Dublin, Nov. 30.
The Defence Bill which includes the provision of torpedo-boats for coastal defence, passed its second reading, by 64 votes against 50, in} the Dail yesterday.
Mr. Eamon de Valera, Prime Minister, declared that torpedo-boats were necessary to preserve Eire's neutrality. It was the duty of the Government, as far as lay in its power, to see that Eire's territorial waters were not used by belligerent craft, either on the surface or. by submarines.
Eire, he added, could not afford to spend millions of pounds on equipment, but the Government realized that to the extent the country was able to protect its neutrality, to that extent would its neutrality be saved.
At the moment, Mr. de valera concluded, aircraft were patrolling the country's territorial waters, but surface craft were needed to supplement the air force—Reuter. tary circles of another. defensive structure on the Western perimeter, the "Fish-and-Chips Line." Careful investigation failed to reveal the location of any süch fortification and it is felt that the entire defence works are underground, the entrances carefully camouflaged to escape attention. Other usually reliable sources state that the "Fish-and-Chips" Line is not a defensive structure at all but a refuelling station for hungry Tommies in Great Western Road.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.