MELBOUENE COFFEE PALACES. 



( ^L MONG the factors at work in the direction of the 

 CTjV restriction and diminution of the liquor traffic 

 in Australia, are the great coffee palaces or temperance 

 hotels which have lately been erected, together with 

 others which are being erected, not merely in Mel- 

 bourne, but in various parts of the country. The ques- 

 tion has been asked, Can hotels be successfully run 

 without the sale of intoxicants ? These magnificent 

 hotels, so thoroughly equipped, and so acceptable to 

 the public and remunerative to investors, are answer- 

 ing that question in a most satisfactory way. 



That' there must be places for the entertainment of 

 the travelling public everybody admits. That these 

 places must sell intoxicants in order to live and flour- 

 ish a great many good people deny. Many of these 

 houses which sell intoxicants are, by reason of such 

 sale, public nuisances, and not a public necessity. Even 

 the best of them are less useful, as regards their ser- 

 vice to mankind, because of such sale. 



The bars of some of these very respectable hotels 

 are frequently the starting point towards ruin for 



