Birth of a Nation
With great good will and considerable misgivings, the Dutch this week recognised the unequivocal independence of the United States of Indonesia. The two nations, Holland and Indonesia. will hence- forth be linked only by the titular supremacy of the Dutch throne ; in all fundamendls the equality of the two States is as complete as their mutual independence. It is true that provision has been made for regular consultation between the partners, and that the way is made easy for joint action in matters of importance such as defence and foreign relations, but in the instruments of independ- ence which were signed in Amsterdam and Batavia on Tuesday it is the act of separation which is precise ; the links which remain are so slender that it would be as easy to let them perish through neglect as to break them with violence. There is nothing here for this country to wonder at or disapprove of. After we had set the example, it became inevitable that other European Powers with possessions in the East would be forced to make a final abdication of their sovereignty. The only cause for wonder is that in the case of Indonesia, after four years of bloodshed, mistrust and recrimina- tion, the final stages have been conducted in an atmosphere of genuine tolerance. Today, at any rate, the experiment will start oft with the blessing of mutual confidence, and as the Indonesian Prime Minister, Mr. Hatta, said at the end of The Hague Conference in November, " Only confidence will enable a good functioning of the Netherlands-Indonesian Union." The new rulers of Indonesia have few illusions about the difficulties which they face. The economic and administrative problems would alone call for the highest states- manship, but hardest of all will be to create a nation out of fifty millions who have no tradition of unity to look back on except that provided by the masters they have now finally cast off.
