The Washington times., 1923-01-29
Of AIR
[ANESBY j. 5.
URGED
Lee De Forest Tells Benefits
to Be Obtained in Passage i
of White Bill.
BY LEE DE FOREST,
Noted Radio Scientist and Inventor.

Noted Radio Scientist and Inventor.
Copyright, 1923. by Cosmopolitan News
~ Service.) n
NEW YORK, Jan. 29.-Unneces.
sary and annoying mussing up Of
the ether by some enthusiastic anna
tours who now interfere with
legitimate and worthwhile use of
the air by. sending at. any and all
times trifling and unimportant mes.
sages will be done away with when
the Whiteb ill, just reported by the
House Merchant Marine COMMITTEES,
becomes a law, which it is believed
will be soon.
Then, Secretary Hoover, through
the Department Of Commerce, who
is himself one Of the foremost en-
gineers In the country, will see to
It that radio transmission will be so
regulated and controlled; that order
Will be brought out Of the present
chaotic and to an extent ungoverned
condition which exists as a result
or the free-for-all sending Of radio
communications by many radio fans.
with their toy apparatus. Wave
lengths will be assigned to them SO
That they will, of course, not be de.
barred from using the ether, but
serious and interesting hroadcasting
which is of real value and I'M
portance to the public generally will
DC gwen an opportunity to function
in the manner for which it is in.
tended.
Check on Amateurs.
Inc thoughtless amateur, foollng
and dilly-dallying, will have to stay
In the air where he belongs. 1t will
not be case of keep off the Z, ass.
for he won't have a chance to get
on it.
AS an illustration, the other night
one of the" large broadcasting Sta
tons at Newark, N. j., was send
ing out an important and universal
~ entertaining talk by Charles M.
SchWab. Of the Bethlehem Steel
corporation. when the signal "time
Is up" was given and a little
amateur at Tarrytown, N. Y, came
In with some trifling musical selec.
ton that no one wanted to hear.
most interesting parts Of Schwab's
address was lost.
There will be no more of that
when the Government takes control
OF the air. The small amateur will
operate on a certain wave length or
not at all. No one wishes to pre-
vent him and his friends from OBJ
tanning all the enjoyment possible
out of their radio sets, but the
greater and predominant rights of
far larger majority of radio.
operators and listeners will prevail.
1t will be a case of the greatest
benefit to the greatest number.
This condition should have existed
long ago. and no doubt would have
had 1t not been for determined op.
position from certain quarters, not
the least Of. which came from the
army and the. navy, more particular
ly the latter.
Friendly to Civilians.
Maj. Gen. George c.. Suuires.
chief signal officer of the army,
however, as an ardent radio enthus.
last. has always maintained
friendly attitude toward civilians
interested in radio communication
work. OF course, the army and the
navy should have undisputed con.
troll Of the air in time of war. That
lS duHlItleu, out Inere is no reason
why this should be the case in time
of peace. when no emergency con-
ditions prevail.
The Government has been too
liberal in the issuance of licenses,
in permitting the use Of the air
to any Tom, Dick or Harry who
wanted to avail himself of the
chance to make himself heard
With the passage of the White bill
this state of affairs will no longer
prevail. The result will be that
tens Of thousands Of persons, the
greater part of whom are not radio
operators, but who take pleasure
in listening to instructive and en-
tertaining broadcasting, will be
benefited.
Secretary Hoover, under the rul-
ings of the new law, will see that
every sender of radio matter will
receive a square deal, but the in
considerate amateur operator who
does not care If he interferes with
the pleasure Of others will be held
In check. as he ought to be.