DUTCH EAST INDIES.

Evening Star, Issue 23834, 14 March 1941, Page 6

DUTCH EAST INDIES.

It was announced in a message from. Batavia yesterday that the Government of the Dutch East Indies is pushing its defence plans with great vigour. For years the Administration there has been taking precautionary measures. The dangers to the islands were emphasised when Japan invaded China, for it was realised that if the Japanese were successful in that campaign her ambitions regarding territories to the southward would bo made manifest. When the Low Countries were overrun by Germany and Japan entered into an alliance with the Axis Powers, the wisdom of the defence plans that had been undertaken became clear. Foreign aggression clearly threatened the vast Indian Archipelago, with its 67,000,000 inhabitants and its rich stores of oil. rubber, tin, sugar, rice, and many other food-

stuffs and raw materials. The position now; is that the colony has been declared in a state of martial law. Allegiance to the exiled Netherlands Government in London was reaffirmed, and German nationals in the island were interned—a measure which has been maintained despite reprisals against prominent Netherlands citizens in Holland—and German, ships in East Indian harbours were seized.

Before the present developments occurred transport problems naturally attracted much attention from the Batavia Administration. The area over there appears at some time to have been broken up by a vast upheaval, and islands are scattered over it in huge numbers. As a consequence the Government had built up a great shipping trade, and with the coming of the aeroplane the Dutch quickly made use of this method of transport. The authorities are credibly reported to have brought the strength of their air force in the East Indies up to 500 planes. A number of these are flying boats, which are expected to co-operate with submarines and torpedo boats in opposing any attempt at a hostile landing. There are three military organisations in the Netherlands Indies. First is the colonial army, which before the European war numbered about 40,000, i mostly native troops under Netherlands officers. Secondly, there are auxiliary military organisations, with exclusively Dutch membership, forming a reserve. The riavyHs the first line of defence lor this island colonial empire. It includes three cruisers, nine destroyers, fourteen large submarines, and a number of mine-layers, mine-sweepers, and auxiliary coast defensive vessels. An attack on the Indies would present many serious problems for Japan. The islands are approximately 3,000 miles from Japan proper, and she would be obliged to maintain long lines of sea communication in order to support and supply an. expeditionary force. Grave risks would be involved with Singapore and Hongkong in the hands of the British, and Manila under the control of the United States. A southward advance in these circumstances might well make Japan hesitate before ■taking the plunge. One of the commodities that Japan most urgently needs is oil, and that constitutes a strong temptation to action against the Indies. In the knowledge of this, the Netherlands Administration has been considering a project to destroy the oil wells in- the islands in an extremity. The most valuable of these are in Borneo, and the total output of the wells of the islands is about 7,000,000 tons a year. This constitutes the largest source of oil in the Orient, .and it can be understood ■how great is the temptation to the Japanese military leaders, who are desperately short of this essential wartime commodity. It is clear that the Netherlands East Indies Government is determined to make a vigorous defence against any invasion attempt, and the fact that it will not stand alone should be a warning to Tokio not to start such an ill-starred adventure.