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BRITONS V. GERMANS IN CHINA
a remarkably short space of time. But when it came to acquiring a knowledge of Chinese they were up against a different proposition altogether. In Hongkong, Can- ton and Southern China very few learnt more than a smattering of colloquial Chinese, and at least an equal proportion of British- ers have also attained similar knowledge. It is said that in Hankow and Tientsin, where a knowledge of Chinese is more of a necessity, the Germans are better equipped in this respect than the British, but this is certainly not the case in Shanghai and South China. While it would be foolish to minimize the advantages to be derived from one's ability to speak Chinese, the benefit thereof is liable to be overrated. It is a fact that one may have studied the language for years, and have reached perfection in accent and everything else, yet, if your competitor is able to convey by
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BRITONS V. GERMANS IN CHINA signs or "Pidgin" English to your customer that his cloth is one cash per yard cheaper, thrown to the winds is your fluent Chinese, and away goes your opponent with the order in his pocket.
Many German firms employed Bri- tishers as salesmen, especially for their Manchester goods departments. They treated these men well and paid them well. On the other hand, several British houses considered it necessary to engage Ger- mans and Austrians to manage their smallware departments. In few cases was the result satisfactory, and it would be better in future to rely on our own men to work our own business. It is not necessary for us to employ foreigners even to deal in German goods, for it is a remarkable fact that one or two British firms in China were doing a profitable business in German commodities while the Germans themselves
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