The Bemidji daily pioneer., 1912-03-25
CIRCLES THE GLOBE
Wire and Wireless Leave No Spot
Untouched.
NO CHANCE FOR CONFUSION
livery Day Gigantic World-CircIina
system Of nteroommunleatlen
'nersasss Both In Etfielsney
and Certainty.
sy GEORGE CLINTON.

sy GEORGE CLINTON.
Washington.--One man in Washins.
ton 10 In touch, by wire and wireless.
With every corner of the United
States. even un to farthest Nome,
Alaska. And this same man, by wire
and wireless. Is In touch with tho
whole world-with tho SIX or seven
hundred wireless telegraph shore sta
tions scattered all over the globe. not
to speak Of tho operators on the ships
sailing tho seas of the globe.
II he 50 desired, and II tho govern.
ment which pays him his salary in the
department of war 10 ordered, this
man could talk with tho operator in
Eastport, Maine; tho Harvard Univer-
sity laboratory, tho lightsh1p Skunk"
on the English coast, with tho Rus
sian station at Vladivostok, Siberia;
with Perrin or Zanzibar, some miles
to the southwark. II it was neces-
sary to do SO, words could be flashed
1rom Fort William Mckinley across
to F'ukui, Japan, and no ono sailing
underneath the flying messages need
be the wiser. And every day tho num-
Der Of these points in the gigantic
forld-cfrcling system Of 1ntercommuni-
cation increases-both in efficiency
and certainty. The one man In tho
war department at Washington will
have his hands full, and he can talk
all he wants to-
viii Be No Babel.
"The ether" says Commissioner
hamberlain of the bureau Of naviga-
t1on, "fs common property, and with
the cheapest apparatus unrestrained
trivial messages can create babel"
What magnificent babel it would be
If the tribes and tongues were at war
with each other! But despite the In
genuities OF the ever-present prac-
tfcal joker, there isn't going to be any
babel. Locally, here and there, con-
fusion may reign, but the movement
now on foot to bring order before
chaos gets 4 chance to dominate, is
too strong to be checked.
AS long ago as 1905 tho Imperial
German government, observing tho
need for the regulation of wireless
telegraphy, and in order to secure the
greatest benefit from 1t and prevent
the establishment of worldwide
wireless monopoly, invited other ma
tions to join 1t in adequate interna-
tional regulation-the only effective
kind, as wireless defles boundary
Hvoa hjo 49,
tho Berlin International Radiotele-
graphic convention of 1906, which has
since been ratified by 80 countries, in
cluding the greatest maritime powers,
except the United States Wherefrom
hangs tale. 81 ~~..~
It seems that the delegates from
the United States were influential In
shaping the international agreement,
but, owing to a peculiar circumstance.
they are powerloss 70 further tho rati-
f1cation by this nation. The reason 10
simple: the land-telegraphs Of Europe,
Japan and nations generally are own
ed by tho government and arc usually
operated by the national postofice sys-
tem-also always 4 government insti-
tuition.
Whore the Hitch Comes.
In the United States, Of course, pri-
vats capital controls the land tele-
graph lines. Now, the Berlin conven-
ton Axes tho rates Of wireless dis
patches and provides for their trans
mission over land lines to their tor
minus and from their point of origin.
Some people say that without either
federal ownership or else federal
control Of land lines it will be impos-
sible for this country to join the rest
Of tho civilized world in a contract
essential to the well-being of wireless
telegraphy.
The way out is In a bill which IL
today somewhere in pickle in con-
Ersss. It provides. in brief. for fed
oral licenses for tho operation Of wire
less apparatus at ship or shore sta
tions, and for federal license for wire
less operators. The commissioner Of
has called this bill "a nee
essary supplement to tho wireless-sh1p
act" and hopes further that the sen.
ate may yet flnd way to ratify tho
Berlin convention" The International
conference will as
semble again at London in June Of tho
present year. The United States will
bs represented, though not a mem
ber. 1t is clearly "up to the congress"
TO make arrangements for our admis-
sion.