Howover, he did not wish to dwell at longth on the socih! aspect of the question, but would allud \ to its commercial aspect. In this connec tion Mr Green mentioned a calculation that had been made that, during the year 1879, in the old oountry, there had bee \ consumed in spirituous and alcoholic liquors no leas a sum than L128,143,86D Now, setting down the aoroage of land i.i Gro-it Britain and Ireland at 32 million acios in the former and 15 million aorcn in the latter, the rent of this land, at 30. per acre in Great Britain and at lSi pt, acre in Ireland, would bring in a revenue of less than half the amount mentione 1 spent in drink. As regards tho benefit derived from the expenditure of money in drink ; supposing such money were sport m commodities Thereof the advantage could be seen, the wealth »f a people would be vastly increased, inasmuoh as tho money so put into circulation wouK be used in the production of still further wealth. On the one hand, it was speiu in the gratifying of an artificial craving, and for a purpose that produoed no bene ficial results afterwards ; whereas, on the other hand, it would be employed in the production of commodities of a further wealth - producing nature. Supposing, for instance, L 150.000 wera were spent in intoxicating drink during 20 years, supplied by a brewery employing 20 men ; at the end of that time thero would bo nothing to show for it but the L 150,000 itself, whereas if it had been mcd to employ those men in manufactm ing, say, machinory, thero would have been, as the result of its expenditure, and of the labor of those men, an added wealth in the world of at least one and a half millions of money. As to the extrava gance of the drink traffic no mind ooul i compass it, and he was pursuadod that ivi u was that only which kept a large part of the English and English speaking lower classes in a state of poverty. Gladston i himself, a most enlightened statesman, had said that tho cost of drinking, to tho English-speaking people alone, was mor t than that caused by all the wars, famine and pestilences that had ever taken plao i in the world. 