "  Universal 
Trade  Association  "  other  than  the  representations  made  by  its  agent,  and  that 
to  give  the  unqualified  indorsement  of  the  Pennsylvania  Pharmaceutical  Asso- 
ciation to  a  plan  of  which  the  members  knew  absolutely  nothing,  was  a  great 
mistake.  Hence,  at  the  very  next  session,  less  than  three  hours  afterwards,  the 
action  was  reconsidered  with  but  one  or  two  dissenting  votes  and  the  "  Uni- 
versal Trade  Association  "  plan  was  thoroughly  discussed.  The  agent,  who 
was  a  member  of  the  Association,  was  entitled  to  all  the  privileges  of  the  floor. 
