Evening star., 1941-04-26
(Tenth OF a Series.J
BY A. T. STEELE,


Chicago Daily News Foreign Correspondent.
BATAVIA, Java CBy Clipper)-Did
Hitler have his tongue in his cheek
when he decided the Netherlands
Indies, along with the rest Of East
Asia, to his japanese allies and
their new order?
The Dutch don't know; but they
strongly suspect that Der Fuehrer
made mental reservations. .--.,-
Germany had strong CONNER
cial foothold in the Indies long be-
fore the Japanese got here. Nor
mally, there are about 5000 Ger
mans doing business In this coun-
try and-if the axis should win
they are not going to enjoy being
eased out of the Indies as other
Germans have been eased out OF
China. The Indies are big po-
tential market for German goods
and machinery. And Hitler could
use the tin and the rubber and the
oil with which these islands abound.
The Dutch probably would rather
have the Germans as overlords than
the Japanese, but they definitely
don't want either. This Is shown
by the drastic measures they have
taken to get all potential trouble
makers under lock and key. Within
a few days after the invasion of
Holland, all Germans between the
ages of 16 and IS had been rounded
up and interned. Several hundred
have been released and allowed to
leave the country, but there are still
about 1000 Germans in concentra-
ton camps in the Indies.
Fifth Columnists Watched.
The fifth column in the Neither
lands Indies is a four-headed mon
ster. There are the Germans, the
Dutch National Socialists, the jap
anese and the small ultranationalist
element among the huge native pop
ulation. The Germans are safely
taken care of in their barbed-wire
enclosures. The Nazi sympathizers
among the Dutch are harder to spot,
but the authorities have interned
about 300 of them and believe that
most of the potential Quislingists
are behind bars or under Surveil-
lance. The 1000 Japanese residents
of the Netherlands Indies are well
scattered and closely watched The
native Nationalists, generally speak
ing, dislike the axis even more than
they dislike the Dutch, which Is con-
siderable. The more radical among
them are in jail, in exile or on the
police department visiting list.
II the Indies ever are invaded or
if the international situation swings
decidedly in the axis favor, then the
fifth column problem may become
a serious one. Unless and until that
happens there is little or no danger
of internal upheaval. There are
undoubtedly some. of pro-Nazi SEN
timentS still at large among the
Dutch population. They are lying
low, for at the moment the gov
ernment has its fifth column prob
lem under very firm control.
Queen Remains a Link.
Before the war the Germans had
many friends among the Dutch
here. The Dutch appreciated their
German neighbors for their eff
cheney and for the good quality and
low price of German products. For
years the Netherlands Indies Navy
had been buying German aircraft.
German goods and machinery had
a big market here,
The ruthless conquest of Holland
and especially the bombing of
Rotterdam brought a big change.
Many who had been outspokenly
pro-Nazi became Hitler -haters over
night. Those who had laughed at
the Nazi menace" were saddened
and embittered by news of the de-
struction of their homes, the suf-
ferings of their friends and rela-
| tives.
The departure of the royal family
for England and the setting up of
a refugee government in London
removed the last shadow of doubt
as TO the course of action the
Netherlands Indies would take.
Though Queen Wilhelmina has
never visited the Indies, the affec-
ton of her Dutch subjects here Is
very deep and very real. Every
where her portrait is On display.