In regard to the group of exhibits corresponding to the section of Social Economy contained in the same artistically arranged building, much detail is furnished concerning many of the social and charitable institutions of the Republic, in reference to which there is an absence of information abroad. The co-operation of the Argentine Social Museum and other important public bodies has enabled the Commission to present a comprehensive exhibition of views and of the methods of operation of the various national Associations established, as asylums, refuges, hospitals, poor-houses and other organizations for the protection of women and children and for the prevention of crime, as well as demonstrations of the work performed by these bodies, some of which also have for their purpose the extension of social improvement, of public order, economy, hygiene, labor, the construction of dwellings and other objects of public advantage. In this section there is also an exhibition of works of arts produced by Argentine artists embracing a careful selection of paintings and examples of sculpture representative and characteristic, in every sense, of national art; and with a view to demonstrating the artistic progress of the country, this collection is made up of only recent works, not one of which has previously been shown in any foreign Exposition. [Illustration: SARMIENTO SCHOOL, BUENOS AIRES] [Illustration: THE CENTURY SCHOOL (ESCUELA DEL CENTENARIO)] This shadowy outline of the nature and quality of the Argentine exhibits at the San Francisco Exposition, though utterly incomplete as a description of their importance and value, will convey a general idea of the position attained by the Argentine Republic in all those moral and material factors which go to make up a great nation; and if to these elements are added the initiative and beneficial labors of Argentina in the international sphere, a sense of pride should be awakened in the hearts of all Americans that in the arts of peace, the widely separated, though great, countries of the American Continent, stand out as shining examples, worthy of emulation even by many countries of the old world. INTERCHANGE OF COMMERCE