·Cistem
53952/40.
MOST IMMEDIA TE
No. 68 Important.
ford thy sector of Hate mother
CORE TELISTAM Most IMMEDIATE
0. A.. BONG KONG.
cul
2871 www.
By Ton
Return derece to Mr. Gent.
of the obseres
boded & sent 12.00hrs 25/1/41
19
bolowy's
am happy to send you my warm congratulations on the hundredth anniversary of the foundation of the Colony of Hong Kong.
The times are not propitious for any
elaborate celebration of the centenary, but
!
I know that the ceremonies by which you
intend to mark the occasion will express to
the full the ride we can justly feel in
the achievements of a hundred eventful years.
The scene which a hundred years
ago met the eyes of the small British
landing party was that of a des late barren
island with a skyline of high broken peaks.
Today they would recognise only the skyline: they would see with admiration, though not perhaps with surprise, a great port, with modern docks an wharves, a flourishing commercial and administrative capital,
and a well armed fortress. These are the
monuments which honour, more eloquently
than any words, those who for the first 100 years of British rule guided the destinies of the Colony and raised it to a
proud place in the forefront of the great
world centres of trade, finance and
industry.