Letter BATAVIA, 10 May 1949
With reference to your Note [1] (No. PA.10/4380) of 23rd April, in which you suggest preliminary arrangements for the proposed substitution by the Government of Indonesia of textiles for those textiles among the Australian Government’s post-U.N.R.R.A. relief supplies to the distribution of which the Government of Indonesia has hitherto objected, I have the honour to submit the following comments.
In your letters to me of 30th December [2], 1948, and 7th February [3], you indicated that the objection of the Government of Indonesia to the distribution of the Australian textiles was merely provisional and ‘for the time being’ and it has been my understanding that with a favourable development in the situation the Government would be willing to withdraw its objection. I am confident you agree that the recently announced agreement between the Delegations of the Netherlands and the Republic of Indonesia is such a favourable development, and I invite your attention to the particular consideration that under this agreement, it will now be possible for a responsible distribution of the relief supplies among the population of the territories controlled by the Republic prior to 19th December last, to be satisfactorily arranged by the Republican Government. Under these circumstances I assume that the Government of Indonesia will be agreeable to facilitate the earliest possible distribution of the supplies and will relax its prohibition on the import of the Australian textiles, and that the question of arrangements for a substitution of textiles will no longer arise.
As you suggest in your Note, I am anxious to finalise this matter at an early date, and I have the honour to request your early confirmation of my understanding of the present position.
I take this opportunity to renew to you, Sir, the assurance of my high consideration.
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1 In this letter De Ranitz informed Pritchett that it would be necessary to ascertain the present value of the Australian textiles before they were to be exchanged for textiles held by the NEI Government and distributed in Republican areas.
2 Not published.
3 Document 195.
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[AA : A4357/2, 352/2, i]