The law was passed as the only available though drastic remedy for the state of financial chaos, nothing less, in which Argentina found herself for some years after the crisis of 1891. For the coming of this chaos Argentines blame the European Bankers who, at least, looked on whilst the country floundered into it. For this view they have considerable reason. The Bankers were men of great experience in Finance; of which the Argentines of that day had little or none. Argentina relied on the men who had taken her Finances in hand for the development of her vast natural resources. She awoke to find herself in a financial condition which would have spelt a century of ruin to any less nature-favoured land. And it was an Argentine, Señor Ricardo Pillado, now Director-General of the Division of Commerce and Industry in the Ministry of Agriculture, who devised the Law which, though it in effect involved a partial repudiation of the country’s liabilities, at any rate made possible the financial renaissance on which her present great prosperity was founded. As has been seen, the Conversion Law said that a paper dollar should be equivalent to 44 cents gold and that conversely a gold dollar should be worth 2·27 paper dollars. This ratio was supposed to have been fixed by taking the average ratio of value between paper and gold over a certain period immediately prior to the passing of the Law. This basis is now believed to have been fictitious, it being found that, had such an average of values been struck, a paper dollar would have become the equivalent to something much more like 60 cents gold. So that in fact a repudiation of 40 cents liability on every paper dollar in circulation was made to become one of 56 cents. That, however, is past history; and the existing Law appears likely to remain in operation for an indefinite time to come. It has its inconveniences. Institutions and traders are obliged by Law to keep their books in both currencies. There is no gold coin available as an equivalent to 1 paper dollar. One needs to have a clear 50 dollars’ worth of notes before one can get gold out of the Conversion Bank; so that all transactions involving odd amounts must be carried through with the aid of paper. In point of fact gold is only seen in the course of important transactions. Still, the gold is there, in the country, in the Conversion Bank; and cannot be withdrawn from the coffers of that Institution except as against paper dollars, nor can paper dollars be issued except as against gold actually in the Conversion Bank. For the absolutely strict observance of these rules everyone concerned, from the President of the Republic down to the humblest employee of the Caja is personally responsible under the law. By the operation of the law the Republic holds a usually ever-increasing stock of gold; the accumulation of which is aided by the inconvenience for practical exchange of the figures ·44 and 2·27.