Evening star., 1927-10-02
BY COL. w. JEFFERSON DAVIS.
Federal Radio Commission Observer a
Geneva Radio Congress.

A 7 the Washington radio confer
~ ence beginning next Tuesday
"A the United States will for the
4 u first time be in position OF
creative leadership in building
q new structure of international law
America has always been on the re.
ceiving end of common. statutory and
international law. 1t has accepted the
patterns which have come from the
codes Of Justinian, through the Eng
lish common law, and the pronounce
ments of international law, as first
evolved by Grotius.
Now, as the metes and bounds Of
the air are being charted and wave
lengths policed and regimented. the
United States will do some broadcast
ing on it's own account.
Necessity Is Motive.
Economic necessity is the underly-
tng basic motive actuating the call by
Washington to the nations of the
world to radio conference this year.
Primarily. the scope of the conference
will be the revision of the 1912 Lon
don convention and the extension of
international regulation to other serv.
fees as well as marine.
Representatives of some SO foreign
countries will be in attendance. The
American delegation will include Sec.
retary Herbert Hoover, Admiral w.
II. G. Bullard. chairman of the Fed
eral Radio Commission; Wallace H.
White, Representative from Maine
and author of the Federal radio con-
troll act of 1927; Maj. Gen. G. Nick
Saltzman, chief signal officer of the
Army, and Judge Stephen Davis, for.
mer solicitor of the Department of
Commerce and now a corporation
lawyer in New York.
The American Bar Association,
which sponsored the radio control
law, will also be represented. In
fact, it may be said that the Ameri.
can delegation will shortly turn its
big guns Of the radio world on the
problem of radio communications.
While the American radio experts
have been sitting at their desks pre-
pairing for the Washington confer
ence, the International Radio Con-
gress has been in session at Geneva.
and the foreign delegations will in
clude many distinguished diplomats
who were at Geneva this Summer.
Radio Is Big Business.
Radio has become big business"
BOT only in America, but in other
countries. 1t also has raised inter-
national problems and issues demand.
ing solution. Requirements for a
worldwide, uniform legal code gov.
erning the future commercial develop
ment of radio, and for new legal def
nitions and agreements which will
clear international communications of
perplexity and confusion, have made
~
tive.
Decent behavior and responsibility
for international properties will be
one OF the important considerations
of the conference. Russia has been
accused of tossing Soviet propaganda
into her neighbors' backyards. What
principle of law will govern the right
of any nation to close the air to sub
versive materials? Taking the prob
lem in i.s less fragrant aspects, just
how far may any nation go in estab-
fishing censorship at its air boun.
daries, and just how far could such
censorship be enforced?
Only in one sense can radio broad
casting in Europe today be said to
be controlled The countries have
accepted this new medium of commu-
nication as an indication of interna.
tional fellowship, and while the vari-
Gus governments have made no at.
tempt at government control of wave
lengths, all possible control is eXer-
cised and a strict censorship is main.
tained to avoid the broadcasting of
material by one country which would
give offense to other countries.
Harmony Is Sought.
The importance of broadca sting in
furthering good will between the ma
tions is so obvious that every effort
will be made at Washington to effect
harmonious agreements as soon as
possible.
There are some exceptions to this
prevalent spirit of cooperation, how
ever, and occasionally one nation
throwse a monkey wrench" into the
troadcasting machinery. For exam
ple, during the general strike in Eng.
land, the only means of dIsseminat-
ing information which existed be-
tween the government and the pubic
was the broadcasting station. The
most important of these was Deven-
Try, transmitting on 1900 meters. 1t
was found, however, that the trans
missions during the time of the strike
were subject to insurmountable inter-
ference from another station. which
afterward showed itself to be Mos.
cow.
Whether the Russians were inter
fering deliberately or not is beside
the point. The fact remains that one
country can entirely spoil the trans
missions from one or more stations
in a foreign country in Europe if it
desires to do so.
Last year news items from Bu-
charest indicated that the Russian
radio broadcasting station at MOSCOW
was broadcasting criticisms of the
Rumanian government and was ap-
pealing to its Rums nian audience to
start a revolution. The war minister
of Rumania instructed one of the mill.
tary radio stations 10 set up coun-
ter 'buzzing" whenever the Soviet
station began TO broadcast.
Deliberately Interfered.
In the case of the Deventry incident
tt was not known whether the inter
ference from Moscow was interna-
tionaI or not. The Bucharest example
presents quite the different situation
of one government deliberately in
truding itself through the medium of
radio into the internal workings of
another country to the latters detri-
n.ent. The necessity for the establish
rnent of international rules and regula-
tions is therefore very evident.
The development of radio in its early
stages from ship to shore added new
means of communication, resulting in
the saving Of life at sea. The wire
less. S o 8 call made vivid impres.
sion upon the imagination, and the
world was quick to realize what it
meant in terms of human life. The
radio apparatus became an essential
part of every ships necessary equip.
ment.
Since the London convention OF 1912,
which followed shortly after radio was
first brought into use for practical
communication over water, and in fact.
within the last six years, the art OF
broadcasting came into use. Broad
casting is but one form Of radio tele-