Your telegram 190. [1] Indonesia.

We agree that it would be helpful if United States and Belgian
Governments could be persuaded to appoint outstanding persons to
membership of Committee of Good Offices. At the same time, we do
not think that such new appointments would of themselves in any
way enhance prospects of an early and satisfactory settlement.

The causes of continued disagreement in negotiations lie too deep
to to be affected to any great extent by the individual calibre of
the members of the Committee of Good Offices. The dominating
factors are on the one hand Republican determination to attain
what has been the world over regarded as a just claim, and Dutch
intransigence on the other.

As we understand it, the principal fear in the minds of Republican
leaders has been that by accepting any of the Dutch offers made up
to the present they would find themselves committed to
participation in a provisional government of Indonesia enjoying
nominal authority and doomed to an indefinite period of tutelage
under Netherlands sovereignty. Such a turn of events would amount,
in Republican eyes, to a virtual restoration of the status quo and
would fail to recognise the position which the Republic has won
for itself within Indonesia and in the eyes of the world. We
believe it was mainly for purpose of allaying these Republican
fears that Australian and United States members of Committee
produced their proposals. [2] These proposals, while in some
details perhaps unacceptable to the Netherlands would, in our
view, provide sound basis for discussion and immediate agreement.

Notwithstanding unqualified refusal of Netherlands Government to
consider them up to the present, we still believe that, if there
is to be any settlement at all, the Netherlands will have to
accept some of them, possibly as part of the plan which they are
reported to have been discussing with Dr. Hatta.

If the Dutch can be persuaded to meet the Republicans to some
extent on (a) powers to be exercised by provisional government and
(b) prospective date for elections and/or handing over of
sovereignty to United States of Indonesia, we feel that other
difficulties might be quickly resolved.

While the dominating factor in the negotiations has been Dutch
intransigence, this is directly due in our view to encouragement
the Dutch have received from the negative attitude in and outside
the Security Council of all Western powers. The Indonesian
situation will continue to deteriorate unless the Dutch are
pressed to accept early settlement as one of the steps which must
urgently be taken to prevent further inspired political
disturbance in this area.