Evening star., 1902-02-25
OVERCROWDED LONDON
THE PROBLEMS OF POPULATION,
TRAFFIC AND TRAVEL.
Congestion of the Strand-Census Rev
elations-Efforts to Help the
Stun Dwellers.

London Ceres. Of the New York Evening Post
All London social ref9rmers are agreed
that the overIrowGing question. with it's
sister problems CT rehousng and transit
facIutics, is the NEST urgent Of the hour:
thouSh naturally it goes hand in hand with
that of temperance, with which i, is
ciCsetE nterWovcn Not a few. indeed
maintain that a solution of the problem of
oNercroWding must come first. because
while "SiGms' and 'rookeries' exist whole
sale 1t Is hopeless to teach the industrial
or any other class the lessen Of decent
nome life. 1t is a gigantic a,mcst
acknowledgements, as the American
phIlanthropist George Peabody was among
the first 10 realize frcIn his observations of
the English capital thirty years ago and
more: Since then London has seen other
individual efforts in a similar direction
through the agency of The Guinness
trust and others; while Lord Rowton's
movement has heen specially directed TO
ire weE-betng of unmarried work.ngmen
Destruction cf the Jago.
Net few Of the LEGAL municipalities have
made brave efforts in the same direction:
and the London county council moved a
great step forward when some years ago
It swept away :hat awful labyrinth Of filth
and crime. the Jago.' between Shoreditch
and Bethnal Green. and erected thereon
the splendid Boundary estate for the work
ing classes which the 1ng when Prince of
Wales, inaugurated. Al these effects.
benofiooEt as they have been. are merely
tentative. little more than surface scratches
on the ever-rressing .prchien of London:
NO room Ia live" The increase Of Lon
don's population il ton years has been just
under tna million. and the census returns
Just issued disclose some diSagTeCaDie
EIT I
nearly 15n.cNn tcnsnerts Ct enc room. and
OF these nearly 2.GH contain ''sx or more
inmates. j. is hcrritle to think Cf. Re
formers get what consolation they can
from the fact that ;eneE.en;s Of TWO rooms
show "a slight intrease,' and ;hac This
centrifugal dispersal OF town populations
is shared hy al! great clG and prosperous
towns.
Transit Problems.
Even if rehousing the requisite scale
were within sight. tina; would Gr!y he the
beginning Of the solution The question is
inseparably ccnnec:ed with that of transit
rapid. cheap and certain. AS regards ra-
pid!ty. the facilities in London are in many
instances in a really depiorable state. The
congo stion Of street traffic has been a cry
ing scandal for years: and these who are
vulgarly Ges ri;ed as "the authorities
seem incapable CT dealing with i: in a
L
among tkem is the police commissioner,
but perhaps he IS rot mach tc blame. be-
cause his powers in this respect are oX-
tremeiy limited He can order traffic to
be passed along certain routes when some
of the main arteries are "bi0cked''-aS they
generally are by ''ai:erationS and repairs"
But parliament has given him wider
jurisdiction than this. and he cannot map
out any ConlEre he nsiye scheme, applicable
TO London as q whole. for the regula zion of
Nphir!tS 81
lar thnroughfares. and leaving others more
or less for the swift hanson. the leisurely
fCur-wheeIed cab and the numbering Cnini
bus.
Some Crowded Ways.
An illustration viii commend Itself to
every American visitor who knows his
London" 1t is supplied by the liEes Of
roads extending from the Bank Of England
TO CrarinG Cross. This, he VII recall. en-
braces Chcaps.t!e. the south SIDE Of the
''iSand' on which ST.. Paurs Cathed dral
stands: the preCipitGus descent Cf I-udgate
Hill and the comparatively narrow gate
ways Of Fleet street and the Strand. AS
az least three-fourihs cf the east to west
traffic of London. going both ways is con-
Gcmncd to crawl along this route. frCm the
mighty brewers draE and contractors
lOTrE to the EinDe vOiturette and bicycle.
Is il surprising tina: the man in Il hurry
prefers to take his Chance as Il pedestrian
if he happens to hc in Lombard street and
wants 10 keep an appointment a; the Cecil
or the MetrOpCie? Yet. running parallel
most Of the way with this typical route is
the magnificent Thames EInLankment-
bread. level and most carefully maintain
ed-which. as far relieving traffic goes.
might almost well not exist at all. And
further, the Thames steamboat service
is service pour rire, From north 20
south across the various bridges and. IN
deed. in every district Of London. the same
story of ineDtituGe and muddle is repea ated
again and again.