740.0011 P. W./494
Memorandum of Conversation, by the Acting Secretary of State
The Minister of the Netherlands called to see me this afternoon at his request. The Minister expressed the hope, in the name of his Government, that the Government of the Netherlands would be informed more fully of the policies which this Government might be taking and the practical steps which it might undertake with regard to the situation in the Pacific than had been the case prior to the proclamation of the freezing order regarding Japanese funds.67
I stated to the Minister that I fully appreciated the motive of the request made and entirely concurred in the desire expressed by the Netherlands Government; I said, however, to the Minister that only a week ago I had specifically stated to Mr. Butler, who was then in charge of the British Embassy, that I felt it imperative that the Netherlands Government be fully informed on the views of the United States and British Governments and the steps which they had under contemplation, and that I assumed that, in as much as the Netherlands Government was now functioning in London, the British Government was giving the fullest information on these points directly to the Netherlands Government. I said that Mr. Butler had assured me that that was the case and since I had not heard to the contrary I would be warranted in taking that for granted; if that was not in fact the case I regretted it and that I could only add that had the Minister been in Washington during that period I would, of course, have informed him personally with regard to these matters. I said that it would be my desire to see that any withholding of information on these questions in the future might be avoided.
The Minister said he fully understood and had already been in touch with the British Embassy about this question.
I then went over carefully with the Minister the general lines which we were going to follow in connection with the freezing order, and I also made it clear to the Minister in connection with a remark which he made on the subject that I believed the American oil companies which were doing business in the Netherlands East Indies should discuss directly with the Netherlands East Indies authorities the policies which these companies should pursue with regard to the furnishing of oil to Japan. I said that the Department of State had already given this indication to these American oil companies. I said that at this stage I did not think it appropriate for the United States Government to attempt to undertake the responsibility for what these companies [Page 351] were doing in the Netherlands East Indies. I said that I believed the Netherlands East Indies Government was in a far better position to advise the companies in answering these questions.
The Minister, by instruction of his Government, stated that the Netherlands Government desired the United States to understand that the steps which the Netherlands East Indies Government had now taken were to be regarded as making it clear that the Netherlands Government would not undertake any policy of “appeasement” towards Japan. In view of these facts the Minister said his Government trusted that, in the event that the carrying out of this policy by the Netherlands East Indies Government resulted in hostile action by Japan against the Netherlands East Indies, the Government of the United States would bear in mind the situation of the Netherlands East Indies and the steps which they had taken in order to make it possible for a firm front to be presented against Japan by all of the powers directly interested in the Pacific. I replied to the Minister that I had in mind, as I am sure he did, interviews which had taken place in the past between our military and naval authorities and similar authorities of the British and Netherlands Governments. I said, however, that for the moment I would say nothing more than that the situation in the Netherlands East Indies was a matter uppermost in the mind of this Government and that careful note would be taken on the statement which he had just made to me.
- Executive Order No. 8832, July 26, 1941, Foreign Relations, Japan, 1931–1941, vol. ii, p. 267.↩