the railway affair, the Mexican Government being in voting control of the system.

The National Lines system consists of 7956 miles of railway of which 6003 miles are in the merger proper, while the remainder is controlled by lease. The various railway companies which entered the merger or leased their lines to it had begun business with American employees and the merger had retained them. The president of the great billion peso company, several members of its board of directors, practically all of the superintendents and general agents in all departments, and nearly all conductors and engineers, when Madero became President of Mexico, were Americans. There had been many American firemen and brakemen, but these grades, by that time, had been filled with Mexicans as promotions, deaths, resignations and discharges had made vacancies. In the grades of conductor and engineer there were, in April, 1912, about 1000 men of American birth.

American railway men had long been a feature of the American representation in Mexico. They had, for the most part, begun their railroad careers on the Western and Southwestern roads of the United States, and they carried the social atmosphere of these regions along with them across the border. In the larger towns which marked the terminals of divisions the American social position was built upon the foundation which the families of these railway men had laid. In Mexico City itself the railway element was well represented in the life of the American Colony.

The merchants of the capital found the trade of the American railway men most desirable; it was liberal, not too discriminating, and strictly cash. American stores were established to cater to this patronage. Groceries, haberdashery, clothing, shoes, drugs, books, stationery and special

ties, imported from the United States, were dealt in by American concerns formed for the purpose of selling these goods first of all to the railway men whose earnings, especially those of the conductors, amounted in Mexican money to good figures.

The railway men came to understand their commercial value to the colony and did not underestimate their importance in the operation of the big railway system. They did not view with complacence the disposition of the merger management to advance the fortunes of Mexican employees. American engineers grumbled, not without reason, at being compelled to put up with Mexican firemen. American conductors jeered, with or without reason, at Mexican brakemen. Now and then a Mexican was promoted to be engineer or conductor, and the sentiments of the Americans were not politely expressed.

Early in 1912 notice was given by the railroad management that all American employees must master the Spanish language; in a few months all train orders which had previously been written in English, would be issued in the language of the country. This action, whatever may seem to be its justification, was quite correctly taken to be a move to thin the ranks of American employees.

Protest in mild terms proved unavailing. The Americans held meetings and passed resolutions which were ratified all over the system, but the management, under orders from the Government, was immovable. On the seventeenth of April, 1912, while the diplomatic courtesies were being exchanged between Washington and Mexico City, the entire body of American engineers and conductors, after having given notice of their intention, quit the service of the National Lines; and they have never been taken back.

During the remainder of that April of 1912, the Madero Government made substantial gains in strategic position.

Huerta moved his army to Torreon and prepared to advance against Orozco. Calero's departure for Washington effectually disposed of the daily conferences with Ambassador Wilson; the Ambassador was finding it more difficult to make impression upon a government whose cabinet was now for the first time in full accord; his pet claims were stubbornly hanging fire.

Francisco Bulnes, whose disconcerting speeches in Congress had been a daily shock to Madero, was more or less discredited. De la Barra's return from the mission of thanks to Italy had made no stir; he was now a prominent citizen in private life. Opposition newspapers adopted a tone that was almost patriotic. Some of the indecent weeklies were suppressed. As April glided into May confidence in the Government rapidly increased throughout Mexico. Americans in the capital were saying that Madero "had got his second wind."

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CHAPTER XI

HERE is no reason to believe that the improved position of Madero in May, 1912, was clearly perceived

or rightly understood by the United States, by England or by any continental power. If truly sympathetic comprehension existed anywhere, its seat was in the minds of a few private persons, unrelated to one another, possessed of no authority and of little influence.

Beyond question the passing of the Diaz rule was regretted by all statesmen whose offices constrained them to take active interest in the Mexican situation; and to say this is to close the debate. Those who would have wished to reestablish Diaz - or a younger ruler of the same typewere by this preference debarred from an intelligent opinion in the matter of Madero. The rule of Diaz was held to have been favorable to business development. Under his iron hand the alien seeking his fortune in Mexico enjoyed the opportunity to gain the whole world and lose his own soul without peril to his physical existence or his goods, and consequently without giving rise to troublesome international complications. This constitutes good government in the eyes of diplomats and the conviction was well nigh universal that Madero would never establish it.

The Mexicans, in the view of Europe and the United States, required a strong president, indistinguishable from a king, except by greater scope than is granted nowadays to most that wear a crown. The briefest period of Madero, followed by the closest possible approximation to Diazso ran the sentence in the morning prayers of diplomats

kneeling before their antiquated idols. There is no indication that the Americans were so much as one century, scarcely a day indeed, ahead of the others.

There had been a certain period of anxiety among the European traders, following the accession of Madero, in which the possibility that the United States would see its opportunity and take advantage of it, had excited apprehension. Thus far Mexico's trade with the Northern republic though heavy, had been confined to specialties. Europe secured the great bulk of the business in staples - dry goods, hardware, groceries and a good portion of the machinery. Europe also controlled the banking. These advantages had been held in face of the fact that the money investment of the United States in Mexico's industries was greater than that of England, France and Germany combined. That condition had existed under the Diaz autocracy, but could it endure if the United States should employ diplomatic finesse, shrewdly supporting the new order and making the best of it, for the sake of trade advantages which might accrue?

Europe's anxiety, however, quickly passed away. With gratification it saw the inharmony between Madero and the American Government increase to dangerous irritation which found voice in threats embittering the quarrel. A well considered silence was the policy of onlookers. No European nation made open demands for protection of its people resident in Mexico, or of their property; if an Englishman or a German, or a Frenchman was ill-used or his possessions damaged, his Government acted with vigor and despatch, but quietly. Always it was the United States which advertised its complaints to the world, and accomplished nothing.

The month of May, 1912, widened the breach between the two governments. On its first day Henry Cabot Lodge