856B.20/66a

The Under Secretary of State (Welles) to the Netherlands Minister (Loudon)

My Dear Mr. Minister: I have received your letter of January 5 [6] with regard to the proposed arrangements concerning Curaçao and Aruba in which were contained the desires of the Netherlands [Page 54] Government regarding the participation of the United States in the defense of those islands.

I submitted immediately to the President your letter under acknowledgment.

The President has asked me to let you know, in the name of this Government, that the desires of the Netherlands Government, as outlined in your letter under acknowledgment, are satisfactory to the President, with one exception.

The exception to which I refer is the statement made in the first paragraph of your letter referring to the dispatch of American troops to assist in the defense of the islands where it is stated that “the number and the composition of the necessary troops will be communicated by the Netherlands Government in due course”.

The President desires me to say that inasmuch as the United States is participating in the defense of the islands at the request of the Netherlands Government, in the interest of the cause in which our two countries are so deeply and vitally concerned, as well as because of the need of assuring the defense of the Western Hemisphere, the Government of the United States cannot agree that the number and the composition of the troops to be sent by the United States should be determined solely by the Netherlands Government. The President desires me to say that he believes that the decision in this regard should be a matter for determination by our two Governments, as a result of consultation between them.

Believe me [etc.]

Sumner Welles