Evening star., 1934-05-27
Commission Due
FOR SCRAP.HEAP
Radio Body will End 7 Tur-
buIent Years II NewLaW
Is Passed. -.
BY SOL TAIsHOFF.

Is Passed. &
By SOL TAIsHOFF.
A FTER Q reign Of seven turbu.
~ lent years aS the supreme
"a monarch over an art and In
u dustry that has developed
with almost reckless abandon.
the Federal Radio Commission soon
win be CONSIGNED to the scrap heap
Of defunct Government agencies. Its
functions Will be turned over to q
new. bigger and more important
agency-the Federal Communications
Commission-which win have regu-
latory control Of telephones. telesraphs
and cables, along with radio.
Feel Agency InefRicient.
The Radio Commission viii wind
up It's tenure In anything but q blaze
Of glory. II pending legislation to
create the new communications body
completes the legislative gantlet at
the current session Of Congress. Il
has been among the most criticized
OF all Federal agencies. and 1t Is no
secret that many legislators are fos-
tering the new commission because
they feel that the existing agency has
been inefficient. Senator Dill Of
Washington. radio leader In Congress,
repeatedly has taken the commission
to task for alleged incompetency.
In justice to the expiring commits
sion. It should be explained that 1t
Is not entirely to blame for all Of
the mistakes 1t allegedly has made.
Radio almost from the beginning has
been q political foot ball, and the
demands made upon individual COM
missioners for political favors by
members Of Congress and others in
nuential In governmental affairs have
been great. That has been because
radio wave lengths are limited, with
the demand far exceeding the sup
ply.
Irked by Editorials.
But In its waning days the Radio
Commission has displayed Q surpris-
ing degree Of unrest-or perhaps IL
is merely nervousness. Two Of its
most recent actions, both directed at
important newspapers which have
criticized the commission editorially,
have provoked considerable Discus
sion. That q governmental agency
can be 50 :thin-skinned" as to pro-
test criticism In 50 formal q manner
Is regarded as little short Of amazing.
One Of its acticcs was the adopting
Of q formal resolution calling upon
the publisher Of the New York Her
ald-Tribune to produce evidence to
support its editorial contention that
radio Is controlled by the admins
tration.
It's second action involving newspaper
was that Of informing Station wGN,
Chicago, owned by the Chicago Tribune,
which has criticized the commission
editorially for allegedly playing pol
itics." that a complaint had been
made against the use of profanity"
in one Of its broadcasts. The COM
mission has thrown stations on the
air In the past upon proof that OBJ
scene. profane and indecent Ian.
guage had been used.
Speaker Was Beck.
In the Chicago Tribune case It
developed that the speaker during
the particular program In which It
was charged profanity had been
broadcast was Representative Beck.
Pennsylvania Republican. True, he
criticized the new dear' in his ad-
dress. with particular emphasis on
the N. r. A.. but his prepared ad-
dress failed to reveal use Of any Ian
guage that reasonably would be con-
strued as profanity.
The commission, In its letter to
the station. said the complaint was
made by an individual In Chicago.
and that 1t was following the usual
procedure In asking for an explana-
ton. In some quarters 1t was felt
that the action was taken As . "re-
taliatory measure" because Of the
singing criticisms Of the commis-
sion In recent articles written for
the Chicago Tribune by It's Washing
ton correspondent, Arthur Sears Hem
ming.
It was the resolution involving the
New York Herald-Tribune, however.
that caused the greatest stir. The
resolution pointed out that that news
paper on May IL published an edito-
rial In which 1t stated: "The radio,
controlled W the. administration
through its licensing power. was
made the spokesman Of the new
deal and largely restricted to Gov
ernment propaganda" 49,
Since the radio law specifically pro-
hihits any censorship by the commits
sion, the commissions resolution
called upon Ogden Mills Reid. pub
Usher, ''to furnish the commission
any facts or material, including the
names Of parties furnishing the same,
which would support, or tend to sup
port, the statements made In the edi-
torial column Of said newspaper"