CHAPTER x.x.xIII

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 a.s.serted 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 const.i.tuents. 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 pa.s.sage 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 circ.u.mvent the intent of the law.

This was proved to be so because they are again beginning to advertise more freely and with more a.s.surance. One of the best known has a.s.sumed 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 advertis.e.m.e.nt 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 advertis.e.m.e.nt 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 advertis.e.m.e.nt, or a fake medical cure. A national board of competent authority should be const.i.tuted 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 ac.u.men of the American people to a.s.sert 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 c.u.mbersome 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 a.s.sistance 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 quant.i.ties 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 advertis.e.m.e.nts 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.