Foreign Relations of the United States, 1948, The Far East and Australasia, Volume VI

856e.00/9–2448

Memorandum of Conversation, by the Chief of the Division of Southeast Asian Affairs (Reed)

secret

[Washington,] September 24, 1948.

Participants:	Mr. Charles S. Reed, Chief, SEA
	Mr. W. S. B. Lacy, SEA
	Mr. Frederick E. Nolting, Jr., NOE
	Mr. H. A. Helb, Counselor, Netherlands Embassy

Mr. Helb called at my request. He was reminded of the importance which the Department attached to the creation and preservation in Indonesia of an atmosphere conducive to the resumption of negotiations and of Mr. Lacy’s representations to him on September 20 suggesting that the Netherlands revoke or suspend the decree requiring the expulsion from Batavia of Republican negotiators, restitution of the Republican hospital to Republican hands, and some reasonable provision of diplomatic privileges and immunities to those members of the Republican Delegation who the Committee of Good Offices considered were actually engaged in negotiations. Mr. Helb was advised that since those representations had been made, Mr. Cochran reported continued serious deterioration in the already unsatisfactory relationship between the Republican and Netherlands Delegations, a deterioration which he felt was primarily due to Netherlands insistence upon the three items enumerated in the foregoing. Mr. Helb was advised that Mr. Cochran felt that the removal of these obstacles was a prerequisite to the resumption of negotiations and that the Netherlands Government must fully understand his views. Mr. Helb was further advised that the Department fully associated itself with Mr. Cochran’s opinion and considered that the Netherlands was ill-advised in the extreme to allow rigid adherence to policies of secondary importance of this sort to jeopardize resumption of negotiations which, we believed, could achieve a settlement of the dispute. Accordingly, it was suggested to Mr. Helb that the Netherlands Delegation in Batavia return the Republican hospital to Republican hands, work out with Mr. Cochran a reasonable compromise on the provision of diplomatic privileges and immunities to a plausible number of Republican negotiators and suspend action on the decree requiring the departure from Batavia of certain Republican negotiators and their families. This was characterized to Mr. Helb as an act of statesmanship which this government expected the Netherlands to exhibit.¹

Mr. Helb agreed to convey immediately to The Hague the views of the Department. He said, speaking personally and without instruction, that while some compromise on the issues discussed might be possible he felt he must point out that such action on the part of the Netherlands as the Department has suggested would most certainly be interpreted by the Republic as a confession of weakness on the part of the Netherlands and that such would inevitably result in increased demands on the part of the Republic for further concessions from the Netherlands. He reviewed the long history of negotiations so as to substantiate this view. He added that it seemed abundantly clear to him now that no agreement reached with the Republic was of any value. In this connection, he mentioned (a) the continued infiltration of Netherlands-held territory by Republican operators in contravention to the truce agreement; (b) continued vilification of the Netherlands and Netherlands officials by the Republican radio and press; (c) the abuse of Netherlands hospitality by Republican negotiators who engaged in opium smuggling and who directed infiltration operation from Batavia; and (d) the flat refusal on the part of the Republic to validate Principle One of the Renville Agreement which provided for Netherlands sovereignty.

[Since other diplomatic representatives were waiting to see Mr. Reed, it was necessary to bring the conversations to a close. It was the consensus of Department officers present that Mr. Helb’s views did not promise a particularly conciliatory point of view from his government, since Mr. Helb has in the past held relatively liberal views on the Netherlands-Indonesian Republic dispute.]

1. Telegram 470, September 24, 7 p. m., to The Hague, instructed the Embassy to make similar representations to the Netherlands Foreign Office (501.BC Indonesia/9–2348). This was reported in telegram 447, Usgoc 148, to Batavia.