Owing to Wongsonegoro's late arrival from Djocja the Central Joint
Board did not meet until yesterday evening, October 19.

2. The parties agreed to accept the arrangement reported in
paragraph 2 of my No. 9 (K.343 [1]) with the reservation that both
forces stand fast in Parakan and Tjandiroto, pending further
discussions.

3. Wongsonegoro handled the East Java question very moderately and
said that though the situation was far from satisfactory there was
no need for pessimism. However a total of 2000 TNI and Republican
civil officers had been arrested in recent weeks and the TNI had
lost more arms since the Cease-Hostilities than in eight months of
guerilla fighting. He therefore requested that all TNI and civil
administration officers imprisoned since the Cease-Hostilities be
released, that all arms be returned, and that there be no further
arrests and seizure of arms without prior consultation in the
local Joint Committee and between local commanders. De Beus, the
Netherlands representative, agreed that the situation in East Java
was unsatisfactory but claimed it was no worse than it had always
been since the Cease-Hostilities came into effect and no more
explosive than in other areas. While he did not accept the
Republican figures, he maintained that all arrests made were quite
legal. However, on the understanding that the arrangement would be
reciprocal, he agreed to refer Wongsonegoro's requests to his
Government for consideration and would try to have a reply within
a week.

4. The UNCI proposal for a military sub-committee to speed up the
allocation of military patrolling responsibilities was accepted by
the Republic and the FCA but rejected by the Dutch on the grounds
that it excluded political and administrative considerations and
was unnecessary in view of the agreement just reached for part of
Central Java. Dow, the Chairman, did not argue the case but
accepted for consideration a Netherlands counter suggestion that
the military advisors of the parties plus an UNCI military
representative deal with difficulties and disagreements as they
arise. This would amount to such the same thing if applied
directly to those areas not included in yesterday's agreement.

5. The Republican representative also raised the questions of
freedom of movement for Republican officials and of Republican
communications between Kotaradja, Batavia and Djocjakarta and the
local Joint Committees. The Dutch agreed to the installation of a
transmitter at Batavia, for which we have been pressing for some
time, but requested time to consider the other items.

6. Your No. 160 [2], Milex returned from a tour of East Java and
East Pasundan yesterday and Milob McLeod is expected to return
from a special mission to Sourabaya this afternoon. I shall cable
their reports as soon as possible.