Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-01-27
board IS ACCUSED
BY R. c. 4. ATTORNEY
Claims Intention to Create
Monopoly in Wave Awards
to Universal.
BY the Associated Press.

BY the Associated Press.
The Radio Corporation of America
charged yesterday before the House
merchant marine committee that the
Federal Radio Commission had indi-
Gated an intention to create monopoly
by granting all 40 of the available short
wave channels to the Universal Wire
less Co. of Buffalo
Manton Davis, vice president and
general attorney of the Radio Corpora
ton, presented the organizations views
in testimony on bill to extend the life
of the commission for year.
He contended that the commission
was not only proposing to set up a COM
petitor to the Radio Corporation, but
to set up a monopoly in the domestic
field from which RCA is to be eX-
Guided"
Claims RCA Crippled.
"rheaction proposed" he declared,
will not only prevent RCA competing
in the domestic field, but will cripple
and strange RCA as competitor in
the international field"
He also said that in order to get
domestic business the corporation was
compelled to deal with its competitors,
Western Union and Postal Telegraph
companies.
At previous hearing o. H. Caldwell,
member of the Federal Radio Commits
sion, testified that the commission
awarded all the short wave frequencies
to the Universal company following
laboratory tests but that there was q
possibility of obtaining additional fire.
quencieS from Canada.
Davis declared that the commission
did not even inform the Radio Corpora
ton of the tests, even though it had
applied for frequencieS to serve 81 cities.
He added that the commissions aSser-
ton that the Radio Corporations appli-
cation had not been declined was no
answer in view of the award to the other
organization.
Propaganda Charged.
Attacks made in the, courts and be-
fore governmental agencies against the
Radio Corporation, in which the or
ganization was denounced as a radio
trust" patent pool" or monopoly"
Davis said were by propagandists
backed by body of men seeking to
use the inventions of others without
license
They denounce and they accuse in
order to build smoke screen behind
which to hide their wrongdoing,'' he
declared. ''They seek the. aid of the
Governemnt to help them in wrong
doing"
Because the Radio Corporation has
never attempted to exert political pres
sure to get licenses, channels or other
radio facilities Davis said, the radio
commissioners think that Congress has
Ill Will against the corporation land
they act accordingly" He added that
attacks had been made upon the COM
mission in the nature of threats to pre-
vent that body giving to RCA plain
Justice and the reasonable opportunity
to develop its services as the radio art
develops.
MY purpose has been to demon
strate," the witness continued, that
the assertion Of the propagandists to
the effect that the Federal Radio Com
mission has unduly favored RCA is un-
true and that in point of fact the con-
trary is true: that those assertions
were intended by the propagandists to
intimidate and to terrorize the Fed
eral Radio Commission and to pre-
vent, if possible, RCA receiving just and
reasonable recognition"