list of those contributing to the success of the meeting.

Co-operation, which is only another term for Association, is thus established between the various branches of the trade, and as one is as much obligated to pay his social debts as to pay his merchandise accounts, the carrying out of the instructions of the President's letter gives each member an opportunity to reciprocate and at the same time pay a personal debt.

One of our contemporaries has made use of the following clipping:

We acknowledge receipt of an eight or ninepound Montgomery-Ward catalogue with everything listed that we don't want from horseshoe nails to pink elephants. However, we are truly thankful for same, because, with the aid of our paper cutter, we were enabled to convert it into some very useful single wrappers in which the paper goes to our foreign readers this week and would suggest to our country readers who have also received these catalogues of junk that they will find them very useful to build fires with this winter, same being their chief value.-Mt. Sterling (Ky.) SentinelDemocrat.

While we are not at all in sympathy with the mail-order proposition, we cannot help a little feeling of sympathy for the poor fellow who must have devoted endless hours to the preparation and proofreading of that large catalogue. We are all even editors of trade journalsinclined to view our own work with great seriousness and our esteem for our own work once suffered quite a shock. On meeting a retail druggist, the writer was introduced as editor of the Midland Druggist.

"Oh, yes," replied the R. D., "I read the Midland. I think it has the best jokes I ever read."

We meekly expressed our thanks for the compliment, stating that of course the Midland was published as a joke. Even excusing the remark as one of the inanities of social conversation, we have often in times of discouragement wondered how many of our readers might be viewing us in the same light. But we console ourselves with the thought that other editors-perhaps in all timeshave suffered as we have, and we often recur to the story of a brilliant journalist who spent a summer as boarder in the home of one of the members of a religious

community. He missed reading the daily news and asked his host if he did not take a certain newspaper (naming the one of which he was editor). The old man replied that he used to buy it, but had stopped taking it.

"Why, didn't you like its politics," asked the editor?

"Naw, it wan't no good." The editor was insistent for an answer and finally the old man said:

"See here, young man, that paper was so rotten it wouldn't cover the apple butter jars and so stingy in size it wouldn't cover the cupboard shelfs."

A medicinal plant garden is to be established at the Ohio State University. It will be undertaken by a joint committee of the Columbus Branch of the A. Ph. A., the Ohio State Ph. A. and the Departments of Botany and Pharmacy of the University.

The object of such a garden is to teach students the characteristics of the various plants used in medicine and as a foundation for their cultivation on a commercial scale.

While many persons are undertaking for profit the cultivation of some of the rarer and imported plants, the government has recently issued a warning that expert knowledge of soil and climatic conditions natural to such plants is absolutely necessary to insure any success, and at best it is a slow process. The Universities, recognizing the truth of these statements, aim to furnish their students with this necessary training to enable them to meet the requirements of a medicinal garden.

Drug plant gardens at State Universities are not new, as many schools now have them, notably, Wisconsin and Minnesota State Universities.

In this issue will be found a paper by Dr. Stockberger, from the government laboratories, which will be interesting now that the subject is to be brought to many of our readers in a practical way.

"A queer thing, a man's life! It seems just a procession of unordered impulses and reactions, without rhyme or reason. But all the time he's learning, learning, losing here and gaining there, being shaped into the niche he's meant to fill. Looking back, he can see the pattern."-Evans' Printing Talks.

BRITISH PATENT MEDICINE RECOMMENDATIONS.

(From our own Correspondent.)

LONDON, Nov. 5th, 1914.

The Select Committee of the House of Commons appointed to consider and enquire into the question of the sale of patent and proprietary medicines, medical preparations and appliances, and advertisements relating thereto have is sued their report. They point out that it was strongly urged upon them, chiefly by witnesses representing the medical profession, that every remedy sold should by law be compelled to bear a label stating its exact composition. This was what was meant by "exhibition of formula," and witnesses advocating it were convinced that this simple change in the law would secure adequate protection of the public against injury and fraud. The Committee had given long and careful consideration to the proposal, but were unable to recommend it. In the first place, it would beyond question inflict a grave hardship, sometimes amounting to ruin, upon proprietors of secret remedies, or the loss of their investments upon shareholders in limited companies.

The Committee Find:-That there is a large and increasing sale in this country of patent and proprietary remedies and appliances and of medicated wines; that these remedies are of a widely differing character, comprising (a) genuine scientific preparations, (b) unobjectionable remedies for simple ailments, and (c) many secret remedies making grossly exaggerated claims of efficacy; that this last-mentioned class (c) of remedies contain none which spring from therapeutical or medical knowledge, but that they are put upon the market by ignorant persons, and in many cases by cunning swindlers who exploit for their own profit the apparently invincible credulity of the public; that this constitutes a grave and widespread public evil; that the existing law is chaotic and has proved inoperative and that successful prosecution for fraud in the advertisement and sale of secret remedies is fraught with the greatest

difficulty, though the Public Prosecutor has perhaps not sufficiently tested the powers of the existing law in respect to such cases; that consequently the traffic in secret remedies, except as regards. scheduled poisons and the grosser forms of impropriety, is practically uncontrolled in this country; that this is an intolerable state of things, and that new legislation to deal with it, rather than merely the amendment of existing laws, is urgently needed in the public interest; that grave injury is caused to the public by the existing large sale of medicated wines; and that while, for reasons already given, it is not desirable to require the exhibition of formula of every secret. remedy, nevertheless it is improper that under the protection of the law enormous. quantities of alleged remedies should be sold the composition of which is unknown to any person except the manufacturers of them, and that therefore the formulæ of all secret remedies should be required to be communicated to a competent officer appointed under the authority of a Minister of State, but that such formulæ should not be divulged to any otherperson except as hereinafter recommended.

The Committee Recommend:-That the administration of the law governing the advertisement and sale of patent,. secret, and proprietary medicines and appliances be co-ordinated and combined under the authority of one Department of State; that there be established at the Department concerned a register of manufacturers, proprietors and importers of patent, secret, and proprietary remedies, and that every such person be. required to apply for a certificate of registration, and to furnish (a) the principal address of the responsibile manufacturer or representative in this. country, and (b) a list of the medicine or medicines proposed to be made or imported; that an exact and complete statement of the ingredients and the proportions of the same of every patent, secret and proprietary remedy; of the contents other than wine, and the alcoholic strength of every medicated wine, and a full statement of the thera

peutic claims made or to be made; and a specimen of every appliance for the cure of ailments other than recognized surgical appliances, be furnished to this Department; that a special Court or Commission be constituted with power to permit or to prohibit in the public interest, or on the ground of non-compliance with the law, the sale and advertisement of any patent, secret, or proprietary remedy, or appliance, and that the commission appointed for the purpose be a judicial. authority such as a Metropolitan Police Magistrate sitting with two assessors, one appointed by the Department, and the other by some such body as the London Chamber of Commerce; that the President of the Local Government Board (or Minister of Health) have power to institute the necessary proceedings to enforce compliance with the law, the sale and advertisement of any patent, secret or proprietary remedy, or appliance; and that a registration number be assigned to every remedy permitted to be sold.

The Committee make the following recommendations regarding the amendment of existing laws:-That the Stamp Acts be consolidated and amended to remove the numerous existing anomalies and unreasonable exceptions; and that the Indecent Advertisements Act be amended on the line of Lord Braye's Bill. The Committee further recommend the following legislative enactments:-That every medicated wine, and every proprietary remedy containing more alcohol than that required for pharmacological purposes, be required to state upon the label the proportion of alcohol contained in it; that the advertisement and sale (except the sale by a doctor's order) of medicines purporting to cure the following diseases be prohibited:-Cancer, consumption, lupus, deafness, diabetes, paralysis, fits, epilepsy, locomotor ataxia, Brights' disease, rupture (without operation or appliance); that it be a breach of the law (a) to enclose with one remedy printed matter recommending another remedy; (b) to invite sufferers from any ailment to correspond with the vendor of a remedy; (c) to make use of the name of a fictitious person in connection with a remedy (but it should be within the power of the Department to permit the exemption of an old-fashioned remedy from this provision); (d) to make use of fictitious testimonials; (e) to publish a recommend

ation of a secret remedy by a medical practitioner unless his or her full name, qualifications, and address be given; (f) to promise to return money paid if a cure is not effected.

Growth of the Retail Octopus.

When Noah predicted the flood, says Holy Writ, he was only met with scoffing and derision on every hand.

So it has been with every note of warning that was ever sounded since the world began. We all resent the call of alarm that breaks into our dreams of peace and contentment.

A year ago the man who predicted an international war was looked upon with a pitying smile. Men were sure that the time for international peace had arrived.

But meanwhile the forging of guns and the building of battleships continued, and to-day great nations are in arms. The borders of Germany and France are being drenched with the blood of the world's mightiest battles.

In the world of trade to-day a mobilization of forces is taking place as menacing to the interests of the independent dealer, retailer, or jobber as the present great European war is to the interests of the nations abroad. The great danger, the gravest menace that has ever confronted the independent merchants of America is the Chain Store.

Vast combinations of capital have already absorbed the greater part of the retail and wholesale grocery business in many important markets. The situation in Philadelphia with its 1,262 chain stores is typical of what these combinations can do and have done and what they are now doing in other places. They are already so powerful that no market is safe from their attack. Their unlimited resources fortify them against failure and enable them to lay siege to any market they may wish to capture and wait patiently for the success that is sure to come. For under present conditions their success is inevitable and their advancement certain.

The operation of the Chain Stores is at present confined largely to the more important markets, which are proverbially the most difficult to capture and the easiest to maintain once they have been captured. They calculate shrewdly that once the most important markets are theirs the smaller towns can be secured any time.

Witness the growth of the United Cigar Stores and the prevalence of the great chains of ten-cent stores throughout the small town markets of the country.

The Chain Store menace, we say, confronts the independent dealers of the entire country. There are those who feel safe because they are far removed from the zone of the Chain Store's present activity. It would be just as logical for the French or Germans of the interior to feel safe from the terrors of war because the enemy is only on the border. Once they are determined to move forward, these vast aggregations of capital can move faster than any army, and blanket the country with their chains of stores within a year.

Some feel safe because previous attempts to form successful chains of stores in their markets have met with failure, but these previous efforts were not backed with the unlimited capital which the syndicates of Philadelphia or New York and other large centers have at their command. Even the field of Waterloo, before the present war is ended, may witness a reversal for the very forces that were once so distinguished there in victory. * *

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We make no secret of the fact that our opposition is primarily for our own immediate interest. To preserve our own independence and prosperity, we do not want the distribution of our goods to fall into the hands of a monopolistic retailing

syndicate.

But while the development of the Chain Stores to such a point might spell disaster to our business, it would mean annihilation to the businesses of the independent retailers and wholesalers into whose fields this evil extended. While the danger is great to the interests of the independent manufacturer, it is far greater to those of the independent dealer. * * * *

There is one way to prepare for this evil and to combat it, and only one. That one way is through an alignment of those forces whose interests are threatened, to check the further encroachments of the Chain Store System.

Unfortunately, the very laws that were framed a generation since to protect the country against the evils of such combinations as those of the Chain Stores have been distorted so that in this generation they protect and foster those evils rather than discourage them.

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The Chain Store evil is a greater evil than that of the Mail-Odrer House or the Department Store, for when it comes it embraces all their evils and brings them closer home. And the same manufacturers who sell direct to the Chain Stores at preferred prices will be found among those who are selling the Mail-Order Houses and Department Stores direct or permitting them to be sold at inside prices which has the same effect.

And it is not because the Chain Stores, Mail-Order Houses, or Department Stores are so strong that they command these privileges, but because the independent dealers are so weak. If united in opposition to the Chain Stores, the independent dealers would be a thousand times as strong-but they are not united. The time has come when they must unite. The danger confronting them is a grave one, and they are justified in taking up arms in their own defense. This is your battle more than it is ours. We leave the issue in your hands.

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-Square Deal.

War Revenue Tax.

TREASURY DEPARTMENT,

WASHINGTON, Nov. 18, '14.

TO COLLECTORS OF INTERNAL REVENUE: The proviso to Section 8, Act of October 22, 1914, reads as follows:

"That instead of cancellation by initials. and date, the stamps on the articles enumerated in Schedule B shall be so affixed on the box, bottle, or package that in opening the same, or using the contents thereof, the said stamp shall be effectually destroyed; and in default thereof the party making default shall be liable to the same penalty imposed for neglect to affix said stamp as herein before prescribed in this Act."

Section 22, however, authorizes the Commissioner of Internal Revenue to prescribe such method for the cancellation of stamps as he may deem expedient in lieu of the method prescribed in the Act.

Under this authority it is held that as to stocks of articles subject to tax under Schedule B, now in the hands of manufacturers and packed ready for shipment on orders not yet received, which stocks already packed in boxes or cartons remain in their hands on December 1st, and it is impracticable to unpack the boxes or cartons for stamping without serious loss, the stamps covering the entire contents of the container may be affixed to the container and canceled with the initials of the manufacturer and the month and year.

Where goods have been previously ordered for delivery at a future date, and same are already packed in shipping cases, to fill the order, and marked for shipment to purchaser, such goods may be delivered to purchaser without each article being stamped, provided purchaser is furnished with proper stamps to

attach to taxable articles when case is opened.

Retailers receiving goods in such boxes or cartons bearing stamps should retain the stamped container until the contents are disposed of and will be held liable for tax on goods exposed for sale unstamped, unless they are able to produce such stamped containers as evidence that the goods have been taxpaid by the manufacturers.

Cased goods which have been removed from the place of manufacture to depots or warehouses prior to December 1, 1914, may be regarded as in the hands of

the manufacturers as wholesalers and not as manufacturers, and should be stamped by the retailers before being sold at retail.

Where goods are usually offered for sale in small containers attached to display cards, stamps covering the tax on all attached articles may be affixed to the cards.

Where several articles, all taxable, or some taxable and some untaxable, are packed in boxes for sale as entireties, the stamps covering the taxable contents. may be affixed to the box in such manner as to be broken on opening the boxes. If the outer coverings in such cases are fancy containers, which would be marred by attaching stamps to covers, or are of such character that it is impracticable to so attach the stamps that they will be broken on opening the articles for use, stamps may be affixed to side or bottom of the container.

In all cases where stamps are so attached as to be broken when the article is used, cancellation is unnecessary. In all other cases cancellation of stamps will be made by affixing initials with month and year.