The question of the nature of demand cannot be over-emphasised. It is owing to neglect of this that the greatest mistakes are made both in practice and in argument. Up to 1880 the nation's demands were those of any immature nation. Subsequently to that date the country began to boom and the whole economic condition was altered. Whereas previous to that date the market was for articles for private use, whether domestic, agricultural, or personal, subsequent to the national awakening private needs became insignificant compared with those of public bodies. Not only was the construction of railways commenced in earnest but national and municipal contracts were issued broadcast. Harbours, sewage and water-works, lighting, tramways, and every other form of public enterprise, were initiated from that time onward. But, whereas the earlier works were largely executed by English firms, of recent years foreign (in particular Belgian) contractors have secured the concessions. The methods employed by the latter, however, have been such as rather to disgust the country with its experiment. The case which has been causing intense excitement is that of the Rosario Port-works. The French _concessionnaires_ made a bad job there of a difficult undertaking. That, however, was little compared with the terms which by some means they managed to insert into their concession, terms by virtue of which they were enabled to make the most extraordinary exactions from everyone who entered the port, regardless of the fact that many of the wharves were the property of other concerns. On the other hand, the English firm that constructed the Rosario sewage system, and constructed it with the greatest thoroughness, were treated to a series of vexatious interferences culminating in a refusal on the part of the municipality to pay for the work. Besides the above mentioned work, ports have been constructed at Bahia Blanca, La Plata, Buenos Aires, San Nicolas, Santa Fé, Paraná (not yet completed) and other places, so that some two hundred million sterling have been invested in works of public utility in a country with a population at the present time of about five million inhabitants. Apart from the importance of this development of public enterprises as regards the nature of imports, its importance is obviously no less in the matter of their extent. Adding to the capital of public undertakings the capital employed in trade, the total of commercially invested money was estimated at the end of 1904 at 326 million sterling; but, if national provincial and municipal loans are taken into account, the grand total of foreign capital in the country probably exceeds £450,000,000. This immense influx of capital naturally caused imports greatly to exceed exports, but the excess is not perhaps so large as might have been expected, owing to the high tariff which probably increased the import of bullion.