Good News from Indonesia
For once symbolism was apt when, last Saturday, the Dutch and the Indonesian Republicans signed a truce at a session of the United Nations Committee of Good Offices held in an American ship. The Dutch are impelled by a genuine desire for peace, and by the ruinous expense of their military expedition, in the direction of new political discussions. The Republicans have recognised, at least for the moment, that they cannot substantiate a claim either to give good government to the whole of Indonesia or to act as the sole representa- tive of the nationalist aspirations of the people. The United Nations Committee has played an admirable part in promoting a compromise between parties who without their aid would never have reached it. And the United States State Department provided the finishing touch with a set of political proposals, including the holding of free elec- tions, which were accepted by all parties. Both the Republicans and the Dutch authorities have an unhappy past to live down. The Dutch have threatened to resume freedom of action (by which they presumably meant military advance), couched their cease-fire proposals in the form of an ultimatum, and by no means reached full agreement among themselves on the details of that federation which seems to be the right political system for the area. The Republicans on their part have procrastinated, clung to the pretence that their writ ran outside the limited areas in Java and Sumatra to which they are confined, and failed to restrain the irresponsible elements who continue to break out in violence at isolated points. The road ahead to federation, with the Republic occupying its proper place as one among several participating States, will be hard, but both sides have much to hope for. The Dutch will be glad to resume that peaceful rule and economic advance which has made Indonesia rich in the past. And the Indonesian peoples know that, whatever the fate of the so-called Republican Government, the forces of nationalism will find new channels—and perhaps better ones.
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