800.6363/183
The Netherland Chargé (De Beaufort) to the Secretary of State
Sir: In addition to the information which I had the honor to submit to you in my note of June 30th, 1920, regarding the report made under date of May 14th last by the Department of State to the Senate in response to the Senate Resolution 331, I have the honor to send you herewith a further statement9 from which it appears especially that Netherlanders and persons of other nationalities, according to the Indian Mining Law have equal rights because the law provides that inhabitants of the Netherlands and the Dutch East Indies, regardless of their nationality, can be holders of prospecting licenses or concessions and be Managers or Directors of Companies established in the Netherlands or the Dutch East Indies, which hold such licenses or concessions.
With further reference to the report of the State Department to the Senate mentioned above and the statement therein that virtually [Page 280] the Royal Dutch Petroleum Company should [would] hold a monopoly of this industry in the Dutch East Indies, I beg to draw your attention to the fact that the “Koloniale Petroleum Maatschappy”, a daughter Company of the Standard Oil Company of New Jersey, holds various concessions and that the fact that their production is smaller than that of other Companies is exclusively because other Companies working in the Dutch East Indies, started much earlier with the exploitation of oil fields and therefore obtained better fields than de Koloniale.
The information of the State Department that a bill was before the Privy Council regarding the mining of oil in the Dutch East Indies, giving practically a monopoly to the Royal Dutch Group, also is not exact. As far as known, only one bill is at present under preparation referring to an exploitation contract with the “Bataafsche Petroleum Maatschappy”, in accordance with Article 5a and 28 (2a), of the Indian Mining Law. This contract, however, only covers one field in the Dutch East Indies. For the giving of every other field, new decisions have to be made by the Legislative Power.
From the above it appears, firstly, that there is no discrimination between Netherlander and Foreigners, because Foreigners can become inhabitants of the Dutch East Indies in the most simple manner, as outlined in the adjoined memorandum, and licenses and concessions can be held by such inhabitants or by Companies controlled by them. Secondly, that no monopoly is being held by the Royal Dutch Petroleum Company, because other Companies controlled by foreign interest hold such licenses and thirdly that the exploitation agreement which is at present being closed between the Dutch Government and the Bataafsche Petroleum Maatschappy, does not give such monopoly because it only concerns a small portion of the oil fields still accessible.
In conclusion I venture to add that I should be much obliged if the contents of this letter and its enclosure could be communicated to the Authority who is charged with the Administration of the General Leasing Act of February 25, 1920, (Public, No. 146).
Please accept [etc]
- Enclosure not printed.↩