Cablegram 7 BATAVIA, 17 February 1946, 12.25 a.m.
MOST IMMEDIATE PERSONAL SECRET
Many thanks for your message of 16th February [1] which has crossed one I sent to you through London.
I understand your difficulties, but I am bound to say that I must adhere to the views specified in my message. It seems that there must be some misunderstanding about the attitude of the Netherlands Minister, because I gather from Dr. van Mook that he has received specific instructions from the British and from the Netherlands Government to ask that movement of the 700 Indonesians be delayed.
So far as we here are concerned it is most important that these men should not arrive until the first stages of the negotiations are over and I again beg you to be so good as to arrange this. It occurs to me that, as the vessel has already left Sydney, a way out of this difficulty might be found by slowing up her voyage in such a way that she does not reach Batavia until the third week in March.
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1 Document 90.
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[AA:A1838/2, 401/3/6/1/5]