JO  Pilar  mac y  Legislation.  { AF4br°uYrV!i9aoim* 
THE  FORM   OF  LAW  TO  BE  INTRODUCED. 
If  an  entirely  new  law  is  to  be  submitted  to  the  general  assem- 
bly, it  should  be  modelled  on  the  lines  of  the  draft  approved  by  the 
American  Pharmaceutical  Association  at  its  meeting  at  Richmond 
in  1900,  and  whatever  changes  are  made  in  this  should  be  inserted 
by  a  competent  attorney,  who  has  been  employed  to  give  the  mat- 
ter his  careful  attention.  If  this  is  not, done,  the  probability  is  that 
some  inconsistency  will  be  introduced  which  will  ruin  the  chances 
of  the  measure  before  the  legislature,  or  render  it  useless  if  passed. 
Many  a  good  measure  has  failed  of  enactment  because  of  the  pres- 
ence of  a  single  objectionable  clause  or  phrase. 
AMENDMENTS. 
As  amendments  to  a  bill  after  it  has  entered  upon  its  legislative 
course  are  almost  always  dangerous,  and  frequently  fatal,  it.  should, 
before  its  introduction,  be  brought  as  nearly  as  possible  into  the 
shape  in  which  it  will  have  the  best  chance  of  passing.  Those  who 
insist  upon  the  insertion  of  radical  provisions,  with  the  argument 
that  if  the  legislature  does  not  like  them  they  can  be  stricken  out, 
should  have  their  attention  called  to  the  fact  that  the  amendment 
of  a  bill  while  in  the  act  of  going  through  the  legislature  always 
means  delay,  and  more  often  than  not  it  means  defeat.  Bills  in  the 
legislature  cannot  be  amended  with  the  same  readiness  that  they 
can  in  a  debating  society  or  in  a  pharmaceutical  association.  H  Re- 
ferred  back  to  committee  for  amendment  "  has  been  the  epitaph  of 
many  a  brave  pharmacy  bill  which,  if  properly  prepared  in  the  first 
place,  would  have  had  bright  prospects  of  enactment.  All  provisions 
likely  to  imperil  the  bill  should  be  rigorously  excluded,  and  if  of 
sufficient  importance  may  afterwards  be  introduced  into  the  assem- 
bly as  separate  measures. 
THE  COMMITTEE  ON  LEGISLATION. 
The  final  work  of  the  association  will  be  the  important  one  of 
selecting  the  Committee  on  Legislation,  or  the  committee  which  is 
to  look  after  the  interests  of  the  bill  before  the  legislature. 
The  task  of  this  committee  is  one  of  labor  and  vexation,  requir- 
ing rare  tact  and  patience,  eternal  vigilance  and  unceasing  industry. 
To  such  an  extent  does  the  success  of  the  bill  depend  upon  the  per- 
sonnel of  the  legislative  committee  that  it  would  not  be  far  from  the 
