164 BRITISH LIFE ASSURANCE, 1914-1918 
neither space nor need for going into details of this system, as 
they are well known. The Companies made, and reiterated, 
a strong appeal that claims under life policies, which were 
certainly debts within the meaning of the treaty, should be 
exempted from this section of its provisions. It was their 
earnest desire that they should be allowed to resume their old 
method of dealing personally with claimants, and they disliked 
the idea of handing over monies, justly due to these persons 
and often already long delayed in payment, to an impersonal 
and complex organization for whose proceedings they could not 
be responsible. There was no idea of reciprocity here, for there 
were few if any British subjects holding policies of Companies 
in what had been enemy countries. It was simply a strong and 
sincere wish, for the sake of their justly earned reputation, to 
give the best possible treatment to those who had claims on 
them. The Government, however, on this issue was adamant, 
and the Companies had to comply. They succeeded, however, 
on one possible point which might have been very important. 
Policies on which there was as yet no claim might possibly be 
held to be ¢ debts ’, inasmuch as they were pecuniary obligations. 
On that they were successful in getting a ruling to the contrary. 
But there was another branch of the business to which the 
definition did certainly apply, namely loans on the security of 
life policies. These were unmistakably debts, and under the 
Treaty they were strictly liable to be called in through the 
Clearing Office. German policy-holders protested against this, 
and the Companies themselves had no desire to enforce it, 
being content with their securities as they stood. On this 
point eventually the authorities gave way, and allowed the 
lenders to let the loans remain, accompanying the permission, 
however, with a caution to the Companies to obtain from the 
borrowers express acknowledgement of what had happened, 
lest in the future it might be pleaded that the omission to comply 
strictly with Treaty Provisions had legally annulled the debts. 
The sensational falls in the German and Austrian exchanges 
which followed the war had of course to be reckoned with in the 
foreign business of the Companies. All claims from enemy