Evening star., 1927-02-06

A week ago passage of legislation
TO clear up the present chaotic radio
broadcasting situation appeared GER
tain. The White bill, providing for
control of radio by the Department
of Commerce. had been passed by the
House, and the Dill bill. putting con-
troll under a separate commission, had
been passed by the Senate. Conferees
were appointed from the two bodies
to iron out the differences between
the measures. After several meetings
the conferees made their report
which was promptly approved by the
House, and it was confidently expected
that the harmonized measure would
speedily become a law.
Now it appears, through objection
by Senator's when the conference re-
port was brought to the floor of the
Senate yesterday. that radio legisla-
ton has struck another temporary
snag. Less than month remains of
the present session of Congress and
radio legislation must be passed or the
more than six million listeners will be
forced to go through another Spring,
Summer and Fall of heterodyning
whistles and jumbled programs, while
piratinE Atations usurp their law-gov-
erned right TO the air, lacking the
guiding hand of Government author
ity to keep shem in place.
The objection which arose yesterday
from Senatof Howell Of Nebraska is
fundamental but practically means
little. Senatef Howell insisted that an
affirmation he included in the bill to
the effect that the United States owns
the ether. The issue has been con-
siderably broadened, in the abstract,
by the Nebraska Senator's contention.
But its meaning to the radio listeners
is more or less obscure.
Even now, with no parental control
Of the air by Government or any other
agency, the United States is well pro-
tected There has been no attempt
of broadcasting stations to drop below
the 200-meter mark or to go above the
600-meter deadline established in the
radio law of 1918. Chiefly, perhaps.
because radio receiving sets are built
to perform between these two limits.
But in any event a broadcasting sta
tion that went above or below these
limits would find few listeners.
Senator Howell's proviso is undoubt-
edly made to preclude legal claims to
vested rights in the ether, and legal
action to protect the right of stations
to specific wave lengths, even under
Government control. Against the claim
Of the Nebraska Senator, proponents
of the bill insist that it fully protects
the public interest as it stands. Sec
retary Hoover insists that no broad.
caster has vested right to a specific
wave length.
There are today 712 broadcasting
stations using the air whenever and
wherever they please, without posi-
bility of legal or governmental inter
ference as the law now stands.
Eighty-nine available full-time wave
lengths. spaced ten kilocycles apart,
await their consistent useful purposes.
Closer spacing is impracticable, for
radio sets are not constructed with
the hair-line division of stations that
will bring in signals crowded much
closer than ten kilocycles separation.
Unless Congress passes radio legisla-
ton at this session, objections as to
who shall own the air notwithstand-
ing, there is certain to be the same
chaos that Secretary Hoover predicted
last Summer and which has been fully
borne out by the present jumbled sit
uation. Meanwhile, anxious to get in
under the wire and beat the time when
Government control of the air will
again become a fact, broadcasters are
crowding to the limit to have
license applications acted on adding to
the ether chaos.
Primarily the radio listeners are not
interested in whether the Government
owns or does not own the air. Broad
casting programs, generally, are salts
factory, and, under the present bill, su-
pervision over them would become the
duty of the new radio commission,
with public convenience and necessity
the governing factor as to the life of
broadcasters. The radio bill will be
brought up in the Senate again
by Senator Dill. 1t is hoped that even
If Senator Howell insists on his pro
viso, 1t will quickly become law.
-N~0@-A-
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