I have just read Mr. Macmahon Ball's report of the 17th of
December [2] on his work in the Netherlands East Indies. While I
agree with a great deal of his report and his attitude, like most
political scientists of today he seems to me to ignore the
fundamental question as to how government would work out in the
Netherlands East Indies if left to the present representatives of
the Indonesians. They number a few hundred intellectuals leading a
body of armed guerillas over a vast mass of illiterate people.

There are four different nationalities in Java alone and over
forty in the Netherlands East Indies. There are seventyeight
rajahs in Java alone. How on earth can such a regime maintain
Indonesia as a stable community and as an independent member of
the United Nations Organisation and a contributor to international
security?
When I met Van Mook at a dinner at San Francisco, I asked him
whether he thought he would be met with open arms by the
Indonesians. He said he thought so. I then said I disagreed and
that the only remedy seemed to me to be trusteeship. He objected
to that on the ground that investments would not be made under
such a system. Mr. Macmahon Ball does not even say whether the
Indonesians would accept trusteeship. The stability of the Pacific
islands is of the utmost importance to Australia. Java is, of
course, not the only one whose stability is in question.