Evening star., 1926-04-25
DORAH'S RADIO BILL
FEARED BY SYSTEM
Anti-MonopoIy Clause Might
Give Cables Control Again,
Many Fear.
BY CARL III. BUTMAN.

ton this session: the Senate Interstate
Commerce Committee held its lnitlal
meeting on the radio bills before IL
last week and is reported making
progress.
Senator Borah's new radio blIi' TO-
eether with the Du-Whitc twin bills
IS now before the Senate conlmi' zee
fn,. consideration. But the new bllI
Is oufta different from the others III
two particulars. They are: ne PA
ing Of the regulating authority III III;
hands - 4 commission an" ~
rnonnr0ly clauses. which threaten lilT
existence Of the American colnIlei Nl''i
radio communication systems. -,
This recently proposed leGlSi'i,lu'i 3;'i
ot+a,,nfs 10 eliminate raulo
n1ornno,y. if il exists, and TO preNeilt
tbo consolidation OF radio lit >teSl9. III
tbe rut,lrc. This il undefta\''
th,ouLh The inclusion OF sever ..',i+ .,,',,
r}nr.rstl clauses which Would Ein.ie Eit
y Da-ina4i radio COMMISSION - tIo,.
men authority 10 determine Wlie' l.,,i 'l,,l
lln' ,..5io ,oonopoly exists, ana
~ sn fn recall an its transmltllhE ~
nanya- and refuse 10 license OF re-
iicense stations believed to ne uhue'
the control Of such a monopoly.
Might Close Stations.
=. .bo P,dio CORPORATION is today
considered a monopoly IN 50 los lal O.,
80 t,~,rsn7ittinr of radio messages
ohroad is concerned although II 9 naS
nnver been proved an uniaMlu ul
,,oropoIy the commission might coiI
slider il such and close all It's sla,lo,;t sI,I,i+'
including all transoceanc uansittl1 I1nitnl
ters This would cut or the CnlisG CSio
fAN .
states from the world, as ldl % ;s+ar
is concerned, by killing al our ~ ~ =
national radio commull'cas.i s i0Ii -, a raIvz.
noirted ont by some Verseo II! tt.r+
irc- legislation and regulation M M
tbase anti-mOnopoly clauses ~.
.Iesso tho cable interests, Tor IL tliSS
- carried out il would give t,Le
cahIes all the foreign trafnc anu
t,'aII,. q monopoly in world comIauiii! iis
Stinns again. Although the i~t'UiU IiN,
Cornnrati0n is said TO haho!e
oo ner cent of the transat ttiillAT I,o|,;ti,,
fc and 80 per cent ol u, .ha tieId
troeir it's elimination from the n ,iS
'ralll'' ,,,,,o+;tn, i,% of the cables Woulu
- rareiyed with rejoicing III tno9t t
as,ol In fact. some intimate ~
,lo,,see referred to are aDoul VIC
~ eaLlo interests would nave lilJeS
ny rim had they been asked "
';ta +,eir own tickets. OtieIS
,,to the dra site sections 10 lLol l,l,a
80 radical interests Wnlch i,,,rc
their IDEAS during the recent i.e'i, oh hill
+ba same ANALYSIS OF the a,;aad +o
~ relieving the Senator realiAeu
not Nell' - t;s ,,aa sure might be put
"i'" can others believe ne IS u Sllie
~ .,;dmc the gap between Senale az
"a 10 secure some leSlSAd -
I',,.a,. IIoia. the Senator knows VIC "a
t;., doinc or what he wants u uo'
as usual. bo hacame in
+or,steJ in radio throuEh ~ ba
zion 10 free speech, slall.S .,r,ent
&c satisfied that the 1eIa 1oE onan
,,Id Eenn the other chanheis oi ~,
should hSap dp,.,7,it their monopoliZatlon
%.!U ono organization. To thls en-
py ,trodneed ot his bill with the anu
rnonopolv clauses.
Gould Break Up Monopoly
When it was suggested M na ca tt,
x,,r;+ar that the barring Oh raulo :.
lions from the air IN the 1,;cbt
onoly was found to exist lhIs1I,c
mohoPolS Communication monopoly
10 co bIes the Senator salu liia.
tpl tt ra5io interests could soon feIneuS
~ git,,ation by breaking up lIiei.
"no,o,v He also pointed out ina.
if there was now a WoIlU'oiy h1r
ND he disorganiZed or Spnt uP ~ ~
-. directors. without a"aillhH
nnactment of legislation or me 49,, Soo
of the courts. In other "oIuS'
seems to think the raolo 6ofand
have ample opportunity 10 uee
.iso,o.o1vas disorganizing if neces-
earv +o avoid the possibility Oh iin'
,nr, +beir stations ordered from eiie
is. &c ard surrendering transocealiAU
,,,,,unicationS to the caples'
o,ber ANALYSTS claim that tne
Dodin Corporation would not De dp'
declare it's organization or prdC
tices illegal, especially WIeh .n,9 ul
T9aderal Trade COMMISSION 10 -.
now taking testimony on lne aso- go
tion. nor break UP us p"'4''
citation voluntarily: ~, oloucae of
.bn bilI the critics say that assui,i
t'o mat after a hearing on ths SUI
+ae. tho commission found the INdulc
;tornorotion in their belief Sullty VI
1tro1Iino radio communication
from the United States TO Iorelgm
stations. and in fact, II IS tne y uIny
organization now in tnal he!u' 1ii|y
would undoubtedly order an -
station licenses Cancelled anu le
80 80 ics,,a new ones, thus forcing
+ha corpOration to appear. inns 20
rrovided for through the Coul "
tnnea1e of the District of Columpla'
1,,t as the appeal might not pe ue-
n;dod for a wear or two the corpora
tinn,s stations would remain closeo
S1,t;nc the period, and It's trah!c
would be lost to the cables or posoi,
llv foreign interests, when WeIT -
control here before the Woilu "A
and IT'S business literally rulheu'
Regulation BY Commissioners.
r,ba only other radical difference
from the previous radio bllls Is liie
removal of authority TO reGuldte aul0 :
from the hands of the Secretary oi
Commerce, giving 1t to three Spetia, "a
commissioners to be appointed py tHe
President for terms of 5 to I years
vim annual salaries of $4,000 each'
certain sections of the bill grant
considerable power to the proposed
National Radio Commission.
From the information disclosed by
an annIicant for a license "the Com
mission will determine II the appll-
cant. or any corporation or ASSOCIATION
affliated, through stock control or
otberDise is engaged directly or IN
directly in a violation or in an at
temnt to violate the ANTITRUST laws
or of the Federal Trade Commission
Act" If determined as so engaged
the Commission would serve notice
upon the applicant, giving him op'
po,tunitv for a public hearing after
which it would announce its determi-
nation, refusing the license If viola
tton of antitrust laws is found.
The Commission also is given Jurts'
dictiOn concurrent with that or the
Federal Trade Commission and the
Interstate Commerce Commission un
der the provisions of the antitrust
laws as relate to the transmission OF
radio communications and the manu-
facture and sale of radio apparatus
and radio patents.
The nrnnnSed LEGISLATION is said to