PHARMACY EXAMINATIONS.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1198, 5 August 1911, Page 7

PHARMACY EXAMINATIONS.

Sir,—Now that the Pharmacy Amendment Act is. beforo Parliament, in tho interests of t'he assistants and apprenfciccs of New Zealand it should be the endeavour of master chemists to have the examinations controlled solely by the Government. The reasons for bringing them ■under State control are: Firstly, because of the most primitive methods the New Zealand Pharmacy Board adopts in asedsting a young man to .qualify., -The method consists of getting an examniation paper set, and registering the candidates who can satisfy the examiner (usually a university professor) to the extent of 50 peT cent. Secondly, do 16 passes out' of 74 candidates in New Zealand who sat at the April examination, and 33 passes out of 122-who sat at the October examination show the manner in which the Board is fostering and helping the interests of the rising chemist. Now, sir, is the 'board capable of administering the examinations in the best interest's of the chemists?-

Further, when a boy is apprenticed to a chemist what instructions dees he get ifrom that chemist? The. chemist himself is not capable of teaching him and coaching him for his examination, so when his apprenticeship is up ho has to look elsewhere for a billet, and invariably he ■ ends up cleaning lamps for the Gas Company, going info the) drapery business (where he is ' better paid), grocery, or farming. Has a chemist a right to apprentice a boy ! if he cannot give him the necessary education? The . examination eyllabus is-•now... altered. to •.such .' an: extent ihat I doubt ifithere are three chemists in business in New Zealand who could successfully carry.dt...out,, r. In England it has become a recognised 'fact that the standard of examination is too highly : technical for t'lie conducting of an everyday chemist's shop, and the agitation liowat'oot is'-to'have a more' up-to-date business examination to enable chemists to enter into business competition, and-become successes. In a recent letter, to the "Chemist and Druggist" I believe, written by Mr. Glynn-.Tones, M.P., England (ivho is also a chemist), he says: "Do-what you may .you. cannot do-away with trade associations of the pharmacist; you.-may,' by forcing stiffer examinations shut . out able an<l worthy men, but this will not make the profession of pharmacy more' popular, more efficient,. or more remunerative, neither will the public be better served. The present; syllabus errs on the side of severity when you consider the class from which our recruits come, and the remuneration made, and rather than make the subjects more academic, I should advise some plan by which we give our young men better trade training in the methods by which, money, is made, and they will hnd money is made as a result . of their business training, and not their Jcnowledge of science, applied or otherwise. If attempts are made to make the qualifying examination stiffer I am sure there will be a mighty outburst of indignation throughout the ranks. Now judging fronrtho results of the examinations here,- there are equal grounds for such'indignation here in New Zealand — I am, etc., REFORM.

"CHRISTIAN LIBERTY." Sir,--In yours of July 31st there appwirs the substance of a sermon preached in St. Peter's Anglican Church by Archdeacon Harper on Sunday evening last. \ou describe it as a striking sermon—well, the only striking likeness about it is that it is fifty years behind the times. It is too late now for anyone, even an archdeacon, to try and put'back tilt* hayds of time. Tho archdeacon's wanderings in social reforms and "acts and.deeds of sin seem to.me lo create a new way of looking at tlvsse things. He ialso says "Laws are 'certainly necessary to punish crime, but not to make it impossible." Surely this is contrary to tact and practise; for, laws are not only intended to punish crime, but also to be it deterrent to others, not to commit crimes, and itisonly. the failure of the law that it has not made crimes almost impossible. Then again, if Archdeacon Harper had stated that civilisation had made great nations, he would have b;en nearer ■f e i?, 11 , 1 " 1 " 'ban Christianity, as he puts it. lake, for instance, Japan: By her adopting Western civilisation and modern ecienco sha has now found herself in th-?. front ranks of the great Powers of the world. I should.here add that I am well aware that the Christian churches .bc&n making good progress in Japan but I think it will be "conceded that Japan had made herself felt in the world before much missionary progress was made there. • Now, as regards "weaklings and temptation, I would.like the archdeacon to view these from a lower plane. As'no . doubt by his social position he, and hi« , may be jminnno from these temptations' Let him look at th?st- from the standpoint of, say, the wharf labourer. Then as to weaklings, let us bring this home to ourselves; say, for instance, one that is near and dear to us should be one of these (which, God forbid, it should come to anybody) would wo not be up and smite the viper with whatever weapon comss to our hands? Xow tho Government has provided us with a weapon, namely, Xo-Licens?. It may be a clumsy weapon, but let us use it till we get something more effective. Then again, to argue on the line tak*n by the archdeacon by "removing the tcmp'tation." The Government in this country has seen fit to legislate in rftrard 'to opium law, where some ncor Clii-ra-jnen were in the habit of smoking opium. To follow the archdeacon's argument, the State has no right to interfere with the man's liberty: he molests nobody; lip on'y indulges in this .habit to please himself; would the archdeacon bo in favour of giving this man his individual liberty? For it must bo conceded that lie does not go about the streets like a madman, as Bomo of the' class the archdeacon wishes - to retain liberty for. Must tho community be considered in these matters as well as the individual? Now, what I wish to wy is Ihfi object of my writing at all, is this: It has often b;en the boast of the Anglican Church that it does not preach politics .from the pulpit, and I think it should not be started now. Prior to tho last election in the, Old Country most of the Anglican Bishops issued pastoral letters to this'effect. Most of them

pointed out tho fact that there might bo some in the congregation that do not agree with tho minister in politics, and a3 they are debarred from making any reply to tho utterances from {lie pulpit it would be well to let politics alone. Of course, tho clergyman has a right to his own private judgment, but tho fact must bo borne in mind that "any person in tho archdeacon's position taking sides has a great influence with some weak-minded people, but npt with me. In conclusion, let mo refer to the archdeacon's opinions of sport—well, all I can say about it is that there is no sport in this country. Football and all tho rest of these things should come under tho head of entertainments, as practically that is what they are.—l am, etc., THOS. M. MILLIGAN. August 2, 1911. I'Furthcr letters will bo found on Poge 13 of this issue.] .