| Show 1 Round Merry By DREW DREV PEARSON a and d ROBERT S. S ALLEN ALIEN President Roosevelt once remarked What this administration needs is about f fifteen teen good decapitations Accordingly The Washington Round Merry-Go-Round now nominates for either decapitation or reorganization the federal communications com corn commission WASHINGTON WASHINGTON Early Early in the new deal President Roosevelt conceived the idea of putting putting putting put put- ting all the communications systems of the country under the control of one bureau This was not a bad idea Hitherto the telegraph telegraph telegraph tele tele- graph an and telephone companies had been regulated regulated regulated reg reg- by the interstate commerce commission commission commission commis commis- sion which regarded them as step-children step while the rapidly expanding radio industry was regulated by a lethargic radio commission created by Secretary of Commerce Hoover So to regulate radio telegraph and telephone there was created the federal communications commission Conceived of good intentions spawned in haste and fed on incompetency this agency has turned into a polyglot monstrosity monstrosity monstrosity mon mon- neither man man fowl nor beast With the possible exception of the bituminous bituminous bituminous coal commission it is the most inefficient and ineffectual institution in Washington Chief reason F FCC C C has become such a hybrid hybrid hybrid hy hy- hy- hy brid is that into its seven commissionerships went men of every political hue every business business business busi busi- ness background with no regard for cohesion efficiency or orN or knowledge of communications Seven men holding equal power on any commission have a hard time agreeing but when into the hopper are dumped an gov ex of Rhode Island a politician from Mississippi Mississippi Mississippi Mis Mis- a retired naval officer an tax ex-tax commissioner commissioner com corn missioner of New York a college professor from Oklahoma and a Hoover campaign manager manager man man- ager in Ohio the resultant chaos is understand understand-j able New Chairman To Frank R. R in 1937 fell the lot lotof lotof lotof of straightening out the kinks kink in the tangled skein of federal communications It was a tough job and he was picked for it because he had done somewhat the same job for the federal federal fed fed- eral power commission Appointed to that body by Herbert Hoover in 1930 when the federal power commission was th the subject of a congressional investigation tion revitalized it made it one of the most effective in Washington Hoover had rewarded because although a Democrat he had helped defeat Al Smith in North Carolina in 1928 But turned out to be more of a new dealer than a and Roosevelt continued the policy of putting him in responsible places The federal communications commission however has been a tough nut for him to crack He has swept out the commissions commission's tape red-tape- laden law department and is now in the process of housecleaning the examining department He has other plans in prospect But even if he succeeds in ousting all incompetent incompetent in incompetent in- in competent subordinates still is confronted confronted confronted con con- fronted with the chaos-breeding chaos board of seven members And until there is a wholesale decapitation decapitation decapitation decap decap- the F FCC C C will continue to be one of the festering sores of the new deal Commander Craven Chief obstacles to any internal deodorizing are Commissioners George Henry Payne and Tunis Augustus MacDonough Craven These two make an intriguing pair In fact they carry carryon on more intrigue than all the rest of the commission T. T A. A M. M Craven is a year old former naval officer who made an excellent record as chief engineer of the F FCC C C and was elevated to the post of commissioner As engineer he had been a thorn in the side of Commissioner Payne and once gestured to thrash him It was this enmity which caused Cravens Craven's promotion to the commission He was considered a goodman goodman good goodman man to checkmate Payne And what particularly gripes those responsible responsible responsible sible for Cravens Craven's promotion is that he has now turned around and welcomed Payne to his bosom These two are the Amos n Andy of the F FCC C C. C Craven is encumbered with two vital handicaps han han- di the aps-the the brass hat ideas of his navy days and an inner antipathy to anything savoring of real regulation As a subordinate technician Craven was excellent but as a policy-making policy executive he is beyond his depth Ebullient Mr Payne George Henry Payne is a ch charming and impish impish imp ish little gentleman who never is happy unless he is causing trouble As such he has a definite definite nite value for rooters-out-of-evil rooters are rare in Washington But George Henry is not disposed to cure the evil he only likes to root Before the appointment of as chairman of the commission Payne was the F FCC's C Cs C's chief crusader But now instead of helping clean up the evils against which Payne once campaigned he has become the commissions commission's chief obstructionist Deadwood That however is no great recommendation tion when the character of the other commissioners commissioners commis commis- is examined They are pure deadwood Two of them are overs carry-overs from the Hoover administration First of these is Eugene Eugen 0 O. Sykes Mississippi Mississippi Mississippi sippi politician He is not worried about the dangers of monopoly or mismanagement or bad taste in the radio industry industry- Thaddeus Harold Brown was Hoovers Hoover's Ohio campaign manager in 1928 1923 Cherubic and likeable likeable likeable like like- able Browns Brown's ideas of radio regulation are not vigorous He is ponderous in thought noncommittal noncommittal noncommittal non non- committal in answer answer Conciliator i Chief conciliator of ungentlemanly strife within the commission is Norman Stanley Case for three terms Republican governor of Rhode Island His chief qualifications for the F FCC C C Care Care are p plenty penty enty of money and a strong distaste for work Next to 19 Paul Atlee Walker stands out from his colleagues as the man with the most pungent ideas on the ills of the communications communications industry Walker has been a weak and ineffectual member of the commission Copyright 1938 for The Telegram f M I |
