The financial history of Argentina has been a checkered one and not without its scandals. In reality for years investors looked askance at all kinds of Argentine securities. The fact is that the national government suffered from its moral, if not actual, responsibility for the numerous loans floated by the various states. The national government in a real sense should have no more responsibility for a provincial debt than our Federal Government assumes the obligation of a state under our form of government. Creditors naturally tried to press this responsibility whenever a province defaulted, and in many instances the government accepted the liability. Money was borrowed for all kinds of purposes, in particular by the notorious Celman administration, and the government became badly involved. The province of Buenos Aires became a notorious defaulter in its “cedulas,” and its administrators have many times been characterized as “robbers” by the British security-holders. The municipalities of Cordoba and Santa Fé also have rather unenviable records. Many of these debts are being slowly adjusted, however, while the national government has no difficulty in placing new loans under the more recent administrations. Argentina to-day possesses one of the largest banks in the world, the Banco de la Nacion. It succeeded another national bank which went up in smoke a few years ago after a notorious career. Foreign banks do a large part of the business of the country. The first bank, called the Casa de Moneda, was established by English and Argentine capital as early as 1822. One of the leading banks of the present day is the London and River Plate, which has been established for almost half a century. It has paid many dividends as high as twenty per cent., so that its stock is considerably above par. Interest used to be as high as twenty-four per cent. on loans, and exchange fluctuated greatly. To-day interest is much lower, though still high, and exchange is more steady. The London and Brazilian Bank, the British Bank of South America, the Anglo South American and the Bank of London and Mexico are other British banks. Then there are German, French, Italian and Spanish banks, which do an immense business. The Provincia de Buenos Aires is one of the largest native banks, and it has a number of branches.