The second reading of the Depressed Areas Bill was passed in the House of Commons last night by 273 votes to §0 after a debate during Jwhich the gravity of the situation fin these areas was fully realized and general anxiety was revealed for immediate action.
The Labour opposition to the Jgovernment proposals was based mainly on the ground that "the situation wee one that called for appreciation of state policy and not for work of individual commissioners.
Conservative speakers urged that lan carly statement of the schemes feontemplatied by the special commissioners should be given.
'A fund is to be set up for the use fof the commissioners. In the first place, £200,000 would be paid Into it. The government believed this would give sufficient financial fes sistance with which to inaugurate experiments on a considerable scale. but they were unable to estimate what their full requirements were Ukely to be. That depended so largely on the success of their own work—Wireless through Reuter.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.