FUTURE OF DUTCH EAST INDIES

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 90, Issue 118, 23 May 1946, Page 5

FUTURE OF DUTCH EAST INDIES

REFORM MUST COME BY CONSULTATION

Recd. 9 p.m. Batavia, May 22. The Lieutenant-Governor of the Netherlands East Indies (Dr. van Mook), in a broadcast, said that the problems of Java, Sumatra, and elsewhere in Indonesia, principally concerned Dutch.and Indonesians, and it would be a sign of weakness and. error on the part of the Dutch if they relied on foreign assistance. Indonesian Nationalists, for the sake of their own future, must cease violence. There was no question of restoring the old colonial system and the Dutch Government admits clearly that Indonesia must, determine its own political future as soon as possible, but the reform must be established through free consultation and not under compulsion and terrorism.

"The Dutch basis for an agreement can be summarised thus,” he said:— "Firstly, to be legally and internationally acceptable, the reform can be achieved only within the framework of the kingdom, but with a right to self-determination aftei- a period of reconstruction: secondly, the republic is possible within the framework, where and when it was recognised as the most suitable expression political desire: thirdly, if a Republic were recognised in Java the free verdict other parts of Indonesia should be sought to determine wishes about their status; fourthly, all should help in restoring order, so that reconstruction of Indonesia, on a truly democratic basis, could he achieved.”