The Hole in the Back Fence

Press, Volume LXXVII, Issue 23446, 29 September 1941, Page 4

The Hole in the Back Fence

For some months now most Australians and New Zealanders have assumed the existence of a formal defence agreement between the British Government and the administration of the Netherlands East Indies. The assumption w-as a justifiable one; for, although there had been no announcement of the conclusion of such an agreement, its existence seemed to be implied in numerous official statements on the Far Eastern situation issued in London and Singapore. It is therefore a shock to learn, from recent editorial comments in the Singapore “ Free Press ” and the Batavia “ Nieuws- “ blad,” that in fact there is no agreement and that neither Mr Duff Cooper, the British Government’s political representative in the Far East, nor Sir Robert Brooke-Popham, Com-mander-in-Chief in the Far East, is willing to talk about the matter. The present situation is as dangerous as it is incomprehensible.' If Japan wins control of the Netherlands Indies, either by peaceful penetration or by direct attack, the strategic value of Singapore will be at an end and with it the ability of the Bfitish Navy to block a southward move by Japan against Australia and New Zealand. Singapore and the Netherlands Indies are, in all of defence, complementary; and a watertight alliance with the administration of the Netherlands Indies ought to be the keystone of British diplomacy and strategy in the Far East. For reasons which can only be connected with the belief that Japan can be weaned away from the Axis and persuaded to accept a compromise Far Eastern settlement, the British Government prefers not to take this safe and obvious step. Appeasement has had a 10 years’ trial in the Far East; it has brought Japanese military power westward to the gates of India and southward to within striking distance of Singapore;

yet it is still being tried. From Mr Churchill’s statements it can be inferred that in the Far East the British Government has for the moment yielded the initiative to Washington and may not therefore be able to speak and act as it wishes. But for Australia and New Zealand the outlook is too grave for diplomatic niceties. The Netherlands Indies are their frontier; their interests demand that this frontier should be secured by every possible military and diplomatic means. The logic of the present British pelicy seems to be that the hole in the back fence ought not to be mended in case the thief takes offence.