290 Burton to Evatt
Cablegram 292 CANBERRA, 4 October 1945
Cabinet last night agreed to the appointment of a number of Trade
Commissioners including Peterson at Batavia. [1] The submission by
Commerce [2] was not shown to us in advance but Mr. Makin has
stated that he made the point, to which Cabinet agreed, that this
appointment did not prejudice in any way the appointment of a
Consul-General under whose jurisdiction the Trade Commissioner
would work.
In view of the situation in N.E.I. and of the Cabinet decision an
early appointment as Consul-General at Batavia seems essential.
Would Langley [3] be interested and suitable?
1 See AA: A2703, vol. 3.
2 Agendum 956 (in AA; A2700, vol.19) argued that Trade
Commissioner services would be more important than ever in the
post-war world, and that strong and efficient representation must
be maintained, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United
States. It sought approval for the return of A. E. Hyland as
Director of Trade Publicity, London, with C. E. Critchley as Trade
Commissioner there (or equivalent); J. U. Garside as Commercial
Counsellor, Washington, R. R. Ellen as Trade Commisioner, New
York, and a further appointment to San Francisco; the return of H.
A. Peterson to his pre-war posting at Batvia, and an appointment
as yet undecided to Singapore. Cabinet was further informed
consideration being given to appointments to Cairo, India, China
and Brazil.
3 It has not been possible to establish his iddentity.
[AA : A3195, 1945, FOLDER, TO AND FROM DR. EVATT IN LONDON. FOREIGN MINISTERS' CONFERENCE, 0.25497]
