Evening star., 1934-05-20
TELEGRAPH RULES
WILL CHANGE SOON
New Federal Commission to
Regulate All Communica.
tions-Wire, Wireless.
BY MARTIN CODEL.

IL NAhAhA SOD1As
THROUGH the average telephone
and telegraph user and radio
listener may not discern its
effects for few years, If at
all, the Federal Governments
regulation of all forms Of communica-
tions-wire and wireless-shortly will
take on an eitrely new aspect.
Creation of a Federal communica-
tions commission within the next
month or so Is now practically as
sured unless an unforeseen but un-
likely obstacle intervenes. It was
more or less assured when President
Roosevelt placed it on his must" list
for the waning Congress. 1t was
clinched by the speedy passage of the
Dill bill by the Senate Tuesday.
House enactment of the companion
Rayburn bill. in view of the Presi-
dents wishes, is being taken for
granted also. After the two houses
of Congress have reconciled the Dill
and Rayburn bills, which vary only
in detail, the congressional mandate
goes to President Roosevelt. His
selection of the commissioners will
automatically set the new regulatory
machinery in motion.
The legislation, which looked for a
while to be hopelessly enmeshed in
the congressional tangle. will bring to
an end the seven-year-old Federal
Radio Commission. Its jurisdiction
over radio and the seldom-exercised
jurisdiction of the Interstate Com
merce Commission over the interstate
telephone and telegraph services will
automatically be taken over by the
new commission.
Jurisdiction to Be Limited.
Except for its complete control over
radio, which is regarded as interstate
in all respects, the new commissions s
jurisdiction will be limited. 1t is
claimed that 95 per cent or more of
the telephone service is intrastate,
and the rights of the State regulators
have been jealousy guarded. More
telegraph messages travel in interstate
commerce. but still the control must
be divided with the States. Yet it is
conceded that, once the new commits
sion gets going, its powers will
gradually be broadened.
In fact, according to the Dill BILL
1t is up to the commission itself to
recommend to the next Congress what
additional powers and functions it
should be given. The new legislation
is simply beginning. So far as radio
is concerned, it will carry the Radio
Commissions duties on as formerly
at least for the present-for the 1927
radio law is absorbed almost bodily
Except that the wire services do
not entirely relish the widening scope
Of Federal regulation, the creation of
new commission is generally well
coined 1t is anticipated that such
a commission. whether composed Of
five men, as proposed in the Dill bill
or seven men, as proposed in the
Rayburn bill, will attain the stature
and prestige of such an agency as
the Interstate Commerce Commission.
By many it is welcomed as desir-
able relief from the Radio Commits
sion and the tremendous political
pressure under which it has func-
toned and frequently been forced to
render decisions, direct pressure
mainly from individual members of
Congress.
Directors for Each Type.
The new commission will be divided
into component parts. with directors
designated to administer the several
types of wire and radio services sep
arately. The commissioners will be
paid $4,000 a year and. unlike the
radio commissioners, need not be ap-
pointed by regional zones. Each will
have a $4,000 assistant. The chief
engineer and general counsel will
each get $4,000. The secretary will
get 81 500. The experts and staff ap-
pointed by the commission must
otherwise qualify under the civil serv-
ice and be paid under the classifi-
cation act. These provisos are ac-
cording to the Dill bill, which may
conceivably be changed by the House.
Whether any OF the present mem
bers of the Radio Commission or even
its staff will win appointment to the
new board is problematical. 1t is
generally conceded that Chairman
sykes, a protoge of Senators Harrison
and Stephens of his home State Of
Mississippi. has the best chance. All
the others want the jobs, and all
have their hackers There is talk.
however, of a complete "cleanout" Of
the old regime, possibly sparing the
present officeholders only by way Of
subordinate jobs with the new COM
mission. But that is rumor, and no
one but President Roosevelt. who un-
doubtedly will heed certain leaders
like Senator Dill, knows who will get
the jobs.
Prall Not Eligible Now.
Certain it is that Representative
Prall, New York Democrat. appointed
and confirmed for the Radio Com
mission to succeed w. D. L. Starbuck,
cannot take Office on the new COM
mission even if President Roosevelt
wants to make a place for him, until
after January l. 1885. That is be-
cause of a law prohibiting a member
of Congress from assuming office on
a commission created during the term
of his office. Mr.. Prall so far has
elected to serve out his congressional
term rather than assume his Radio
Commission seat, and the commits
sion has been functioning since last
February with only four members.
The debate on the Dill bill Tuesday
was surprisingly short. Nearly all
of it was devoted to the Wagner
Hatfield amendment proposing re-
ALLEGATION of all broadcasting facili-
ties within 90 days 0ater changed
by Senator Wagner to six months) SO
that educational, religious and non
profit-making organizations should
have 25 per cent of such facilities.
This would have necessitated a COM
plete shake-up of the existing struc-
ture, and it was opposed by Senators
Dill and White, co-authors OF the
radio law and the best informed men
in Congress on radio. Bitterly op-
A. A~oo lao cforS NnanU