76 
Phar macy  L egis I a tion . 
(Am.  Jour.  Pharaj. 
I    February,  1901. 
for  its  use,  since  it  is  only  under  exceptional  circumstances  that  a 
pharmacy  bill  can  be  passed  without  liberal  expenditures  lor  post- 
age, circulars,  attorney  fees,  typewriting,  and  the  travelling  and 
other  expenses  of  the  committee  on  legislation.  The  right  sort  of 
a  committee  is  not  liable  to  make  any  unnecessary  expenditures, 
and  should  therefore  be  its  own  judge  of  what  expenses  are  neces- 
sary. Its  members  must  necessarily  devote  a  large  amount  of  time 
and  effort  to  the  work  of  the  bill,  and  should  not  be  expected  to 
meet  their  own  travelling  and  hotel  bills,  nor  be  hampered  by  lack 
of  funds  for  correspondence  and  printing.  After  paying  all  of  these 
the  association  will  still  be  deeply  in  the  debt  of  the  committee  for 
its  sacrifice  of  time,  patience  and  energy  in  behalf  of  a  matter  in 
which  the  whole  profession  is  interested. 
DANGER  OF  OVERCONFIDENCE. 
A  danger  to  be  specially  guarded  against  is  overconfidence  on 
the  part  of  the  committee.  It  will  frequently  happen  that  the 
opposition  is  so  well  concealed  that  it  may  appear  as  if  the  bill 
would  pass  by  a  nearly  unanimous  vote,  but  if  the  committee  per- 
mits itself  to  be  influenced  by  these  appearances  the  chances  are 
that  it  will  awaken  some  morning  and  find  that  some  sharp  old 
campaigner  has  put  the  bill  into  a  corner  whence  it  cannot  be 
extricated  during  the  remainder  of  the  session.  The  only  safety 
lies  in  unremitting  vigilance  until  the  law  is  upon  the  statute  books. 
Bills  have  failed,  even  after  passing  both  branches  of  the  legisla- 
ture, because  of  a  failure  of  the  proper  officers  to  sign  the  record. 
RECAPITULATION. 
In  the  foregoing  the  writer  has  endeavored  to  give  a  homely  and 
matter-of-fact  statement  of  his  opinion  as  to  the  best  method  of 
procuring  the  needed  reforms  in  pharmacy  legislation,  which  opinion 
is  based  upon  actual  experience  in  the  advocacy  of  measures  before 
committees  of  the  general  assembly. 
The  conclusions  to  which  we  have  arrived  may  be  recapitulated  as 
follows  : 
The  movement  for  pharmacy  legislation  should  be  made  by  the 
State  pharmaceutical  association,  since  this  is  the  organization  best 
calculated  to  reach  and  influence  the  druggists  in  all  portions  of  the 
State,  and  is  the  one  whose  endorsement  is  most  effective  with  the 
legislature. 
