*URANCE
OWS
.
THE EFFECT
OF THE LOSS OF GERMAN AGENTS TO BRITISH COMPANIES.
As the Board of Trade k
of recent years obtained-a-large cu m
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proportion of Japanese trade and have seriously
the position of British traders. The British Inst
Companies, on the other hand, have secured and have
far been able to maintain a paramount position among the
Foreign Insurance offices represented in Japan and Korea.
To continue to do so they must, as heretofore, follow the
line of commerce. If Japanese foreign trade were
controlled by England there would be a natural end of German Insurance Agencies. In the existing state of
mercantile affairs German Insurance Agents are essential.
If the former and greater problem were solved, the latter
and lesser would solve itself automatically.
And this leads us to review the effect of any enforced
lose by British Insurance Companies of their German repre- sentatives in Japan (and in other countries) where a large proportion of desirable business is under the control or influence of Germans. In the first place, it would, of course, be a misapprehension to assume that a dispossessƏKİ German Agent would prejudice himself by retiring and leaving his connections in the hands of his British supplanter. All he would do would be to accept Agency for one of the many strong Compani~-~
countries,
-
notably German, American of
which are or would become available at present coming to a British
4