THE PATENT MEDICINE EVIL--Continued
The Patent Medicine Evil and the Duty of the Mothers of the
Race--"Blood-Money"--The People Must be the Reformers--Mothers'
Resolutions.
THE PATENT MEDICINE EVIL AND THE DUTY OF THE MOTHERS OF THE RACE
It may be emphatically asserted that the patent medicine evil and the
fraudulent medical cure more directly concern the mothers of the race
than any others. No matter who the ailing victim may be, some woman is
deeply and sincerely interested in his, or her, recovery and welfare. If
the proper influence is exerted at the right time, and if it is based
upon adequate knowledge of the danger involved, it is certain that the
sufferer will not become a victim of the fraudulent and dangerous
advertised nostrum, or a fake medical course of treatment. If each
mother, therefore, possessed an adequate knowledge of the patent
medicine evil, and exerted the influence which would naturally result
from the possession of such knowledge, we should soon see the end of the
whole business.
Most people are honest and sincere. It is difficult, however, to arouse
the majority to concerted and sustained action. If the honest and
well-intentioned element in society could be influenced to a sustained
effort to correct existing evils, in any department of human effort, the
fraudulent and dishonest members of society could be effectually
rendered harmless. If the suggestion which I have advanced in the
article on Eugenics, to form Eugenic Clubs in every community, should be
adopted, the members could, in a definite way, contribute to the
propaganda, by insisting that the members of the legislature and
Congress inform themselves upon these subjects, and act and vote in
accordance with the sentiment of their constituents. It is only by some
such systematized, concerted effort that any hope may be reasonably
entertained that this question will be satisfactorily and finally
solved. That it is capable of being solved satisfactorily there is no
doubt whatever. It depends upon the women.
The passage of The Pure Food and Drugs Act, caused, for a brief period,
a cessation of the strenuous activity which had previously characterized
the patent medicine business. It was not, however, to be expected that
any single legislative act would permanently strangle such a
parasite,--for we must remember that it is an easy and a highly
remunerative calling. Nor was it to be expected that men who are adepts
in sophistry and experts in quibbling could not find a way to circumvent
the intent of the law.
This was proved to be so because they are again beginning to advertise
more freely and with more assurance. One of the best known has assumed a
new advertising garb. Its new diction is specious and clever, but it is
a satanic cleverness when its history is weighed in the balance. It is
quite probable that its formula may have been slightly changed, but at
the end of each advertisement the following suggestive paragraph
appears:
"SPECIAL NOTICE--Many persons are making inquiries for the
old-time ----. To such would say, that this formula is now put
out under the name of ----, manufactured by ---- Company,
C----, Ohio. Write them and they will be pleased to send you a
free booklet."
The old time ---- was condemned by the United States Government as an
intoxicant and stimulant, and cures were sold in various parts of the
country for the ---- "jag," yet in the new advertisement the following
appears:
"---- is a remedy that should be kept in the house. Its virtue
as a preventive to disease is the thing I wish chiefly to
emphasize.
"When once the value of ---- as a household remedy is
understood no home would be without it. Cathartics, pills and
powders would be discarded. Irritating tonics would be no
longer taken. ALCOHOLIC DRINKS WOULD HAVE NO PLACE...."
If "alcoholic drinks would have no place" in the household, why should
one want this "remedy," which has no medical value except as a
stimulant? It is as if a drunken man should deliver a temperance
lecture: it would really be funny if we did not know the tragedies that
have gone before as a result of its use. That is an example of the type
of argument which must be legislated against.
There are two specific points in this crusade against the patent
medicine fraud which should be the objective issues of all concerted
effort to crush the evil. These could be taken up by mothers in their
eugenic clubs and developed until successfully legislated upon. It would
be the greatest immediate contribution to constructive legislation that
women's suffrage could bestow upon the race.
First, to enact a law which would make it a felony for a newspaper to
print a fraudulent patent medicine advertisement, or a fake medical
cure. A national board of competent authority should be constituted to
determine the question of fraud.
Second, to amend the law which permits the registration of a fancy name
for a combination of drugs, without at the same time giving the formula.
The mothers of the race must recognize that it is not only a question of
economy, but a vital issue in health preservation, to regard all
advertised remedies and medical "cures" as absolutely dangerous and
worthless, and consequently not to be used at all. There is no safe
exception to this rule. The records teem with evidence condemning the
whole discreditable business. Almost without exception, every advertised
remedy and cure has been, when actually investigated, found fraudulent
and worthless. The great majority of these concerns are owned and run by
individuals, who have had no medical experience, and no training to fit
them to advise patients in any sense. It is a money-making scheme pure
and simple, and anyone who asks further proof is not open to conviction.
I believe the truthful and the just interpretation of the success of the
patent medicine business is to be found in the ignorance of the
people,--not the kind of ignorance that reflects upon their
intelligence, but real, honest ignorance regarding the true character
and merit of the patent medicine business. It would be an unwarranted
reflection upon the intelligence and acumen of the American people to
assert that they would wittingly support a fraudulent proposition,
especially a proposition whose success meant their own physical
degeneration. The reflection is rather an indictment of the inefficiency
of those in authority.
We must not deny that there exists in the minds of the lowly a feeling
that what is printed is true. This is as it should be; it is an instinct
and it is fundamental. We must remember, too, that there are thousands
and thousands of homes, into which absolutely no literature of any kind
ever penetrates except the weekly, and it may be stray copies of the
daily newspaper. These people are primitive and credulous. They have
ailing members in the family, and they have not always accessible
medical service, or they may be too poor to avail themselves of such
service as exists. When, therefore, they see glaring promises of relief
and "cures" for whatever may ail them, in the oft-read paper, week after
week, it is an easy step to become enrolled as a victim. These people
believe in their newspaper. They have no reason to question the truth of
its contents. They unconsciously put their trust and dependence upon
those in authority, those who should see to it that the instinct of
truth and honesty is reflected in the justice and protection which is
meted out to the helpless and the poor. Is it any wonder, therefore,
that we have victims, when the only voice that comes to them from the
great world beyond is a tissue of false promises and fraudulent
pretensions? The law is a cumbersome vehicle to move. It cannot be
driven by inspiration--no matter how crucial the incentive may be that
creates the inspiration,--it moves only by the potential force of a
great conviction, the voice of the people. It seems a pity to waste time
in the education of all the people before their voice shall be raised to
demand protection, when the authorities know now of the wrong that is
being perpetrated and could right it without the waste of this precious
time.
Since we cannot hope for legislative assistance until the people are
aroused to demand it, every mother who has an opportunity to learn the
truth about the matter, must become a member of the propaganda of
education and must spread the knowledge to others. We must educate the
army of innocents who fall because they do not know the truth, and we
must reach that vaster army, whose gullibility permits these frauds to
flourish. We must show them the false foundation and the hollow pretense
upon which such schemes are founded. We must show them that each detail
of the business is inspired by a wrong motive; that the so-called
personal letters even are printed by the hundreds of thousands, and
filled in to appear as personal communications by office clerks who
possess absolutely no medical knowledge; that the "diagnosis" blanks are
worthless and frequently dangerous, and simply sent to the prospective
victim to impress him and draw him on; that the medicine furnished, is,
as a rule, made of the cheapest of drugs, bought in large quantities
from parties, whose reputation in the drug trade is not of the best;
that the medicine has no special potency nor value, that it is in all
likelihood a worthless mixture, which in the advertisements is given
false and lying properties; that when they have got all the money out of
the victim possible they will sell his letters to other nostrum venders.
It is a sorry reflection on our civilization that the sick, often the
incurably ill, cannot be protected against their own credulity and the
devices of those who would fatten on their misfortune and profit by
their sufferings.
If every mother who reads this article would quietly think the matter
over and reach a definite conclusion as to just how she may contribute
her share to the educational crusade to crush the patent medicine
monster, I am certain it would not be long before we would begin to feel
that there were the "mutterings of a storm brewing." If each mother
would subscribe to the following resolution, and obey it, she would
really be an agency for much good in her community:
I resolve never to advise an ailing friend or acquaintance to
purchase or use an advertised remedy or "cure" of any kind
whatsoever; nor will I permit any other person to advise the
use of such remedies or "cures" without, in a friendly way,
protesting, and thereby converting this person, who undoubtedly
is ignorant of the facts.
I further resolve, always to advise an ailing friend to consult
someone, whose education and experience qualifies him to give
competent advice.
I would suggest that the above resolution be printed on cards in the
form of a motto, to be hung on the wall, and distributed from house to
house by the eugenic clubs. At the bottom of the card, the word "over"
should be clearly printed. On the reverse side, in ordinary reading type
should be a condensed and efficient argument against the use of patent
medicines. This argument should be complete and convincing in itself, so
that one who may casually ask what the card means may be told to read
what is on the back of the card, and may, thereby, be convinced that "it
is a good idea." This would be an inexpensive way of exciting the
curiosity of the community, and when the psychological moment arrives it
would probably be possible for one of the members of the club to give an
address or lecture on the patent medicine evil. Inasmuch as the
curiosity and the sympathy of the audience would be with the speaker, it
would only be necessary to state facts to make converts. It seems worth
trying, and the suggestion is given with the hope that the women in
every community who are capable (and there are capable leaders in every
community) will take this club idea up and develop it far beyond the
largest hopes which I conceive for them.
If eugenics means anything, and if the women are what they claim, much
will be accomplished by each doing her part intelligently, and by each
community standing upon its own record.