Evening star., 1944-04-16
A Fifth Freedom
Awaits Action
Bu John II. Cline.

The Senate Interstate Commerce
Committee, headed by Senator Wheeler
of Montana, is now preparing for an
investigation of a freedom, or the lack
thereof, which is not included among
the four freedoms of the Atlantic Char
ter. but which is hardly less important
to the future of the people of the United
States and mankind in general. This Is
what has come to be known as the free
dom of communications" with respect
to which Chairman James L. Fly of the
Federal Communications Commission
has said: No single subject sis more i'm
portant to the future security of the
world and to the standing of this coun-
try in the world of tomorrow"
The subject is not without its ticklish
diplomatic aspects, for the British were
quick to see the Importance Of interna-
tional communications and, using their
possession of strategic communication
points on all of the continents and on
the islands of the seven seas, they had
built up the only worldwide system in
existence at the beginning of the war.
This British system, based on 10000
miles of cable lines, was vital to the eco
nomic life of the empire and constituted
virtual monopoly upon which the ma
tionals of other countries were largely
dependent for quick communication
with distant points These foreign
users, however, including Americans
have had to pay from double to five
times the rate charged British subjects
for comparable service. Nor has this
been the only form Of discrimination.
Some American businessmen have COM
planned that their commercial messages,
clearing of necessity through British
control points, have met with delays
which redounded to the benefit of their
British competitors, and in some in
stances it has even been charged that
the British, with ready access to these
messages, have practiced form OF COM
mercial espionage for the benefit of
their own citizens.
Another side of this matter, which
assuredly is not less important, has to
do with the free flow of news to all
corners of the world. There is no more
prolific breeder of international mis-
understandings and wars than the sup
preston of real information and the
circulation of misinformation-tech-
niques which thrive in an atmosphere
of prohibitive rates and monopolistic
control of the only mediums of commu-
nication. Even today, in the midst of war,
American news correspondents face a
rate discrimination which, in the filing
of dispatches from Australia, has re-
suited in the acceptance of a subsidy
from the Australian governments sub
sidy which carries potential If not an
immediate threat to the integrity of the
news. 1t was this sort of thing that
Kent Cooper, executive director of the
Associated Press, had in mind when, in
recent speech at Baltimore, he said:
Il believe one way to prevent another
war is to guarantee in the peace treaty
that there shall be unimpeded inter-
change of news all over the world and
equal access to news all over the world
by all peoples"
The war and the remarkable work of
the Signal Corps of the United States
Army have brought developments in the
radio telegraph and the radio telephone
which loom as serious challenge to,
British domination of communications,
based on the Empires cable networks.
This rise of American communications
through use Of the air waves remains
subject, however, to at least two serious
restraints. One is that the American
developed systems, in many instances,
are dependent on terminals established
on British territory under arrangements
which expire at the end of the war. The
other is that, in exchange for these con-
cessions the British insisted on the es-
tablishment of rate Determinations IA
vorable to their established cable sys-
TENS
The net result of all this Is that
Britain continues. in control of the
cable systems, which continue to be
essential under certain conditions,
while control of the international air
waves, for the duration of the war at
least has passed in large measure to
the United States. Obviously, there is
imperative need of an international
agreement which will bring some order
into this communications setup, set
up which could produce chaotic condi-
tlons when hostilities end, and the pri-
mary objective of Senator Wheeler's
committee is to take at least the pre-
hminary steps toward establishing a
foundation in this country for the
working out of such an agreement.
Under the leadership of Chairman
Fly, the FEC has acted enerpeticallv
and wisely in pointing the way to a
program calculated to protect the
legitimate interests of this country in
this vital field. There are a dozen
American radio and cable companies
competing with each other and with
foreign systems. This has enabled the
1orelgn systems, most of which are
monopolles, to play one American con-
Germ against another to the disadvan-
tage of both and to the detriment of
the American people. The remedy, in
the opinion of Mr.. Fly and his asso-
clateS, lies in general consolidation of
the American companies providing
overseas radio and cable service. and
this was urged upon Congress as long
ago as 1885.
Three years ago Mr.. Fly told Congress
that there were compelling reasons, both
domestic and internat tional, for a uni
hcation Of the American companies