OVERCROWDED SYDNEY.

Taranaki Daily News, 24 July 1920, Page 9

OVERCROWDED SYDNEY.

WHAT 75,000 PEOPLE PUT UP WITH.

Cm sees paragraphs occasionally in JSew Zealand newspapers which suggest that the citizens of some of the big Aew Zealand, towns find grievous fault with their municipal government (say a Sydney correspondent of the Star). If they want to realise how well oft they are they should live irt Sydnev for three months. If life in the'gay"harbour city has its attractions, its frightful overcrowded condition is attended by grave disadvantages. -The population was pushing ahead of public services in 111 U. since then there lias, been no money for .even urgent public works, but the population has gone on increasing. The lack of housing is notorious, and need not be enlarged upon. There is a wild stampede when even the meanest shack becomes .vacant. The rentals of good houses range from 35s per week upwards, and one gives anything up to £5 |'£.or the key"—which is practically a bribe to the agent, or some interested party. The cil'y rceka with questionable commissions of that character. The city is being ringed in with great blocks of self-contained flats. An average flat-dining-room, two bedrooms, 'kitchen, and bathroom, unfurnished, two or three stories up—cannot be had for less than £2 10s per week, plus gas and electric power, and they range up to £4 4s. If the flat is furnished, the rental is higher by £1 or 30s.

An elaborate system of underground railways was being constructed, but the work ceased in IMS, owing to lack of money. Result: the transport facilities arfc terribly congested. The trams, trains, and ferries perform marvels — those who see the dense masses of people they shift declare that they are as efficient as any in the world—yet travel in the "rush" hours is a horror. The city is surrounded with holiday resorts, yet thousands stay in the city month after month rather than endure the frightful crowding on the trams and ferries.

The telephone and post office facilities have not been kept up with the growing population, with the result that the 'phone service cannot cope with the demands upon it, and is in a deplorable condition, and the post office is not much better. It is practically impossible now'to get a new 'phone in; many people in the suburbs who lodged applications eight mouths ago are still waiting. It is the sa'me with the main arterial roads in and out of the city. The strain of their maintenance, years ago, became too great for the local bodies, and they abandoned them. They and the -State authorities have been fighting about the matter ever since, and the roads—well, they are simply incredible. There is nothing like them in New _ Zealand—even in Auckland, which enjoys some notoriety in that respect. Traffic avoids them as far as possible, dodging along the side streets.