106 
‘INTERN ATIONAL TRADE 
The stage of reversal which followed the crisis of 1890-91 shows 
the operation of the same forces. The immediate consequences 
are easily seen. The price of exchange soared high in 1891, and 
remained high for several years thereafter. The large supply 
of bills on London which before had been available from the loans 
suddenly ceased. Those who needed to remit to London and were 
bidders for sterling bills had to pay a higher price in Argentine 
pesos. And this in turn made the prices of exported goods higher 
and stimulated exports; conversely, of course, checking imports. 
Such remained the situation for a year or two. Then ensued 
conditions more like those of paper not changing in quantity. 
The case becomes comparable to that in the United States during 
the years just preceding the resumption of specie payments. While 
the quantity of the Argentine paper remained stationary, the gold 
premium declined; Argentina, like the United States, had the 
fortunate experience of “ growing up to the currency.” There was 
financial and industrial recuperation, and finally the return to the 
gold basis. Those effects of paper money on international trade 
which are here under review were thus confined to a compar- 
atively short span of time, the few years just before the crisis 
and just after it. 
As regards imports, a qualification must be made similar to 
that just suggested in the case of the United States. The quali- 
fication is quantitatively even more important. The imports 
into Argentina (exports from Great Britain) were in greater part 
the direct result of the British loans. The funds borrowed were 
largely spent at once on British goods, especially on railway equip- 
ment; and these purchases would not have been made but for the 
loans, being specifically induced, or at least made possible, by 
them. The movement of exports under such circumstances takes 
place, as has already been abundantly explained, in quasi-automatic 
very movements themselves were spasmodic and confused. Very possibly a more 
apt comparison with North American experiences could be made by citing an 
earlier episode in the history of the United States than that considered in the first 
part of this chapter; namely, that of the years from 1833 to 1837-39. Bor- 
rowings, inflation, marked changes in imports and exports, then took place in a 
manner and under conditions which have a curious similarity to those in Argentina 
a half-century later.