856d.6363/575
The Minister in the Netherlands (Tobin) to the Secretary of State
[Received May 11.]
Sir: Referring to the Department’s Instruction No. 650 of March 27th, I have the honor to report that Mr. Francis B. Loomis, representing the Standard Oil Company of California, called upon me [Page 541] on April 17th and informed me of the desire of his company to obtain an oil concession in the Netherland East Indies.
Mr. Loomis stated that he had just come from the Dutch Indies, where his company had in the last few years expended some $75,000 exploring lands alleged to contain mineral oil; that they had located some promising terrains and now wished to get permission to exploit.
I assured Mr. Loomis that I personally and the Legation would lend him every possible assistance in the furthering of his project.
I outlined to him the history of the long and tedious negotiations conducted by the Koloniale Petroleum Company (Standard Oil of New Jersey). I emphasized the importance of conforming to local law by forming a Dutch company and in this relation supplied him with a copy of the articles of incorporation of the Koloniale. I likewise impressed upon him the great desirability of doing everything possible to conciliate Dutch sentiment in favor of his company.
Mr. Loomis spoke of his need for a legal adviser. I suggested to him Dr. J. Limburg and arranged for a meet[ing]. As the Department is aware, Dr. Limburg is a member of the Council of State, an authority on international law and was at one time requested to form an extra-parliamentary government.
At Mr. Loomis’ request I approached Dr. Limburg with the suggestion that he should act as the legal adviser of Mr. Loomis and of his company. Dr. Limburg hesitated to accept because, as he informed me, he is a member of the commission which deals in an advisory capacity with applications for oil rights in the Indies. When I assured him, however, that Mr. Loomis expected no more from him than advice as to the conditions of the law relating to such companies, he consented to give Mr. Loomis an interview at the Legation. The result was in so far satisfactory that Dr. Limburg consented to act, at least in the commencement of the affairs of Mr. Loomis’ company, as his legal adviser.
Mr. Loomis then requested me to suggest to him the name of some prominent Dutchman who might agree to act as the Managing Director of his Dutch company when and if it should be formed. I suggested to him Mr. J. C. A. Everwijn, a director of the powerful Netherland Trading Company and ex-Minister of the Netherlands to the United States.
At Mr. Loomis’ request, I made an appointment for him to meet Mr. Everwijn. Mr. Loomis subsequently told me that Mr. Everwijn at the outset appeared somewhat taken aback by the modest character of the company which Mr. Loomis proposed to form. Mr. Loomis had decided that as the future of the project was somewhat in doubt, it would be a prudent policy for him to expend no more money than was necessary in the organization of the company. He therefore mentioned to Mr. Everwijn a capital sum of a size merely necessary to [Page 542] comply with the provisions of the law. Mr. Everwijn reserved his decision and requested Mr. Loomis to return after a day or two for further consultation. In the course of the conversation, Mr. Everwijn asked Mr. Loomis if he had not heard the rumor that the oil rights in the Indies had been apportioned between the Royal Dutch and the Standard Oil of New Jersey. Mr. Loomis informed him that he had heard nothing of it.
Mr. Loomis in a subsequent conversation with me suggested that I should myself inquire of the Dutch Colonial Minister if it were true that such a division of the oil district had been made. I told him, however, that I felt I could not properly comply with his request and suggested that he should himself obtain the information either through the officials of the Standard Oil of New Jersey or from the Colonial Office, with whose officers I had already put him in touch. He decided upon the latter course and called upon Dr. Six, Secretary General of the Colonial Ministry. He said that he begged Dr. Six to give him a frank answer unless there were some good reason why he was unable to do so. He told Dr. Six that what he requested from him was such information as might make it clear whether it was fair to allow his company to proceed with the project. He reminded Dr. Six that they had already spent $75,000 for exploration and that Mr. Loomis himself had twice visited the Indies in the interests of his company. He therefore felt it only just that they should be made aware of any arrangement which would radically affect the possibility of success. He told me that Dr. Six responded with evident unwillingness and in the beginning begged him not to press the matter for another two months. As Mr. Loomis, however, insisted, Dr. Six told him it was true—that there was an arrangement by which the exploitation of the Atjeh districts 1 and 2 was reserved to the Koloniale, the Royal Dutch and the Government. Dr. Six added that this arrangement would be made public after two months.
This information has seemed to satisfy Mr. Loomis that it is hopeless to proceed with his project. He informed me this morning that he intended to leave The Hague in a few days. While he has not definitely assured me that he has given up hopes of securing a concession, I suspect that he has done so. Indeed, he informed me that he was already contemplating an effort to induce the Standard Oil of New Jersey to purchase from his company the reports of the explorations that they had made in Atjeh districts No. 1 and 2. “I should like to think,” he said, “that we will get back at least a portion of the money thus expended.” He proposes to obtain another interview with Mr. Everwijn and one with Dr. Limburg.
I have [etc.]