The Sentinel=record., 1915-03-06

N hington. Marcl President Wilson was confronted tonight with one of the most serious and perplex- ing developments that has arisen in the Mexican situation Mexico City is on the verge of starvation.
 General Oorcgou the Carra commander, refuses to permit an in. i. ternational relief committee. com pc ed of wealthy members of the for. eign colony to succor tle needy
 Mexico needs no foreign aid" the general is reported 10 have said
 All merchants who closed their s stores nave been ordered to reopen under threat of punishment Three hundred of them all NcXjcaus. have been imprisoned The people of the city are living in terror of another . evacuation since Obrcgon has an- nounced that he will not prevent loot ing or pillaging for food or money
 The Brazilian British SpanlsI and Italian ambassadors ca ed separat aIy at the state department today. bring ing pessimistic reports of the situa. tion which pended to report al- ready received by the American gov ernment. The foreign diplomats sug. gested no solutiC'
 Secretary Bryan announced that he had sent an urgent telegram 10 Amer ican Consul Silliman with instructions 10 lay the situation earnestly before General Carranza SO that General Oregon might be directed to accept the proffered aid of the foreign resi- dents. Freight service IS suspended between Mexico City and Vera Cruz. Transportation facilities for relief pur- ioses are being withheld by General Cbregon on the ground Of military necessity.
 President Wilson was advised of all the facts late today as reyeae ed in oi- ficial messages and the reports from the foreign ambassadors Tonight the president was reported Co be studying the question closel,
 Should General Obregou continue to refuse outside aid drastic measures might be necessary in the view of lOl Nt-ll AiIlbIldt1 iAt n fiftN tbil ID described by them as more iutojer- able than il ever has been since reyo- lutionary troubles began in the southern republic
 Talk of an allied expedition similar to the one that wept to the relief of foreign legations at Picking during the Boxer uprising was again heard in official quarters where it was gen. erally admitted that a grave coudi- tion of affairs had ariisc'
 For the present the outcome of the telegraphic correspondence with Gen eral Carranza will be awaited Hith- erto he has been reported as standing by all the activities of General Obre- gon. whose purpose, according to off, cial reports, seems to be to force the lower classes to enlist in the Carranza army or starye
 All sorts of wild rumors are afloat in Mexico City due to the inccndiary utterances of General Obregan. who !. in newspaper interviews. practically . has sanctioned pmnder for food General Carranza has been asked { by the American government to in- struct General Obregon to take some measures to protect lives and prop erty of foreigners in the event of evacuation The people fear the water supply may be shut off and that the electric light cables may be cut, thus leaving the city in darkness at night and nprmittiDp tha irrasnop- sible element to commit wanton dep redations
 Just why the 900 merchants were Imprisoned has not been revealed They were reported 10 have appealed to Obregon for relief from a heavy tax which he imposed on them. Secre- tary Bryan said that so far as the State department had been advised, all the Mexican priests arrested for Failure to contribute funds demauted by Obregon were still in prison.
 The international relief committee which raised about 250.000 pesos was moi permitted to aid the poor, acc0rd- ing to official dispatches, because General Obregon declined to acaeot funds restricted to any definite lse. He desired that the foreigners pay the tax recently levied but revokai Cn repfes citations from foreign govern. nleis without questioning hcG !; would be used
 Tho latest decree put into ef'5ct by