CO129-429 - Public Offices & Others - 1915 — Page 199

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in starting a new firm or business is finding a new and suitable base and the length of time taken to become known under the new conditions. There is no reason my Committee can urge why any help should be given Germans in this direc- tion es recent events have proved that the mistaken kindness shown by the British Government and the British people was accepted by the Germans to cloak their real intention of underhand aggression.

It has been the past policy of the Government to prevent the sale of German assets of a capital nature even when British creditors are being made to suffer by delay in payment of their debts. In addition, there are cases of Cermans possessing land, buildings, furniture and invest- ments but without debts when the Government see no reason for liquidating.

The Committee desire to point out that this is mistaken kindness to the Germans themselves on the round that if these Germans expect to return under easy conditions of living they will find out their mistake. They have been expelled from all the Clubs and trade organisations and British public opinion is so strongly against them that any attempt at rehabilitation will be strenuously opposed. Individuals naturally do not wish to be obliged to do this and this Chamber believes the best policy would be to turn all German assets into ready money or investments in British Government Stock so as to provide a single and simple method

of uniform settlement when the time comes.

Another point in the method of liquidation of the

stronger German firms is that of Portuguese and particularly Chinese employees who are being subsidised in the form of

Tages

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