On January 23rd, the Territorial Commander [1] of West Java
ordered the arrest of four Republican supporters in the Pasundan,
two or them elected members of the Pasundan Parliament. One of the
latter is Sujoso who led the Republic supporters in the third West
Java Conference and has since been Leader of the 'Indonesian
Party' in Parliament.

2. Following the arrests, the Territorial Commander issued a
proclamation containing the following points:-

(a) 'A state of war and siege' still exists in the Pasundan which
means that responsibility for the maintenance of order and
security rests with the Military Commander.

(b) This authority has so far been exercised leniently but as
order and security have deteriorated rather than progressed and as
disturbing influences are again active, the Military Commander has
been obliged to order some arrests.

(c) The Government of the Pasundan and Indonesian officials are
called upon to assist the Military Commander so that he need not
intervene more than necessary.

3. When the arrests were made the Pasundan Prime Minister [2] was
absent at Bangka (my telegram K.256 [3]). In his absence six of
the seven other members of the Cabinet resigned. The Dutch issued
today a belated official report that the Ministers resigned
because 'they could not [4] with the urgent programme of Premier
Djumhana'.