Argentina felt deeply the shock of August 1914. The outbreak of war fell like a bomb in the midst of a serious financial depression, due to speculation, extravagance and over-borrowing. The trouble was intensified by drought and by two bad harvests, and more recently by widespread strikes accompanied by destructive violence. But the crisis has compelled the Argentines to rely upon themselves, to restrict extravagances and to push forward the industrial development of their own resources. Thus, the diminution in the supply of English coal has led to the search for native coal, to the use of native petroleum and native fire-wood. Lessened timber imports mean the exploitation of native forests. A considerable quantity of native wool is now spun and woven in the country, and home manufacture generally is increasing. Thus the country is richer and more industrious than ever before. It is true that this wholesome recovery is not yet reflected in the national finances, which are still disordered by extravagance, over-borrowing, improvident budgets, and now by the diminished receipts from customs. However, one very interesting event deserves special mention--the credit or loan granted by the Argentine Government to the Allies for the purchase of the present harvest. Since Argentine Government loans are mostly held in Western Europe, the debt can be discharged with equal benefit to both sides, by simply taking over the obligations of the Argentine Government on this side of the Atlantic. Even more remarkable is the spontaneous offer made to Great Britain by the Uruguayan Government of a large credit for the purchase of the Uruguayan harvest. Thus, these two debtor nations have actually become creditors to Europe, and are proceeding to gather into national ownership a large part of the national debt. Uruguay is taking another and most striking step towards economic consolidation. She is preparing to avail herself of the growing national wealth and the increased value of the Uruguayan dollar in order to buy up enterprises owned by foreigners within her territory, particularly the railways, which are mostly in British hands. It may here be noted that this economic movement in Uruguay coincides with a radical and democratic reform of the constitution, a nearer intimacy with her Latin neighbours, an approach to the United States, and also closer relations with Europe through the abandonment of neutrality and the signature of unconditional treaties of arbitration with France and Great Britain.