Evening star., 1934-07-22
.RAD|O-W|RE BODY
.READYTOFUNCT|ON
New Commission Sets Up
Three Divisions to Handle
Work.
BY MARTIN CODEL.

@hREE pFACblCauN autOHonOuS
divisions. linked only by the
fact that Chairman f. o.
Il Sykes is a member OF each.
will constitute the working
set-up OF the New Federal Communi-
cations Commission The divisions
will be ID broadcasting. t2) telegraph
and 80 telephone. Two Democrats.
one being Judge Sykes, and a Re-
publican will comprise each division.
As chairman OF the full commission.
Judge Sykes has declined the chair
manship Of any of the divisions whose
decisions on matters falling within
their purview will be final subject
only to appeals to the Federal courts,
unless the full commission first agrees
to review a particular case. Major
matters of policy. including allocations
Of radio wave lengths to the various
classes of service, will be decided by
the full commission.
These were the first steps taken by
the commission at it's organization
meeting. Assigned with Judge Sykes
TO the broadcasting division were
Hampson Gary. Democrat. as chair
man, and Col. Thad H. Brown. Re
publican, vice chairman. Mr.. Gary.
Texan, is holder OF the one-year term.
Col. Brown, a holdover from the old
Radio Commission, has the Six-year
term
DIR. Stewart Brain TruSter."
On the Telegraph Division with
Judge Sykes are DR.. Irwin Stewart.
Democrat, chairman, and George
Henry Payne, Republican, vice chair
man. DR.. Stewart, holder of the three
year term. is the former State De-
partment expert on communications
whose academic background has al
ready earned him the appellation OF
brain truster" of the new commission.
MIR Payne, who has the two-year
term. is a former New York author
and newspaper man whose selection
was a personal choice OF President
Roosevelt's, a long time friend.
On the Telegraph Division with
Judge Sykes are Paul A. Walker,
Democrat, chairman, and Norman S.
Case, Republican. vice chairman Mr..
Walker is former head Of the Okla
homa Corporation Commission and
holds the fve-year term. Mr.. Case,
the former Governor of Rhode Island,
is another personal friend of the
Presidents who was appointed for the
four-year term.
It may take a few weeks before the
non-civil service personnel of the
commission is chosen. largely upon
~ hn naronNrafiP
party. Thus far the commission has
named Herbert L. .Pettey, former
Radio Commission secretary, as its
secretary, and Paul D. P. Spearman,
one-time assistant general counsel OF
the Radio Commission, as its chief
counsel. The formal appointment
shortly of DR.. c. B. Jolliffe as chief
engineer is regarded as certainty
DR.. Jolliffe is functioning in that
capacity in the meantime by virtue of
having been chief engineer of the
Radio Commission.
Division chiefs, who will virtually
function as secretaries of the several
divisions. remain to be chosen. as do
three assistant chief counseS and
three assistant chief engineers. All
these posts pay $500 a year, A big
field of candidates seeks the posts.
To the Broadcasting Division will
fall the Job of regulating the $75,o0o,-
900 American broadcasting industry,
which includes all program stations
on the intermediate and short waves
experimental television stations and
experimental ultra-short-wave stations.
This division will take up practically
where the Radio Commission left OF,
and there is little prospect Of any
radical changes in the immediate fu-
ture. if at all.
Must Regulate Wire Systems.
To the Telegraph Division falls the
task of regulating not only the $780,
G00,00O wire and cable systems OF the
United States, but such radiotelegraph
services as ship, shore, transatlantic,
aviation, amateur, press and certain
other classes of wireless service, in
cluding experimental. About 85 per
cent of the wire telegraphS operate
in interstate commerce and all OF the
wireless services.
The Telephone Division will under
take for the first time the regulation
of the interstate and international
aspects of the $4,000 ,000000 wire
telephone systems of the United States,
well over half of which is represented
in the A. T. & T. Co. and the re-
mainder in the thousands of indie
pendent telephone companies scattered
throughout the country. In addition,
its Jurisdiction will include the domes-
tic, ship and transatlantic radio
telephones and the various expert
mental point-to-point, voice-by-radio
services Over the wire services its
Jurisdiction will be quite limited, in
view of the fact that more than 50
per cent of all phone calls are in
intrastate commerce and more than
e5 per cent of all revenues.
That there will be some overlapping
Of Jurisdiction, Is already evident from
the way the radio spectrum had to be
split according to services. There will
be even more as radio widens its serv-
ice. particularly on the ultra-short
waves. The commission will determine
for itself what division shall then