supported by foreign oil companies," he declared. There is no doubt about the truth of this latter statement, but the companies maintain that if the fields were in the hands of the Mexican Government the government could maintain a strangle hold on the Allies—and Pelaez, they declare, is pro-Ally. The oil companies want a status quo until the war in Europe is over. Then, and perhaps sooner, the real fight about Tampico will begin. This part of the Mexican problem is not settled.
But on the surface of things in Tampico there is not a ripple. Pelaez cannot come into the city and the Carranza forces cannot go into the country without a fight. No Man's Land separates the belligerents here as it does in France.
The I.W.W. and the Germans are taking advantage of this chaotic situation, and they are preparing for eventualities. Some day there will be a clash in the oil fields or in Tampico, and when that hour comes the world will learn whether Germany's ally or the United States and her Allies control the situation.
Further trouble in Tampico or in the oil districts will benefit Germany directly because it will affect the oil supply of the United States and Great Britain.
No one seems to know the solution in Tampico, but every foreigner hopes that the ammunition which the Mexican Government has obtained from the United States will not reach the Gulf of Mex-
