A Respectable Occupation: - University of Hertfordshire Research ...

materia medica, chemistry and botany and that they had served as
apprentices to a chemist and druggist for three years. 91
At the second reading, Dr Clark objected to these restrictions on the
grounds that, originally, all one required to practise as a chemist and
druggist was some knowledge of the business. Then in 1868, a qualifying
examination and register were introduced; now the Pharmaceutical Society
wished to prescribe the curriculum and require candidates to achieve a pass
in three specified subjects. This, he thought, was contrary to free trade, was
tending to create a monopoly and was giving the Society powers they should
not possess; powers which ought to be in the hands of a public body. 92 Here
we have another occasion on which the issue of free trade conflicted with the
Society‘s attempts to create a profession. As the creation of professional
organisations, with both responsibilities and privileges, began to accelerate,
it aroused concerns in those who believed that everyone should be free to
practise a trade without restraint. The responsibility, they thought, for
ensuring that the service they gave was safe and satisfactory, lay with their
customers, as they had a free choice in selecting the tradesman.
The Earl of Miltown introduced the third Bill, the Pharmacy Acts
Amendment Bill in 1888. At the Committee Stage, he proposed the addition
of an important clause. There was an increasing tendency for qualified
chemists and druggists who owned more than one shop to hire unqualified
men to run their branch shops. The proprietors worked in their original
shop some distance away, but claimed that they were in control of activities
91 Bills Public, vol. 5, session 27 Jan.-16 Sep. 1887, p. 213.
92 Hansard, third series, vol. CCCXIII, 31 Mar.-25 Apr. 1887, cols. 463-467.
243