egard 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