He had asked the Post Ofice to consider, the, construction of steel telegraph poles, but it was fonnd that there were dificaties in that connection, There wat, also, the question of the use of steel railway waggons in place of wooden one. The railway companies, he _announced, had agreed to' expend as speedily' as possible $8,500,000 on development and equipment, which as the condition on which) Winston Churchill, when he was Chancellor of the' Exchequer, hal remitted the passenger-duty.
Mr. Thomas informed the House that schemes for the construction of new roads, which would cost 3 total of £37,500,000_ and which would provide work for a large number of men for five or six years, would be speeded up. He added that the Government contribution would be paid out of the Road Fund.
Astangements, he stated, had been made for the immediate reconstruction of Waterloo Bridge, Sibae tet othe depended the which would involve an expenditure of.£11,000,000,, Other schemes" to be> submitted to the various railway companies were the electrification of th: Liverpool. Street services, tube tensions, the improvement of docks and harbours and an outer circle railway round London, for the con: venlesce of goods trafic to avoid the congestion can transporting it across London. The question railway waggons bel to private owners must also be dealt with and government assistance would be offered to the railways that connection, Making Scotland. Attractive gard to the schemes they had in hand, Furthermore, the natural resources of the country must be developed, including land drainage, and the fisheries Mr. Thomas said that he was giving serious consider jon to a proposal to make Sco! Jand more attractive, to enable out American cousins to see the thi of the Scot (laughter).
A committee of business would be estat schemes of companies, Mx, Thomas informed the House that, in the immediate future, he would seek power to guarantee for loan purposes.
Dealing with work in the Co-Jonies, Mr. Thomas said that many ichemies were neid up owing lack of funds and £1,006,000 every year would he set aside in the Bale get (0 be used exclusively for the development of the Colonies as a ional trade commissioners be sent immediately to the ions and Colonies, and the Exports Credits scheme would be extended. Surveys in the Colonies, he added, would be undertaken by means of aeroplanes, Finally, he remarked, the question of migration must be discussed on the spot, and immediately the House rese- he would visit Canada in that connection.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.