Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 56 Part 2.djvu/816

 INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS OTHER THAN TREATIES The Netherlands Ambassador to the Secretary of State NETHERLANDS EMBASSY WASHINGTON, D .O. No 4521 WASHINGTON, D.C., July 2, 1942. SIR, I have the honor to acknowledge receipt of Your Excellency's fur- ther note of May 6, 1942,[2 ] No 811.2222 (1940/712) in the matter of the application of the United States Selective Training and Service Act of 1940, as amended, to Netherlands subjects residing in the United States. After giving the most careful attention to the reasons set forth in that note which have prompted the Government of the United States to reach a decision as explained therein, my Government cannot but express its great disappointment at the policy adopted by the United States Government which will prevent an important number of Netherlands subjects to fulfill their military duties in the armed forces of their own country, while it also seriously hampers the efforts of the Netherlands Government to reinforce their military effectives, a con- siderable part of which were lost in the fight against the common enemies of the United Nations. In previous conferences and in cor- respondence with the Department of State on this subject the Nether- lands Embassy has already had an opportunity to stress the obvious advantage for the common war effort to use preferably men of Nether- lands nationality fighting under the Netherlands flag for the future liberation of Netherlands territory and the re-establishing of law and order there. As Your Excellency is undoubtedly aware, the number of men in the Netherlands Armed forces is already extremely limited under existing conditions, whereas by the proposed arrangement the principal source of manpower for those forces, to wit from among those living in the United States would henceforth be reduced to unappre- ciable figures. The Netherlands Government regrets that apparently no alternative is loft but to comply with the proposals in question, although they are being felt as a considerable handicap in the Government's constant endeavor to prepare for the liberation of its country from the invader as one of its contributions to the combined war effort. My Government has noted that the United States Government is prepared to permit Netherlands nationals who have registered under the Selective Training and Service Act of 1940 as amended, and who have not declared their intention of becoming American citizens, to elect to serve in the Netherlands forces, in lieu of service in the armed forces of the United States, at any time prior to their induction into the armed forces of this country. The Netherlands Government assumes that the names and addresses of Netherlands subjects, who are free to elect to serve in the armed forces of the Netherlands will be made available immediately to the Director of Netherlands Military Registratioh in the United States, 10 Rockefeller Plaza, New York. It is therefore requested that the ' [Not printed.] [56 STAT. 1902

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