Am.  Jour.  Pharni.  / 
February,  1909.  \ 
Inaugural  Address. 
o 
79 
may  be  helpful,  but  many  are  simply  remedies  which  the  pharmacist 
has  at  his  disposal  and  which  the  consumer  ought  to  get  for  the 
proper  reward  to  the  manufacturer  for  supplying  them.  I  believe, 
therefore,  an  organization  of  this  kind,  working  with  such  an 
organization  as  the  medical  society  of  the  district,  may  be  extremely 
helpful  and  at  the  same  time  confer  upon  the  public  a  much  more 
certain  and  less  expensive  benefit.  I  feel  quite  sure  there  is  no 
pharmacist  here  who  would  desire  to  sell  at  the  instance  of  a  cus- 
tomer suffering  with  a  serious  disease,  a  remedy  of  any  kind.  Such 
a  customer  should  undoubtedly  be  referred  to  the  physician  for 
examination  and  treatment.  The  physicians  must  also  do  their 
part  in  this  mutual  benefit  association  and  must  leave  to  the  phar- 
macist the  furnishing  of  the  remedies  in  the  general  way  which 
they  prescribe,  although  in  cases  of  emergency  or  necessity,  such  as 
I  have  already  alluded  to,  they  would  be  perfectly  justified  in  carry- 
ing their  own  remedies  with  them  and  dispensing  them  without  the 
intermediation  of  the  pharmacist. 
Another  thought  which  I  would  like  to  impress  upon  you  to-night 
is  the  idea  that  drug  laws,  national,  state  and  municipal,  are  not 
enacted  for  the  benefit  of  the  pharmacist  directly,  but  that  their  sole 
purpose  should  be  for  the  protection  of  the  consumer.  It  is  true 
the  pharmacist  will  reap  a  great  benefit  from  these  laws — that  is, 
the  legitimate  pharmacist — because  their  tendency  in  all  cases  is  to 
eliminate  unfair  competition.  I  do  not  believe  any  more  in  absent 
dispensing  than  I  do  in  absent  medical  treatment,  and  I  do  not 
know  why  a  so-called  drug  distributer  in  the  city  of  New  York 
should  supply  the  city  of  Washington  with  drugs.  1  believe  in  the 
patronage  of  home  industries,  and  when  I  want  a  drug  I  want  to 
get  it  at  home.  It  is  true  there  may  be  cases  where  home  drugs 
are  not  of  the  character  that  the  patient  wants,  just  as  occasionally 
he  may  go  to  some  other  city  for  some  special  medical  treatment. 
These,  of  course,  are  special  cases  arising  from  special  necessities. 
On  the  whole,  however,  I  believe  that  the  home  stores  should  be 
patronized,  not  only  for  drugs,  but  for  everything.  The  prosperity 
of  the  community  does  not  depend  upon  one  spending  his  money  in  a 
neighboring  state.  In  fact  there  would  not  be  a  more  sure  way 
of  breaking  down  the  business  of  the  city  or  village  than  for  one 
having  money  to  spend  it  abroad.  The  people  would  soon  be  in  a 
condition  in  which  they  would  have  no  money  to  spend.  The  law 
controlling  the  traffic  in  drugs  is  not  for  your  benefit.    You  need 
