Evening star., 1927-03-08
RADIO Commission !
T0AcT.TOMORROW
Three Members Expected to
0rganize-BuIIard Due
Here in April.

The naming by President Coolidge
q Rear Admiral II. G. Bullard, re
Mod, as chairman of the newly Great
% Federal Radio Commission has
paved the way for the formal organi
xation Of that body. which Is expect
ed to get under way tomorrow.
Although Admiral Bullard is In
China and Is not expected to return
before April Is. three other members
or the commission will come to Wash
ington tomorrow and probably will
undertake to organize the commission.
Secretary of Commerce Hoover invited
the commissioners to get together in
washington, and it is his intention,
II the commissioners desire. to lend
clerical and other aid from his depart
ment to the commission.
Statement of Hoover.
Secretary Hoover like Senator Dill,
sees the whole subcurrent of the fight
over radio legislation these last two
years as having been designed to
prevent radio listeners from being
dominated by politics or selfish inter
ests in control of broadcasting. The
department has always stood for an
Independent, non-political commission,
chosen from different sections of the
country. whose decisions would be in
the public interest and from whose
decisions appeals might be taken to
the courts. said Secretary Hoover in
q statement just issued, At the same
time 1t Is believed the large admins
trative job of putting into effect the
commissions decisions should be left
to one of the existing administrative
departments, and its own radio divi.
sion seemed best equipped for the
task.
Secretary Hoover himself believes
the large discretionary or semi. judi
cial authority is safe in the hands of
the commission; that it will maintain
q full representation of local stations
distributed throughout the whole
country, in order that radio will be a
distributor of local as well as ma
tional talent. and that the commits.
sion will follow the policy that multi
plicity Of stations is the only guar
antee of freedom from control and
freedom Of expression.
mo Political Activities"
THE President" said Secretary
Hoover. has appointed five abso-
lutely Independent men, having no
political activities, representing the
different sections of the country, each
OF whom contributes essential, expert
skill and experience to the work of
the commission. I am confident that
this commission will act at once in
the interest of the listeners to ener.
getically clear up the chaos of howls
which arise through interferences of
stations and is the result of the long
delay In securing this legislation. AS
the decisions of who shall use wave
lengths must be based on public in
II he
radio stations which have developed
high skin and sense of service to their
listeners will be fully protected
The failure of the deficiency bill in
the Senate depriveS the commission of
funds with which to either pay it's
salaries or other expenses of the COM
mission. 1t has been suggested that
as the law provides that the Secretary
Of Commerce shall exercise the powers
OF the commission in it's absence,
the commission should, owing to this
lack of funds. merely assemble and
adjourn. AS this would defeat the pur-
pose we have all sought, i am inviting
the members Of the commission to as
eemble in Washington. and if the com
mission desires. the Department of
Commerce will cooperate to the best
OF it's ability in finding some way of
enabling 1t to function through the
loan Of clerical staff and otherwise.
1t Is a wise man who knows when
to throw away his worn-out "B" bat
teries. But there is considerable doubt
in the minds of many as to when a
battery ts worn out.
It often is felt that IL the batteries
are low and the usual number of sta
tions are not coming in, there is moth
Ing In particular to worry about, since
DIX merely Is being sacrificed in re-
turn for saving a little money on cur
rent. But that is not the whole story
Remember that when a battery is
pretty well run down it will distort
those signals which the set does get.
Such distortion Is not always so no.
tioeable to the radioist himself, since
1t comes on gradually.
To the outsider, accustomed to the
reception offered by set fully pow
cred. the output Of an underpowered
set indeed is sad. A good rule is that
no "B" battery should be kept in serv-
ice after It has given up two.thirds of
its power.
The weekly Eveready hour, with
Irwin Cobb, the humorist, as master
OF ceremonies, is one of the big fea.
lures scheduled tonight by WRC. The
program. II Is announced, will have a
distinctly Southern flavor, and Mr..
Cobb was chosen to be the particular
personality because of his far-famed
stories about the old and the new
South.
The musical portion of the program
will be varied. 1t will include several
negro spirituals and vocal and instru.
mental numbers Of the lightest, live.
lier music Virginia Rea. mezzo-so.
prano, and the Eveready Revelers
will be heard in the vocal numbers,