Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-05-03
'SALES Of WAVES
BARS 3 STATIONS
Radio Body Refuses Licenses
to Plants Sold Without
Its 0. K.
BY MARTIN CODEL.

/ Radio wave lengths cannot be sold,
/ nor may the use of them be transferred
/ to other parties without authorization.
| This is emphasized by the refusal of
| the Federal Radio Commission to renew
the broadcasting licenses Of two sub
urban Los Angeles stations and one In
Kansas City which were recently trans
ferred to new owners without first Sc
curing the permission of the Federal
licensing authorities. Such assignments
under the law may not be made with
out the written consent OF the COM
mission.
An example is being made Of these
stations. All of them are now OF the
air and all of them are protesting so
loudly and so vigorously that another
test of the Federal control boards au-
thority may be in prospect. The two
in California are KGFH, Glendale, and
station, which went through two sue
cessive transfers without the required
permission, is WHB.
The denial of license renewals to these
stations as of April / was one of the
boldest steps yet taken by the commits
sion and has already called down GER
tain political criticism upon the radio
hoa-d. Nevertheless, the commission Is
Insisting that it is the only body author
ICED to determine whether station is
operating under the laws standard OF
"public interest, convenience or neces-
sity." Often the character of the own
ers of stations establishes whether the
standard is being met, it maintains.
Had Advertising Scheme.
In the case of the California sta
tionS, both of which were transferred
to one man, the new owner has radio
advertising scheme which Is being
severely criticized in formal representa-
lions to the commission, according to
Commissioner H. A. LaFount.
All of the penalized stations will
probably obtain hearings soon, but they
must remain off the air In the mean
time.
The sale Of wave lengths, whose
ownership Is vested in the people OF the
United States, with the Federal Radio
Commission as trustee, Is what Senator
Dill of Washington is protesting against
by introducing his resolution for Sen
ate inquiry into the proposed sale OF
the ship and tranSoceanic communlca-
lions services of the Radio Corporation
of America to the International Tele-
phone & Telegraph Co. Such sale, he
maintains, might actually mean trans
fer of physical assets, but the use OF
such property is almost entirely predi-
Gated upon a franchise obtained from
the Government.
Vested Rights at Issue.
Vested rights is an issue that has
not yet been settled by the courts. but
the course of the congressional debates
on radio indicates rather clearly that
Congress had no intention Of granting
away any channels of the ether for all
time.
The objection of Senator Dill to the
proposed acquisition of r. c. A. by the
l. T. & T. will doubtless be met with
the reply that the transfer could not be
made without the consent Of Congress
and the commission. Moreover, the ex-
igencies of the international commune
cations situation may demand that a
merger of American transoceanic cable
and radio interests be authorized.
Senator Dill's bill will probably not
be pressed in view Of the decision Of the
Senate committee on interstate COM
merce on Thursday to hold hearings on
the bill introduced by Senator Couzens
of Michigan, chairman, to establish
commission to regulate all forms OF
communication, including radio, tele-
phone, telegraph and cables. Hearings
will probably start some time next week.
These hearings almost invariably result
in an investigation into the so-called
Radio Trust" with Senator Dill aSSum-
ing the leading inquisitorial role.
The Senate yesterday confirmed the
two new members of the Federal Radio
Commission, Gen. Charles NICK. SaltZ-
man Of Iowa and William D. L. Star
buck of New York and Connecticut.
The commission will begin to function
with a full membership next week for
the first time in three months.
(Copyright, 1929, by North American News
paper Alliance)