Oil Row

Bolivian and Paraguayan troops glared at each other last week over a little-known, nondescript strip of borderland. They glared the more ferociously because the soil was popularly supposed to contain valu- able oil deposits. The land itself is of no agricultural value, being subject to floods at certain seasons of the year; but, for oil and other reasons, it was in dispute between the two countries. Which side of the frontier should it be?

In Buenos Aires, capital of Argentina, Bolivian and Paraguayan commissions attempted to answer the question. The word "oil" was a fighting word.

Meanwhile, in the Chaco region, where the little strip is located, it was said that the soldiers were "digging themselves in," preparing for hostilities; and it was hoped that the conference in Buenos Aires would arrive at a settlement before the troops made an accord impossible by attempting simultaneously to occupy the disputed territory.