Evening star., 1943-09-01
Inquiry Is Told Fec
Asked Deferments of
Service Trained Men

Counsel for the special House
committee investigating the Federal
Communications Commission placed
in the record yesterday afternoon
figures to bear out their contention
that 179 of the employees for whom
the commission sought draft defer
ments were men who had gained
their radio experience in the various
armed Ser%iceS.
Questioned by Committee Attor-
hey Fred r. Walker. Ray Osborne
committee investigator. said that
out of 3S1 employees the commission
asked draft boards to defer, 33 had
obtained their knowledge of radio
in the Army, 81 in the Navy, 5 in
the Coast Guard, in the marines
and SO in the maritime service.
Before recessing the hearings to
an indefinite date, the committee
staff also singled out 40 or more
specific cases in which they ques-
toned the wisdom of the commits
sion's action in asking for occupa-
tional deferments.
Ute Early Requests.
They sought to show that in 81
cases deferments we're recommended
by the commission within 10 DAYS
after employees started to work, and
in So cases within 80 days In most
of the specific cases cited, committee
counsel sought to show the men
either did not have sufficient prior
experience in radio technique. or
that they were not with the commits
sion long enough to be irreplaceable
Near the colse of the day Mr..
Walker questioned Mr.. Osborne on
the case of 34-year-old employe.
who, it was testified. was in the
Naval Reserve when the FEC en-
ployed him in October. 1910. Mr..
Osborne said the files showed FEC
wrote to the Bureau of Navigation
of the Navy two months after his
employment, asking that he be re-
leased from the Naval Reserve, or
that his call to duty be postponed.
The witness said another similar
letter was written to the Navy by
the FEC in February, 1941. officials
of the commission said this man
is still with the commission, and is
i'll charge Of one of its radio moni-
tor station in this country.
Some Serve Overseas.
Throughout the hearings commits
sion officials have insisted that its
monitor stations and its radio tech
nlcians are doing important war
work, and that some of the men
deferred are serving overseas both
in the engineering and the foreign
broadcast intelligence branches.
Officials of the commission said
at a press conference that one of
the men mentioned at yesterday S
hearing had played a part last
winter in determining by radio the
location of a cargo plane that had
been grounded in Labrador.
Mr.. Walker also placed in the
record the case history of a former
FEC employe, who, according to
commission officials, has joined the
merchant marine.
The data presented by Mr..
Walker showed the man had re-
ceived his radio experience from
three years of service in the Army
before seeking FEC employment.
Mr.. Walker brought out that the
files showed the FEC in June, 1912,
asked for the mans deferment. The
committee had excerpts read from
a letter the draft board wrote to
FEC, in which the man was quoted
as having said he had endured
three years OF the Army and am
incompatible with its philosophy
and way of life"
Page Explanation.
There also was in the case his
tory flve-page letter the man
wrote to officials of the commission
in explanation of the remarks at
tributed to him by the draft board.
When committee counsel read brief
excerpts from the letter, officials of
the commisson arose to ask that the
entire letter be put in the record.