The Eugenic Marriage, Volume 3 (of 4): A Personal Guide to the New Science of Better Living and Better BabiesHague, W. Grant (William Grant)
Science
The Eugenic Marriage, Volume 3 (of 4): A Personal Guide to the New Science of Better Living and Better Babies
Hague, W. Grant (William Grant)
Eugenics; Hygiene; Marriage
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.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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