Imperial Valley press., 1941-12-25
CAPITAL TALKS
by
Peter
Edison

4 WASHINGTON. Dec . - Eight
thousand seven hundred and one
miles southwest Of San Francisco i,
the port OF Batavia, capital of the
Netherlands East Indies. Five HIN
dred and twenty-five miles farther
on is Singapore And the sea lanes
to these two ports now become
among the most important of al
, life lines for rdw materials INTO TIE
United States. The sea caravans
must be kept coming with cargoeS
of rubber and TN and manganeSe
and items like quinlnc for tropical
malaria n4hting. kapoE Tor ille
nreseryerS ri the new ShlHS in the
two-ocean Navy and merchant ma
rine Slssal for ropes and lines, tap
ioca for starcheS and p25teS. II L
no military secret to mention these
things now. for the world in gen
! eral and this country IN particular
have known them SMce NE defense
effort began.
Talk about conveying, From
! Singapore and Batavia to san Frah-
cisco across the Pacific Is Just as
| far rs il is the other way around
from Batavia and Singapore to
ondon. across the Indian Ocean,
nm the Red Sea through the SueZ
| Canal. across the Mediterranean
10 Gibraltar and up the coast OF
/ rortuoal apd occlDied France to the
channel ports.
The routes are about equally ha2-
ardous, now that Japan Is III the
war and on the loose. Direct routes
from Singapore and BATAVIA 10 the
United States. across the China Sea
towards Manila and on past Guam
and the Hawaiian Islands are OF
course closed, for there turks the
Japanese fleet. North OF New Cul-
nea. easternmoSt of the Dutch East
indies. are the Jap inundated Car
oline and Marshall islands, with nan
a dozen or more bases from Whicn
commerce ralding submarines ana
bombers can operate like the 2oIh
century pirates that they are.
This whole vast area OF the west
ern Pacific-6000 thousand mllcS CT
il from Singapore to Honolulu-H
as dangerous a theater OF naval
warfare as the Atlantic, and 1t is
from two TO three times as Dig.
From New York TO London IS
mere 300 miles, but from San Fran
cisco TO Singapore is 5000. ana TINS
western Pacific is dotted with 10000
islands and reefs which make the
crossings all the more hazardous.
Won have to travel this area to get
a real appreciation of its distances
and times.
In spite of these hazards, 1t Z
important that the sea lanes 10 tlle
south seas be kept open. Next 10
Great Britain and Russia. these
Netherlands East Indies and the
Malay peninsula are as important as
any ally the United States may have
in this war. For from this area
there comes more strategic mater
ials than from any other single
, country.
Malaga. the peninsula north Of
| SINGAPORE, has furnished the United
States with 40 per cent OF its raw
rubber and IS per cent of its tin.
| The Dutch East Indies have fur
nished another 40 per cent OF the
rubber and another 20 per cent OF
| the tin. On TOP of that. the Meth
erlandS Indies supply 80 per cent OF
! the worlds quinine, 85 per cent CT
it spices. &c per cent Of its kapok.
Putting the picture another way,
the United States in 1910 took C"er
a third OF all the experts from the
Indies, and for l94l the figure will
be even higher. U. S. investments
! in rubber plantations alone tOt2!
more than $40 million.
These Indies will punch weight in
any fight. too Sinking of four Jap
anese troop ships by Dutch sub
marines in the OPENING week Of tic
war is just an indication Of what
these Dutchmen and their 60 mil
lion native population can do. Near
ly all the Dutch fleet escaped the
fall Of the Netherlands in May.
1910, and has been based in the In
dies. Also, it has been augmented
by the construction of a home fleet
of mosquito boats. sub ChaScrs ans
mine SWeeperS. manned by TndOn-
eSian sailors trained to give an ac-
count of themselves in the best ira
ditionS of the Dutch sea br4gars
Tho licked the Spanish in the hun
dred year, struggle with Spain
This embryo fleet OF light cIul-
SerS and deStroyerS and Subma-
lneS is the offensive arm of the
indies force backed Of course by
squadrons OF patrol bomber that
cover the 300 miles Of water in
which its islands lie.
The army OF the Indies is its &C.
fense. There IS compulsory service
for all men between 10 and 46
whether native or European. There
is a motorized force OF some 5000
vehicles and a combat air force CT
American planes.
In May. 1910, when the Nazi:
invaded the low countries, hlnSte.-
dam flashed Just one code word
TO the Netherlands Indies 1t waS
Berlin. That enc code word set
the colonial government in action
Every German ship in Dutch port
and every German was seized Il
would take only another code WOrc
to put the whole Netherlands East
Irdies into even more drastic action
! now
lane Cav Hnnn knnn