134 AUSTRALIA AND THE AUSTRALIANS. 



The sale of beer and other liquors in the city of Liver- 

 pool has been greatly reduced in this way, and many 

 a poor man been saved from the formation of the 

 drinking habit, because saved from the dangerous 

 influences of the tap-room. 



The system was begun by philanthropic men, who 

 invested in it from pure philanthropic motives. To 

 their great surprise, it has turned out to be a thor- 

 oughly good investment, while, as a business transac- 

 tion in the fullest sense of the word, it treats the poor 

 man as a man, and not as a pauper. 



These noble men who first inaugurated the system 

 are sometimes twitted by the opponents of temperance 

 respecting their " ten per cent." philanthropy. But a 

 philanthropy which brings ten per cent, is a deal 

 more honorable than a business which, besides its 

 large profits, is a system of the meanest and worst 

 form of robbery robbing men of their time, their 

 respectability, their morals, and innocent women and 

 children of even bread itself. 



THE FEDERAL COFFEE PALACE. 



It is very remarkable that the Coffee Palace system 

 of Melbourne was originated in the same spirit as 

 that to which I have referred above, with the result 

 precisely the same. I am indebted to the Melbourne 



