Page Two Continued
I am willing to do everything in my power to induce some of those States which were "backward in coming forward" with the erection of stations and the establishment of this greater-station power, to get what may be due them.
You might as well say that there are a certain number of telephones and telegraph facilities in this country and therefore you must divide the telephone and telegraph into five equal parts and divide them equally among five different zones, disregarding, all of the peculiar conditions of industry, commerce, and so forth, that might obtain in the various five zones.
That is an absurd situation, but it is quite analogous to what this Davis amendment aims at. We might take all of the automobiles and all of the auto facilities and divide them into five equal parts and then say that those parts should be distributed equally among the various zones.
An important test as to what station power and as to the number of stations that should exist in a zone is not the actual population of the zone, but the radio population. I have figured the receiving sets in Zone , which is New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Delaware, District of Columbia, and New England, with the receiving sets of Zone 3, the Southern Zone. Receiving sets are a good indication of radio population. Of the 544 total stations, Zone 1 has 95 and Zone 3 has 88. Most of the complaining has come from Zone 3, yet on the basis of radio population New York would seem entitled to its 95 stations, with its radio sets of 1,440,100, in comparison to the 88 stations of Zone 3, with its radio sets of 1,037,950.
Although the actual population of Zone 3 is greater than Zone 1, the actual volume of radio business done in Zone 1 was $ 26,209,00, while the annual volume of radio business done in Zone 3 was $6,665,000. By radio business is meant the sale of radio stocks, including receiving tubes, rectifying tubes, dry batteries, storage batteries, sets, and so forth. These figures were compiled be the electrical equipment division, Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce, at Washington, with the co-operation and assistance of the radio division, National Electrical Manufacturers' Association. They took the stock in the hands of radio dealers January 1, 1928, and compared it with the stock in hands of radio dealers as of October 1, 1927.
Thus, Zone 3 sells less than 25 per cent of the radio stocks sold in Zone 1. That gives little cause for great complaint, if Zone 1 has more stations and more station power than Zone 3, it needs more because it has a larger radio population.
Take me directly to the Pro argument from the Congressional Digest
For other articles related to this topic please go back to the FRC Documents Subdirectory by clicking on the button below.
Comments
or questions? e-mail messere
This page is maintained by Fritz Messere, Associate Professor @ SUNY Oswego