The American Consul-General told me that he had seen Soekarno,
Sjarifoeddin and senior Ministers for some hours. [1] He explained
to them what good offices were along the lines set out my telegram
271. [2] He said they had completely misunderstood the position
and expected the party offering good offices to be their advocate
to secure appointment of an international Arbitration Commission.

He thought that that was how they regarded the Australian offer
too.

I asked whether he had put a definite proposal to them and he
replied that he had asked them to say whether or not they accepted
the American offer as he had explained it. They promised a reply
later.

He added that he thought that Soekarno was not well informed of
the Military position.