Dutch, Indonesian

Hammering At

Our Nw Frontier

Go To Uno

THERE have been incret lively developments in in to (a) the deplorable pc economic conditions in Indone s ( b ) the demand of Indonesian Western New Guinea be take s the Dutch and given T Indonesians.

The following is a summ what has been happen different spheres. This is* significance to the South I Islanders, bacause if In cb dominated by Reds, is admits New Guinea, it will be tanU to opening the South R north-west frontier to the sicu millions of Asia (most of whii is either Red or Pink ).

Sharp Dutch Reply to Indoc

impudence

The Government of the i lands, on October 10, oc issued this very frank state “The Indonesian Governmr the fiction that the sovereifj Netherlands New Guinea o belongs to the Indonesian continues to take adminii measures with regard to the of the Netherlands Realm.

“Indonesia, in 1955, for in in view of the general el assigned the territory of I lands New Guinea Indonesian electoral ■ Furthermore, in 1956 three I were appointed members Indonesian Parliament to r© that territory. And some i ago, by Indonesian law, the r of “West Irian’’ was institu that the complete territc Netherlands New Guinea coc long to this province .

“This has been follow? reports about the appointme the installation of an Ind: ‘governor of the province o Irian.’

“To avoid any misunderstt; the Netherlands Government it fit to state explicitly tha and any similar Ind: measures with regard to ti ritory of Netherlands New and all their implications ever, will not be accep: recognised by the Nether la; “It is generally known the time of the trana. sovereignty over Indonesia, • lands New Guinea was not it in this transfer. Since tic change has taken place situation.

“The Netherlands Gove reserves all rights to cow

ntual realisation of all such ;ian measures, as soon as hould lead directly or in to Indonesian interference irogress of affairs in Nether few Guinea.

lother Appeal to UNO

concerted move, on October nations of the Asian-African asked the United Nations ate the question of the p of Western New r Guinea, ations are: Afghanistan, Burma, India, Cambodia, ia, Ceylon, Irak, Jordan, Arabia, Labanon, Syria, femen and Pakistan, has given no reply, claim has been before the .ssembly on previous s, but UNO has taken no The Western Powers take 7 that there is no ground r —ethnological, historical, 3 or political—for removing ickward Melanesians from of the Dutch and handing er to the Indonesians. ;rmore, such a move would :ave threat to the South Certain Asiatic nations — y China and Japan—are at the huge island of New be opened to their surplus >n; and the weak and un ite Indonesians probably iccumb to such a demand.)

Soekarno Junketing While

Repudiation Proceeds

Rabble-rouser Soekarno, President of Indonesia, has been touring the Communist countries in recent weeks, undergoing lavish feting” making “brotherhood” speeches to wildly-cheering Russian and Chinese Reds, and apparently enjoying himself very much.

Meanwhile the Indonesian Government, at home in Jakarta, has entered into far-reaching com mercial treaties with the Soviet countries, under which the latter will make huge loans and provide vast public facilities. This is part of its efforts to get itself out of serious economic troubles caused by political inefficiency and adminst trative corruption.

Meanwhile, also, the Netherlands Government has given UNO details of the act of repudiation carried out recently by the Indonesian Govern ment, when it announced flatly that it would not pay to the Nether lands the sum of 650 million guilders (about £75 millions Australian) which it officially accepted, only recently, as the amount justly due by Indonesia for vast assets taken over from the Dutch when Indonesia assumed sovereignty.

The Dutch have pointed out that, when the figure of 650 million guilders finally was agreed upon, the Dutch abandoned claims to a

further 2,000 million guilders which SS e Jri ted . the . ori & inal amount regai ded as due by the Indonesians for property seized.

An Indignant British General

General Sir Philip Christison, described as “Allied Commander m-Chief in the Netherlands East Indies in 1945-46”, writing in Lon

alily Telegraph in September, mtly denied a Dutch Par tary Commission report that itish left the Dutch “in the in Indonesia after the ise capitulation.

General says “the report 0 me as a complete surprise” t seems very ungrateful in >f the heavy casualties we 1 fighting the Indonesians ; Dutch”, (See page 88, for I MacArthur’s views ).

General, like Colonel Blimp, ive in a world of his own. esertion of the Dutch by and America in 1945-46, ten human and international demanded that the Western immediately restore the to Indonesia (in the same at the British were restored ?apore, Burma and Hong was one of the factors which ited so much to the loss of prestige throughout the ise of our betrayal of the a weak and undependable itration has supplanted the n the East Indies—and the f the European countries of th Pacific are in consequence to Asian aggression and :ion.

Indonesians themselves are lace —in a military sense, ; contemptible. The danger,

from our viewpoint, is that they provide no barrier against the 1,200

million or so Asians on the Asian mainland.

Apia Teacher Weds

Well-known Apia school teacher and sportsman Mr. W. B. Philpott, recently married a former nursing sister at Apia Hospital, Miss C. Bowden A large number of guests were entertained aft er the wedding at the Alcazar. Pictured here with the bride and groom seated, are (left to right): Miss M. Howes, Mr. R. Banks, Mrs. Banks (matron of honour), Mr. H. A Levestam (best man).

Photo: R. F. Rankin .