Poisoning People for Princely Profits

...When the dawn comes in Canada, the lowering clouds of the depression will perhaps be pierced with jets of red...

...The idea, which originated in Ontario, has already spread to the province of Quebec and probebly will be soon adopted by all the other provinces...

...Claims are mads for drugs which, giving confidence to users, causes them to take no other measures of protection...

...Among Miv mvrw pvjvMMt* ¦ii.mr tics listed at being unreliable ia light of evidence presented, or referred to in the book are several of the moat widely advertised products...

...Clubs, as they are called, are rapidly springing into existence in every city, town, and village in Ontario...

...Until the present system gives some indication that it can again function in its normally haphazard manner, it is useless for its defenders to mumble over and over again that any other system must provt "impracticable...

...Despite proof of thalium poison due to its being used as directed, the New York City Department of Health allowed it to be sold provided it was labeled "for external use only...

...Meant Business—Toward Socialism...

...move...

...These antiseptics make claims as to their germ killing properties which we are familiar with from our reading of magasines and newspapers...

...Schlink quote the following part of the analysis of the claims of this antiseptic made by the American Medical Association...

...Speaking Out-Doors It is « common belief that one must shout to be heard in the open air...

...Kallet and Mr...

...While, both because of the nature of the authors and that of the subject, it deals with scientific matters, the book is simply enough written so that anyone can understand it...

...On the other hand, should the depression grow in severity, this half-hearted acceptance of a Socialist philosophy may yet congeal into a solid belief in Socialism as the only possible remedy for our manifold ills...

...Another good practice is to hold .street meetings regularly on the same corner and on the same night of each week...

...True, there are more noises to contend with on the streets than in-doors...

...The last provision is for protection of competitors, and not the public I As a result, it is pointed out, lead and arsenic poisons, the corrosive chemical, amoniated merenry, and other imitants such as salycllic acid, ara found In hair dyes, depilatories and bleaches...

...An excess amount of arsenic and lead spray residue was allowed on fruits and vegetables until European countries threatened to ban our products...

...It was read only by friends sal acquaintances of Dr...

...An article in the "Journal of ths American Medical Association" atated that several authors considered 8 grams of potassium chlorate a sufficient quantity to cause death...

...Harvey W. Wiley in 1910 from bis position as Government chemist...

...As long as no false claims are made on the label •r the box the manufacturer is immune from any action by the authorities...

...How the government fails adequately to protect the consumer even where it has the power is illustrated in great detail by numerous illustrations...

...Passers-by hearing nonsense tt a distance ire not always attracted to hear it at closer range • And Anally, shouting soon cracks the voire and results It a painful hoarseness...

...He uses his lower register or tones rather than the higher pitch (this is especially necessary among women speakers) and this manner gives the vocal cords sn opportunity for easy adjustment and strengthens them for the rougher usage in the emphasis, climaxes and conclusion of the speech...

...Props* ganda carried on by manufacturers-, trade associations, magazines eager for advertising and others who flood to gain by lax enforcement of the law...

...A national appeal will also be made for voluntary subscriptions...

...The task of organizing these elubs is in the hands of a committee which includes three University of Toronto professors...

...Especially is thia true of antiseptics...

...movement with Communism...

...He also speaks slowly and*, distinctly and Incrtases in volume and speed as he progresses...

...The result of this Ispae in the law would be amusing If it were not so tragic...

...The first inkling that anything was wrong with the Pure Food and Drag Act was the forcing out of Dr...

...That it is even now a force to be contended with is evident from the way in which it has sent Mr...

...However, the consumer doesn't know this interesting and important fact, and he is apt to assume that the law applies to all claims made for any article, on the label, in magazine advertising, or on the billboards...

...Manufacturers of food stuffs snd drugs, however, remembered —with results that can be assumed...

...of Upton Sinclair's l!fon|je," Congress passed a fatfood and Drug Act to -jotect the consuming public...

...Bennett, Premier of Canada, and Mr...

...As to, »s latter, they will also print that, but *• Prefer to do so after the meeting...

...First, because the law is not wide enough in scope, and secondly because the present administration of the law, which seems to act for the benefit of the producer rather than the consumer, has knocked out most of the safeguards that the law contains...

...The announcements should s» written briefly and neatly...

...Although people in Canada an in a more receptive frame of mine for the ideas and Ideals of the Co operative Commonwealth than the] have ever been before, it is tot early in the history of the move raent to say to what extent the] are really prepared to support iti program...

...Out-door forums successfully conducted in this fashion and are as effective I as those conducted in-doors...

...A chapter entitled "The Failure of Protection" tells of the corruption of the intent of the Food and Drug Act from its original purpose of protecting the consumer to one of allaying the consumers' doubts and yet not doing anything drastic to offend the producers^ The attitude seems to be one of protection of the pre fits of those who produce rather than the protection of the health of the consumers...

...Meetings should start at the time advertised...

...Thus an experienced speaker begins st a whisper and ends with a rosr...

...Finally, however, a complete and readable story of the breakdown ef the proaection of the consumer from poisons, from misleading advertising and from inferior goods is told in the book "100,000,000 Guinea Pigs" by Arthur Kallett and F. J. Schlink, both connected with Consumers Research (Vanguard Press, $2.00...

...A Federstion The C.C.F...

...Provincial councils will be formed in each province as soon as possible by representatives of member orgsnizations...

...The story of a well-known depilatory containing thalium acetate, is told in great detail...

...A New Spectre This apparent attempt to arouse religious animosity which might turn against not only Communism, but against the C.C.F...

...By W. H. C. Coulthard Uniting Labor and Farmers of Canada For Permanent Army of Socialism CAPITALISTS in every country seem to have the mistaken idea that no intelligent person can have other than a capitalistic viewpoint, and that therefore it is quite impossible for Socialists to translate a program such as this into concrete terms that will be applicable to the prohlems involved...

...An experienced out-door speaker begins in an average conversational tone...

...Remember, Newspapers, generally, want to print news snd not arguments or propaganda...

...ment...

...The increased blood pressure and the strain on the vocal cords is too great snd the excitation unbalances one's thinking...

...This pressure for profit has broken down the safeguards set up 1 in the Purs Food and Drug Act for the public protection...

...The important point that the authors make throughout the book, one which cannot be over-emphasized, ia that we livs in a profit society and profit Is king...

...At the present time there is nothing on the economic horizon to indicate a return to more prosperous times...

...However, the boot didn't receive very wide publicity...

...These C.C.F...

...There is principal one article, of which the ingredient is potassium chlorate, a poison, another which contains an abrasive that may harm the teeth, and a third which has an excessive soap content...

...Let the buyer beware" is still ths rule of our present society...

...The provisional council, or executive, will continue to function until the election of a Dominion council at the first annual convention in Regina sometime this year...

...At first, this made it a difficult problem to reach those people who are ineligible for membership in either the farm or labor groups, but who are sympathetic to the program of the C.C.F...

...Wiley had inaugurated, was no longer followed and the manufacturer got the breaks...

...Evade Spirit of Pure Food Laws Told in Book "100,000,000 Guinea Pi*"-^rotection Against Competitor., Not Poisoners...

...Another weakness of the law pointed out by the authors is that it does not give jurisdiction over substances intended for external use...

...Whether or not the leaders of the Cooperative Commonwealth ate capable of such an achievement, a more detailed platform for the organization's entry into the political arena was drawn up at the meetings of the provincial council in Calgary recently...

...Each member organisation will be expected to pay an annual affiliation fee of twenty-five dollars...

...Three toothpastes, for example, involve risks to the user...

...Of course, our.own press should always save such news...

...Secrecy in prosecution until the manufacturer was proven guilty was adopted as a method, and the cases were brought against ths items condemned ss "U...

...Protection Fails . Consumers fail of protection by the resent pure food law, point eat the authors, for two main reasons...

...An effort was made to enlist the support of the churches in stamping out this heathenish doctrine, without much care being taken to make it clear which doctrine was referred to...

...This habit enables many people to remember where and when our meetings are held and to bring other people along with them...

...If such a condition really does exist, it is a waste of energy to attempt a meeting on such a corner without a "loud speaker...

...Learn to thank and dismiss an audience en masse instead of driving it home one person at a time...

...IN 1906, partly at a result of the uproar caused by the -aMication...

...In the event of even a partial return to more prosperous times, this new party because of its heterogeneous components, must either turn reactionary or fall apart into the diverse elements that compose it...

...As a result of the production of goods for profit the welfare of the consumer is lost sight of, especially in those cases where he is unable to tell what Is best for himself without expert technical assistance...

...The supreme ridiculousness of the situation becomes apparent when it la realised that the antiseptic virtues of [naming the antiseptic 1 are so inflnitesmal in comparison with better antiseptics as to invalidate even modest claims for it...

...Harmful Drugs The fact that drug stores are filled with goods that may be harmful is also pointed out...

...With these and press notices where obtainable and a post card mailing to some members or sympathisers in the vicinity, a comparatively quiet neighborhood or "dead" corner can have a splendid meeting...

...J "Poison for Profit" i ss slogs...

...One of the main faults of the »w is that i does no apply at all t» advertising...

...The method of "cooperation" with manufacturers was adopted so that their point of view might be known...

...It was felt that a large proportion of the middle class beReactionariea and Politician, of All Shades Realize That CCF...

...No speaker can shout and talk sense at the same time...

...No matter how food the speaker or how important the meeting, people will not and cannot come ¦ideas they know about the event...

...Moreover, shouting is not always an effective meant of drawing a crowd...

...A beginner often starts with a roar and finishes with a sore throat...

...Incident after incidnet is piled up to show that the consumer is not being protected as he should be...

...One would like to fee that the affiliated bodies of th« CCF...

...The press, in general, has paid its tribute to the growing power of the Federation by attacking it relentlessly from every angle...

...It is also interesting that scientists have no evidence that a solution of carbolic acid, which is safe enough for use on the skin, haa any penetrating power...

...Wiley, III by a wide general public interested in the Pure Food Law...

...It also doesn't point out that proof of slaughter of germs in a tost tube has no necessary relation to the power of the antiseptic in the mouth...

...are not meeting with the success which usually attends all efforts to preserve the status quo...

...Sinclair's stories of how meat was prepared for market, proved to be true by investigation after investigation, so aroused America that Congress was forced to act to protect those who ate, and act it did...

...longed in this category, and in order to reach this class it was decided to encourage the formation of another group of constituent bodies...

...S. versus 80 cans of Salmon" rather than U . S . versus the canner of the Salmon...

...The Benefit of the Doubt Power which Congress'had given to the Bureau of Chemistry was taken away and given to an advisory board with a high sounding title bui without definite responsibilities...

...The policy of giving the consumer the benefit of the doubt, which Dr...

...These bodies must be completely organized before they can seek admission to the Federation...

...The story of the German army officer, who in 1910 committed suicideby eating the contents of a tube of a certain tooth paste is told...

...ia bringing together farm, labor, Socialist, and middle class groups in Canada from the Atlantic to the Pacific for united political action...

...The consumer was satisfied the Government was protecting him, and so proceeded to forget that i the passage of a law means nothing unless that law is enforced...

...Instead of shouting to s distant audience and pleading with them to come closer, it Is better to speak softly at first and thereby lure the curious to come nearer and thus find out what you are talking about Watch an old medicine man play this trickl...

...is essentially a federation of constituent bodies with similar aims and purposes...

...Canada is still a predominantly agricultural country whose very exlst/nce depends upon an export market for her wheat...

...To ••Jpnplish this efficiently, the speaker or JwMelty sgent should write a short and BP eynopsis of what the speaker said, "•tollent points at the beginning of the Hand-bills distributed in the neighborhood of a street meeting will also enhance the attendance...

...of capitalistic salesmanship just al Is "Murder for Profit", the nations' list capitalist slogan and "StsSj vatlon for Profit" the mainsprlnl of capitalism...

...Toward Socialism Unfortunately, it seems more than likely that in many cues the adoption of a Socialist viewpoint is more the result of desperation in the face of the economic crista than of any real conversion to socialistic principles...

...nevertheless, they are seldom so loud that a street speaker must shout continuously to be heard...

...A ounce tube of a certain tooth paste contains almost thirty grams of potassium chlorate...

...The advertising does not say how much antiseptic killed those germs, what kind of germs they were, or if any germs were left unkilled...

...At present it is composed of seven members elected at the conference in Calgary last August, but it is empowered to add to its number in order that all the provinces may be represented...

...The newspapers may still persist In the belief that such nonsense has not outlived its usefulness, but in reality there are very few people who still credit statements that are ao obviously ridiculous...

...A Manual for Socialist Speakers by August Claessens Advertising Out-of-door as well as in-door meetings should be well advertised...

...In its attacks it has dragged in all, or nearly all, of the old stock bogies...

...The C.C.F...

...The story is told vividly...

...as well, brought forth a series of public statements by prominent Canadian churchmen, in which they voiced • their approval of the C.C.F...

...Strange as it may sound, people are no deafer in the street than they are in a hall...

...Henry, Premier of Ontario, scampering from one Empire Club luncheon to another in a hysterical attempt to confuse the C.C.F...

...It is not always difficult to get an announcement of a meeting in the newspapers...

...Slaughtering Germs For example among the claims for one antiseptic is that it "Kills 200,000,000 germs in fifteen seconds—Has e penetrating power equtl to a three per cent solution of carbolic acid—Reduces colds 66 per cent...

...With foreign wheat markets glutted by overproduction in half the countries of the world and wheat prices at levels that have never been equalled in four hundred years, it is tittle wonder that a growing proportion of the Canadian people are turning in new directions for a way out of the impasse...

...and a good street meeting should not last more than an hour and a half or two hours at most...

...In •mailer titles and towns this is very easy...

...are whole-heartedly behind the revolutionary aims of that organization...

...In his book, "A Crime Against the Pure Food Law," in IMS, he pointed out that the law had been administered for the benefit of the manufacturer rather Una of the public...

...Even the more Intelligent criticisms of the C.C.F...

...As a result such articles as cosmetics are entirely free to make whatever claims they want to for themselves and to use whatever materials they want so long as they don't call themselves safe when the Federal Trade Commissions says they aren't...