330
18
BRITONS V. GERMANS IN CHINA
that the labourer, be he British or German, is worthy of his hire.
The most curious fact which has been brought to notice was that even in their own German and Austrian manufactures they carried on amongst themselves an astounding cut-throat competition with each other, which leaves one in speech- less wonder as to where the necessity arose for doing such business. Why did they not stop at home, rather than face the discomforts of a tropical climate, without any visible recompense for the same beyond a bare living, and with little or no prospect of putting anything aside for the proverbial rainy day?
Contrast all this with what the British have done. Their portion of the trade, as distinguished from trade done by the Chinese themselves, probably amounted to over 70 per cent. of the total business done, and on their portion it is certain they made
BRITONS V. GERMANS IN CHINA 19
not two but twenty times as much as the Germans did. There are excellent grounds for surmising there is more than one British firm in Hongkong whose annual net profits equal the total amount made by all the German firms lumped together. This all makes for wealth and improvement in the Colony, as our profits are reinvested for the most part in new enterprises, and in extending the business already in hand. Yet that old nightmare of frightfulness, General Bernhardi, has the effrontery to tell us Ilongkong has reached its present eminent position chiefly through German industry.
The Germans did not invest their money in the Colony to anything like the same extent as the British, owing mainly, we must suppose, to the fact that they had not the means to do so. Any surplus cash was employed in keeping up appearances; some had fine offices, others fine houses,
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.