JAVA’S DEFENCE

Wairarapa Times-Age, 20 August 1938, Page 6

JAVA’S DEFENCE

AIR FORCE & SUBMARINES. EFFECT OR SINGAPORE BASE. That the Dutch have been very anxious for several years at the penetration of the Japanese southwards, more particularly as the nearest oil field to Japan is in Borneo, was the opinion expressed to a representative of “The Press” in an interview by Mr A. J. Leland, of Sourabaya, Java, who is visiting Christchurch, in the course of a world tour. “The Dutch realise to the full,” he said, “that they must be prepared for any eventuality and are actively strengthening every branch of their defences. “The completion of the Singapore naval base,” Mr Leland said, “was received with feelings of intense gratification in the Dutch community. They realise that a Britain prepared to protect her interests is the best guarantor of the security of the'Dutch colonial possessions. Now that Japan is very definitely committed in China, my opinion is that the danger to the East Indies has been considerably eased, unless the naval party, always in favour of expansion to the south as opposed to the army’s territorial adventures in Manchukuo and North China, forces the issue with a view to saving the country’s face, lost in the present war.” The Dutch, Mr Leland explained, had reached advanced stages in the protection of their main centres from air raids. They had a large submarine flotilla which was very up-to-date, and most efficiently manned. Their naval air service was one of which they could justifiably be proud, and which they were in process of re-equipping with the most modern Dornier flying boats, of German design, but made in Holland. Many Martin bombers were also on order. Air exercises of the most strenuous type were undertaken, the machines travelling to as far away as New Guinea and being absent from their bases for two months at a time. “The army gives the impression of being starved financially,” Ml - Leland said, “although its morale is excellent and it has proved itself in many colonial wars.”

When asked whether the cry of “Asia for the Asiatics” was ever heard from the more vocal sections of the native population, Mr Leland said there was little demand on the part of the Javanese for self-government. "Naturally there is a nationalist party in the Dutch East Indies,” he said, “which, while it needs watching, need not be taken as a serious danger to Dutch colonial power under present circumstances. “The Dutch are extremely fortunate,” he concluded, “in that the moneyed classes in Java are Chinese, who form a sort of go-between between the native and the European. The Chinese trader and small merchant are found in all parts of the island. They form a hard-working and law-abiding section of the population who know per-' fectly well that they stand to lose by rapid change. They form an almost perfect shock-absorber between the other two races and are certainly likely to oppose radical movements.”