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20 BRITONS V. GERMANS IN CHINA and from what we have ascertained most of them lived far beyond their incomes. Nearly all the juniors and many of the seniors were heavily involved in debt to their Chinese staffs. By this it is not to be understood that there is no such thing as extravagant living amongst the British and foreign population; on the contrary, there is a good deal, but certainly not to the same extent as was the case with the Germans.
The liquidations were not commenced till the end of October, 1914, and from a business point of view this is a great pity, as in the interval between the declaration of war and the first internment or expulsion of enemy subjects from our Colony, they had ample time to cover up the tracks of many of the more shady transactions, and also to prevent a great deal of potentially useful information getting into our hands. Only in the case of a few firms has any of
BRITONS V. GERMANS IN CHINA
21
the private correspondence been available, and in many instances important books and documents were not to be found, the opportunity having no doubt been taken to destroy the same or forward them to Shang- hai. Thus the chance has gone by for ever of proving to the hilt that there was no general deep-laid scheme in view to subvert British interests in Hongkong.
It would be a mistake to minimise the amount of trade done by the Germans. They certainly had a firm grip on many branches, and practically a monopoly of the business in Dyes, Cotton Fancy Piece Goods, Metals, Arms and Ammunition, and also of the bulk of German and Austrian manufactures. Therefore, this matter must not be looked upon as a small one; it must be clearly realised that the amount of mis- chief done to British trade by these