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Department of State Bulletin, vol. II, p. 411
Statement by the
Secretary of State, April 17, 1940
I have noted with interest the statement by
the Japanese Minister for Foreign Affairs expressing concern on the part of the
Japanese Government for the maintenance of the status quo of the Netherlands
Indies.
Any change in the status of the Netherlands
Indies would directly affect the interests of many countries.
The Netherlands Indies are very important in
the international relationships of the whole Pacific Ocean. The islands
themselves extend for a distance of approximately 3,200 miles east and west
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DOCUMENTS
astride of the Equator, from the Indian Ocean on the west far into the
Pacific Ocean on the east. They are also an important factor in the commerce of
the whole world. They produce considerable portions of the world's supplies of
important essential commodities such as rubber, tin, quinine, copra, et cetera.
Many countries, including the United States, depend substantially upon them for
some, of these commodities.
Intervention in the domestic affairs of the
Netherlands Indies or any alteration of their status quo by other than peaceful
processes would be prejudicial to the cause of stability, peace, and security
not only in the region of the Netherlands Indies but in the entire Pacific
area.
This conclusion, based on a doctrine which
has universal application and for which the United States unequivocally
stands, is embodied in notes exchanged on November 30, 1908, between the United
States and Japan in which each of the two Governments stated that its policy
was directed to the maintenance of the existing status quo in the region
of the Pacific Ocean. It is reaffirmed in the notes which the United States,
the British Empire, France, and Japan—as parties to the treaty signed at
Washington on December 13, 1921, relating to their insular possessions and
their insular dominions in the region of the Pacific Ocean—sent to the
Netherlands Government on February 4, 1922, in which each of those Governments
declared that "it is firmly resolved to respect the rights of the
Netherlands in relation to their insular possessions in the region of the
Pacific Ocean."
All peaceful nations have during recent years
been earnestly urging that policies of force be abandoned and that peace be
maintained on the basis of fundamental principles, among which are respect by
every nation for the rights of other nations and nonintervention in their
domestic affairs, the. according of equality of fair and just treatment, and
the faithful observance of treaty pledges, with modification thereof, when
needful, by orderly processes.
It is the constant hope of the Government of
the United States—as it is no doubt that of all peacefully inclined
governments—that the attitudes and policies of all governments will be based
upon these principles and that these principles will be applied not only in
every part of the Pacific area; but also in every part of the world.
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