The poorer classes certainly suffer by it, both in being deprived of numerous conveniences and also in the absence of these industries which, in France for example, give a livelihood to more poor people than are contained in the whole of Argentina. House rent also is extraordinarily high. In Buenos Aires this is always attributed to the vast improvements which were made in the Celman times, and which have certainly transformed Buenos Aires from a very dingy into a very fine city. Complaint is made that the better streets and better buildings have sent up the price of rents, that the ramshackle old tenements which were swept away afforded cheap and central lodgings which the poor now lack, and that in all ways splendour, cleanliness, and health have cost money. But in Rosario, where there is ample room for expansion, the same complaints are made, and at Mendoza, which is almost a garden city, site values are doubling in value every few years. The secret probably is imperfect industrial organisation. Labour is scarce and not very efficient, municipal dues weigh upon all classes, every circumstance contributes towards making building a dear operation. It may be added that any man, still more any woman, who would consent to wait at table, would be assured of a comfortable livelihood. Servants are abnormally scarce and dear; a domestic with six months' character is rare treasure, the subject of eager competition, and mistresses (according to their own account) are quite at their mercy.