PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS. 69 



is the best investment that the State has made, the reduc- 

 tion in the death rate, and the diminution of sickness 

 throughout the area affected by this expenditure, is a 

 return on which no money value can be placed. The death 

 rate has fallen in Sydney to a half of what it was thirty 

 years ago, having been : — 



Ratio per 1000. 

 Sydney. Country Districts. 



1880-1884 20-60 ... 13-21 



1885-1889 19-47 ... 12-18 



1890-1894 14-83 ... 12-05 



1914 10-26 ... 1005 



It cannot be claimed that this remarkable decrease is due 

 entirely to engineering works; many causes have con- 

 tributed to it, but without a plentiful supply of water and 

 modern sewage systems, the results could not have been 

 obtained. 



The increase in the quantity of water supplied per head 

 per day has been constantly increasing, but has not reached 

 anything like the dimensions that exist in America; no 

 doubt it will grow beyond the 43 gallons which is the present 

 rate for Sydney, in fact in many country towns where 

 inspection is not so rigid, the consumption is much larger. 



The consumption per head given above includes water 

 supplied for manufacturing, street watering, and all other 

 purposes besides domestic supply; in the area supplied by 

 the Hunter District Water Board, the proportionate con- 

 sumption was for 1916 : — 



Manufactories ... ... ... 46 per cent. 



Street watering and other purposes 2 ,, 

 Charitable institutions ... ... 1 ,, 



Domestic supply ... ... ... 51 „ 



Mr. J. H. Oardew, m. inst. o.a.. in 1903 read an interesting 

 paper before our Society on "The Economic Effect of 



