INDONESIAN CRISIS

Press, Volume XCVI, Issue 28472, 30 December 1957, Page 5

INDONESIAN CRISIS

Alarm Among “Moderates”

“The Communist influence In Inconesia is quite strong. They are. always doing a lot of work behind the scenes,” said Mr Bertram Jones, a journalist ot the London “Dally Express,” who arrived in Christchurch on Saturday after spending two weeks in Indonesia. He is in Christchurch awaiting transport to Antarctica. “The moderate people there are alarmed at the way things are going and they would like to see some back-pedalling,” he said. **A lot of what is going on is out of the hands of the Government.” The people who had livfed there for about 20 years and knew the country. thought the Indonesians could do without the Dutch for a while but they did not have those in authority to keep the work going at a decent rate, he said. The Dutch were forced to surrender some of their business into the hands of bands of Indonesian youths and these youths could not hope to command respect to help run the estates. In East Java the Dutch were undergoing a “war of nerves,” he said. They were not .allowed to obtain much food and'lndonesian pickets were kept day and night around their homes.

Leaving Caantry “It is difficult for Dutchmen to leave the country. Wives can leave easily but to obtain a visa is a slower process for men,” he said. “The ships 1 saw leaving had very few men compared with the large number of women on board.” Many of the persons leaving were the Indonesian-Dutch, said Mr Jones. For many of them the only way of life they knew was the Indonesian way. and they were just as Indonesian as the President of Indonesia (Dr. Soekarno), said Mr Jones. “It is very rough on them, but the European Dutch are making it as smooth as possible.” Mr Jones said he noticed no censorship of the reports he sent out to the “Daily Express,” but those Who dealt with them had no idea of any urgency. On one occasion a message he handed in at one town was not sent out until the next day. • Throughout Jakarta there were still many anti-Dutch signs and people were too afraid to remove them, he said.

Since 1949. Mr Jones has been 'correspondent for the Pacific area for the “Daily Express,” and has his home in Sydney. When he returns from Antarctica he and his family will shift to Japan.