Evening star., 1949-07-09
By WiIIiom R. Mathews
North American Newspaper Alliance


North American Newspaper Alliance
BATAVIA. Indonesia. June 81
(By Air MaiD "A group Of cor
respondents saw today how an
idea with popular mass appeal
makes history when coupled to a
powerful personality with an un-
relenting will. For more than two
hours they interviewed President
Soekarno Of the republic OF In
donesia on the island Of Bangka,
275 miles northwest Of Java.
Through the courtesy of the
Dutch government. we were flown
to the airfield near the city of
Pangkal Pinang, where we took
modern American autos 80 miles
to the guest house Of a Dutch
tin mine at Muntok. Late this
afternoon we were driven through
is more miles of jungle to Menum-
brang, where a tin-mine villa
overlooks from a high bluff the
straits of Banka. There we met
Mr.. Soekarno.
A well-built man Of 5 feet 5
inches, he wore a loose brown
uniform without insignia of any
kind. The grilling he got was
mereiless and it ranged from
questions about his program for
the future to his collaboration
with the Japanese.
Would Even Use Communists.
Through all the answers ran
one central theme-that of Indo-
nesian independence. He would
use Japanese. he implied he would
use Communists If necessary, to
win independence. He would. in
the words of Winston Churchill,
make an alliance with the devil
to win independence. Moreover,
independence would solve many
social as we'll as political prob
lens. he assured us.
His most important explaining
was on past Communist alliances
and prospects for resisting COM
munism in the future. The best
way to defeat communism Mr..
Soekarno said, was to grant indie
pendence. Let our national as
pirations be fulfilled, and our
theology will be strong enough to
resist communism"
In a brief burst of eloquence.
he exclaimed, "how could I be a
Communist when I pray to God
every day, and one Of the first
principles of my government is
belief in Almighty God?"
He told of how last year his
government had had to execute a
number of Communists and dis
arm thousands of sympathizers to
prevent them from taking control.
He admitted that he had worked
with the Communists, but had
done so because he said they were
working for Indonesian independ-
ence. There were not more than
300 Communists in Indonesia, he
said, but many fellow travellers.
Would Expect U. S. Help.
Asked how he would be able to
resist Communist expeditions from
neighboring states, the Indonesian
president asserted that, once given
independence, his country would
be strong enough to resist. But he
did imply, when asked, that he
would expect help from Britain
and America. He did not think
much of Dutch protection.
I'VE had Dutch protection once
before" he said, "but look what
happened"
Asked about his Japanese col
Elaboration. Mr.. Soekarno said, Il
used it to get independence. It
was a weapon. So the best weap-
on to use against communism is
independence"
AS to ability to maintain law
and order once independence Is
won, he said, "give us chance
to govern ourselves, and we will
maintain law and order"
AS for those in Jogjakarta who
had worked with the Dutch, Mr..
Soekarno said there would be no
reprisals.
The presence of two of his chief
aides-Vice President Hatta and
Foreign Minister Salim-added to
the interest of our interview. MIR.
Soekarno is clearly the man who