List of Documents 1 April 1932
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LIST OF DOCUMENTS PUBLISHED IN 'DOCUMENTEN BETREFFENDE DE BUITENLANDSE POLITIEK VAN NEDERLAND 1919-1945' (DOCUMENTS RELATING TO THE FOREIGN POLICY OF THE NETHERLANDS 1919-1945) april 1 1932 - mei 30 1933 THE HAGUE 1987 This book contains the complete text of the 'List of documents' from: Documenten betreffende de buitenlandse politiek van Nederland 1919-1945. Periode B: 1931-1940. Deel 11: 1 april 1932 - 30 mei 1933. Bewerkt door W.J.M. Klaassen en J. Woltrivg. (Rijks Geschiedkundige Publicatiën, Grote $erie 199). 's-Gravenhage, Martinus Nijhoff, 1987. LIST OF DOCUMENTS’ 1 The numbers in the first column refer to the numbers of the documents. The date of the documents, the sender’s and the adressee’s names and the place where the document was written, if it was not The Hague, are shown in the second column. Where the Netherlands Minister for Foreign Affairs was the sender or adressee, this is not indicated. Where names might be confused, first initials have been ad- ded; titles have not been added. Where notes and other documents that were not dispatched are concer- ned, only the author’s name has been indicated (i.e. without the addition of from or to). The third column contains a short description of the text of the documents. Some names have been simplified, e.g. Beelaerts instead of Beelaerts van Blokland. No. Date; from/to Description 1.4.1932 League of Nations: disarmament conference. from the League Explanatory notes to the Netherlands memoran- of Nations Affairs dum for the disarmament conference should be Division to the drawn up. The Aviation and Budgetary Commis- delegation to the sions’ questionnaires would be dealt with by the disarmament conference ministries of Public Works and Defence. 1.4.1932 Belgium: coal imports. Talks between Belgian and from Van Nispen Dutch coal producers attended by Van Romburgh tot Sevenaer (Brussels) had proved fruitless. A more diplomatic tone on the part of the Dutch and more thorough prepa- rations for such negotiations were to be recom- mended. 2.4.1932 Belgium: treaty amendment. Considering the from Van Nispen mood of the Upper House, it was as well that no tot Sevenaer (Brussels) agreement had been reached on the amendment to the 1839 treaties. The appointment of a new envoy in Brussels as from 1 October 1932 was requested. 2.4.1932 Germany: import duties. Von Bülow had been in- from Van Limburg Stirum formed that Germany’s attitude towards the reci- (Berlin) procal balance of trade had caused widespread dis- satisfaction in the Netherlands. Special attention requested for the import of Dutch coal and eggs. Suggestion that additional exchange be made avai- lable for purchases in the Netherlands. 4.4.1932 Great Britain: import duties. The Netherlands Go- De Marees van Swinderen vernment objected to the impending imposition of to Simon (London) a discriminatory import duty on tea. The drop in tea prices was not due to imports from Java and Sumatra; moreover, an open-door policy was still pursued in NEI. 4.4.1932 Germany: trade. Discussion of feasibility of impo- Minutes of meeting of Trade sing exchange controls if full payment was not re- Treaties Negotiations ceived for Dutch exports to Germany. Nederbragt Committee opposed to this particular measure but in favour of taking action against German exchange regula- tions. Resolved that Hirschfeld and Ries draft in- structions for a delegation (No. 12). 6.4.1932 Pollution of the Rhine: France. Residual salts dis- Schlingemann to Ringers charged into the Rhine by the potassium industry in Alsace raised the chlorine content at Lobith to over 120 g/m3 only when the water was at its low- est level. The French Government should be invi- ted to participate in a joint study of the question, for which task the Central Commission for the Na- XI No. Date; from/to Description vigation of the Rhine did not seem to be the ap- propriate body. 8 7.4.1932 Tradepolicy. Referring to vol. I, No. 370, Neder- Minutes of meeting of Trade bragt stated that a study was being made of what Treaties Review Committee the tariff lists attaching to the draft trade agree- ment with Belgium should comprise. During a dis- cussion of the plans for a Danube federation, Ne- derbragt stressed that the Government should con- tinue to uphold the most-favoured-nation prin- ciple and, at the same time, promote the creation of larger economic units in Europe. 9 9.4.1932 Central America: diplomatic service. Account of from Van Nagel1 (Guatemala) contact with two agents of the Koninklijke Neder- landsche Stoomboot Maatschappij in Guatemala and with consular officials in El Salvador and Costa Rica. The writer proposed his own appoint- ment as envoy in El Salvador, Costa Rica and Pa- nama. 10 11.4.1932 Great Britain: import duties. The British Govern- from De Marees van ment’s adoption of a protectionist policy was de- Swinderen (London) liberately calculated to inflict considerable da- mage on foreign industries. The legation could on- ly advise Dutch industrialists to urge their British clients ta exert pressure on the commission ap- pointed to make recommendations on import du- ties. 11 11.4.1932 Trade policy. A disadvantage of the Emergency Hirschfeld to Verschuur Imports Act was that quota measures were time- consuming and put relations with other countries on an uncertain footing. Hirschfeld advocated the abolition of proportional quotas and the introduc- tion, by Royal Decree, of a system along Swiss lines. 12 [12].4.1932 Germany: trade. The German Government should Hirschfeld and Ries to Ver- make exchange available for imported goods, schuur and De Geer ships’ cargoes and debt payments, and facilitate the import of butter, eggs and herring. The Ne- therlands balance of payments should be protected by a special arrangement. If the German negotia- tors proved intractable, the Netherlands delega- tion should be instructed to inform them that the Government was contemplating the restriction of currency exports to certain countries. 13 12.4.1932 Central America: consular service. Proposal that Themps to Nederbragt an experienced career consul be posted to Central XI I No. Date; from/to Description America to supervise the honorary consuls in Gua- temala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Costa Rica, who were badly informed. 14 12.4.1932 League of Nations: disarmament coderence. from Deckers The Netherlands delegation should be very firm in its defence of submarines, which had greatly im- proved the maritime position in the Far East. The simultaneous banning of submarines and warships was unacceptable to the Netherlands. 15 12.4.1932 Denmark: import duties. Minister Mohr had sta- from W. van Rappard ted that the Danish Government was prepared to (Copenhagen) maintain the traditional ratio of 3 E:1 for imports from and exports to the Netherlands. The writer hoped that the Netherlands Government would al- low increased imports of Danish meat. 16 12.4.1932 Defence: neutrality. Enclosure of draft neutrality Jager to De Graaff proclamation (annex). The majority of the Interdepartmental Committee were ad hoc advo- cates of control of fuel oil exports from NE1 ports. 16A [12].4.1932 Defence: neutrality. Interdiction against entering draft neutrality or crossing Netherlands territory placed upon bel- proclamation ligerents; offenders would be disarmed and inter- ned. The provision of active support for a belli- gerent power prohibited. 17 14.4.1932 Denmark: import duties. Instructions to ascertain to W. vanRappard whether the Danish foreign exchange authorities were handling the import of Netherlands products more stringently than those of other countries, and if that proved to be the case, to protest. The Minister of Colonies was concerned about the im- port of NE1 products in Denmark. 18 16.4.1932 Oslo cooperation. The writer had discussed the Beelaerts van Blokland central European preferential treatment plans (see (Geneva) No. 8) with Munch, Braadland, Ramel and Hy- mans, acceptance of which could perhaps be made conditional on the reciprocal acceptance of prefe- rential treatment for the Oslo states. It had been agreed that senior officials would meet in Stock- holm on 28 May. 19 17.4.1932 France. Suggestion that No. 11 be sent to Bee- Hirschfeld to Verschuur laerts. France was not greatly affected by Nether- lands quota measures nor could French exports to the Netherlands be termed excessive. 20 20.4.1932 Germany: trade. Writer’s displeasure that Ries and from Van Limburg Stirum Hirschfeld had not informed Nederbragt of their XI11 No. Date; from/to Description (Berlin) instructions (No. 12). Care should be taken that other departments did not arrogate competence. 2ûA 20.4.1932 Germany: trade. That Ries had surprised the wri- from Van Limburg Stirum ter the previous day with No. 12, was proof of (Berlin) careless and faulty working methods which should be avoided in future. 21 22.4.1932 Germany: trade. Doubts about both Ries’ compe- from Nederbragt tence in the conduct of negotiations with foreign governments and Hirschfeld’s qualities as a lea- der. Talks with Ritter and Köpke had led the writer to conclude that Berlin was favourably disposed towards the Netherlands, and that the flexible ap- plication of German exchange regulations was within the bounds of possibility. 22 22.4.1932 Austria: League of Nations loan. Discussion in from Zimmerman (Velp) the Control Commission for League of Nations lo- ans of a transaction of the Austrian Credit-Anstalt which would increase Austria’s foreign debt. It re- mained to be seen whether the Austrian Govern- ment would be able to meet the obligations thus incurred. 23 22.4.1932 Germany: trade. Exchange problems had been dis- Hirschfeld to Verschuur cussed several times with a German delegation which was to study the Netherlands proposal re- ferred to in No.