Applications received from March 1, 1896, to Oct. 1, 1896, to ex

Since our last report a complete canvass of the city of Boston has been made and every drug store visited by our agent. A similar canvass is now being made by him of all the towns and cities of the Commonwealth.

During the year we refused about one hundred or more applications for certificates to persons who had failed to comply with the law in making legal entry and proper record of sales; but, upon receiving a written promise for the future that all sales should be recorded and a strict conformity to the law maintained, nearly all were granted certificates.

From such data as the Board have been able to gather, the sale of intoxicating liquors in the drug stores of the Commonwealth has during the past year been reduced not less than two-thirds, as an average, and in some localities a greater reduction has been made. The work has been attended with some friction and open hostility, but we know our efforts have met with the hearty approval of reputable pharmacists and the endorsement of the law-abiding people of the State.

Fifty sessions of the Board have been held for the purpose of passing upon applications, and impartial hearings have been given in every case where the justice of a refusal has been questioned. In several cases where the reputation of the drug store has been notoriously bad, and in others where the opening of a new store indicated a probable liquor business, we have required some assurance, either by delay in granting, that a record might be made, or satisfied by facts, that our action in certifying to "proper person and public good" had some data to stand upon.

In one city, if not more, where the officials, it is claimed, do not enforce or even make an attempt to check the violation of law in the sale of liquor by druggists, individuals or

an organized body have employed detectives or spotters from outside the State, and sworn testimony has been given of a most reckless and demoralizing condition.

Earnest appeals are made to the Board for aid and assistance in work of this kind, and the statements of facts are so strongly and forcibly presented that we are compelled to admit the probable validity of the charges; but we have never felt that it was, under the law, our duty to attempt detective or special police work, and certainly we have not such desire. We must admit, however, that there are existing conditions in several cities and towns where, by the abuse of the sixth-class license, the sale of intoxicating liquor is such an injury to the public that any proper means would be justifiable in an effort to stop it. Reputable, lawabiding pharmacists are suffering seriously by the acts and conduct of such stores, and progress in pharmacy under such conditions can hardly be expected. Can relief be given?

Financial Statement from Oct. 1, 1895, to Oct. 1, 1896. Services of the Board, including daily attendance and records

S. B. Harris, agent, services, $742.50, expenses, $186.59,.

Total,.

Vouchers in detail at Auditor's office.

Received for liquor certificates,

Returned to rejected applicants,

Paid to State Treasurer,

Total,.

CONCLUSION.

In no way can a clearer and more definite statement or illustration be presented of our work and its results than will be found by a review of our several annual reports.

The examination department, for which the Board was originally established, has never been an expense to the State, but has been conducted by personal sacrifice of each

member, his bills being made, not for full time of services rendered, but to come within the fees received after paying all other expenses, such as printing, postage, etc. The secretary of the Board, in the performance of his duties, is obliged to give many days' service in correspondence, records and preparation for this department, in addition to the days of examination.

The enforcement of the pharmacy law, the granting of liquor certificates and the administration of the poison law have been placed under the special supervision of the Board. To keep an accurate rating of about two thousand drug stores, to investigate all complaints, prepare and arrange all the applications for the liquor certificates (which, on account of changes, come in every week during the year), the general charge of all duties excepting the examinations, require daily attendance at the office, and have been made the duty of the president of the Board.

It is again suggested that the several departments of our work, the granting of certificates for registration in pharmacy, enforcing the pharmacy and poison laws and the granting of liquor certificates, be merged in one account, and an annual appropriation be made, covering all.

If these varied duties are to continue, the work should be well done, and with the appropriations as now made it is an impossibility. More prompt and rigid investigation should be made, by the permanent employment of an agent whose whole time should be given to the work. The members of the Board should receive such just compensation as the duties and responsibilities demand, and devote as much time in an exhaustive investigation as may be required.

Respectfully submitted,

H. M. WHITNEY.

F. H. BUTLER.

A. K. TILDEN.
JOHN LARRABEE.
JOHN A. RICE.

AGENT'S REPORT.

To the Board of Registration in Pharmacy.

BOSTON, Oct. 1, 1896.

GENTLEMEN :-In presenting to you my annual report, it seems that a lengthy account of the work performed under your orders is unnecessary, as monthly reports have been made to you, giving all the important details during the past year.

The work performed under instructions of the Board has taken me to every portion of the Commonwealth and to some cities and towns several times, so that I have had an opportunity to observe whether our labor has been in vain or some good has resulted, and I am happy to state that a marked improvement has been made in the right direction. During this year not so many complaints have been made of criminal violation of the pharmacy law as were made during the year 1895, nor as many complaints to the Board during the year just closed as were made the year previous. A comparison of the statistics of 1895 with the statistics of 1896 bears out this statement; and, as the impostor and bogus druggist are driven out of the pharmacy business, so will the profession take a higher standing in the community. In several instances violations of the pharmacy law have been corrected by simply calling them to the attention of the druggist, who rectified them at once. This has always been more desirable than to resort to prosecutions, which have only followed in cases of flagrant violations, where forbearance had ceased to be a virtue. One thing has become apparent, -the back room is no longer a loafing place for those who have not quite the courage to stand up to a bar and "take it straight." Another noticeable feature is that the quantity of spirituous liquor bought at wholesale has greatly dimin

ished, and the legitimate pharmacist sees respectability returning. But there is work to be performed on the part of the druggists of Massachusetts in order that the ideal standard may be obtained; and by their co-operation with the Board of Pharmacy, assisted by the local authorities, their expectations will be realized.

I might state the work accomplished, giving particulars of various prosecutions, time taken up in attending court, etc.; but the details have all been laid before you, the results are set forth in the recapitulation, and results are of more interest to the public and ourselves than much writing or speaking.

Many stories might be told of the various ways and means taken to evade the law by those who have no conception of legitimate pharmacy, of grocers, stable keepers, saloon keepers, milkmen and others who heretofore embarked in the drug business without any pharmaceutical qualifications whatever. But the charms for them are gradually disappearing, and drug stores operated in Massachusetts without being under the supervision of registered pharmacists have become a thing of the past.

In order to give the public and pharmacists an idea of the qualifications of some pretended druggists, who only serve. to degrade the profession, having opened so-called drug stores prior to the enactment of the law of 1893, which made it a criminal offence to expose drugs, medicines, chemicals and poisons without being under the supervision of a registered pharmacist, and who by various devices have tried to maintain the same without conforming to the law, until by repeated prosecution they were forced to abandon the business, the following may be interesting.

first made

In the city of· a man by the name of his appearance in the police court charged with having in his possession milk not up to the standard. He was a milkman. ́ Presently he opened a drug store and commenced business. Complaints came to the police department and to the Board of Pharmacy, setting forth that this store was a rum shop; prosecutions followed; charges of violating the liquor law were preferred. Upon inspecting the premises, the agent found displayed a certificate of registration belonging to a registered pharmacist who owned and supervised a drug store