Enclosure 2.
MR. CHAIRMAN AND GENTLEMEN,
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I have accepted with great pleasure the invitation of the Jubilee Committee, and of the loyal community of Hongkong, to unveil this statue of Her Majesty QUEEN VICTORIA.
I feel highly honoured at having to take so prominent a part in this interesting function, and am glad to think that my name will for all time be connected with it.
This immense concourse of Her Majesty's loyal subjects, and of the Repre- sentatives of other Powers with their fellow-countrymen, is a sight which will never be forgotten by those who are witnessing it.
Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen. This statue is to commemorate the Jubilee
of Her Majesty in 1887. Let me therefore for a moment compare the past of Hongkong with the present. Fifty-nine years ago Hongkong was a barren rock inhabited by 200 or 300 persons. The harbour was unfrequented by vessels.
At
the present moment the Colony presents a remarkable object lesson to the newly arrived Resident or Traveller, unequalled, I believe, in any other part of the world. He sees before him large and, in some cases, magnificent Banks, City Halls, and Houses of Business stretching for several miles along the sea front. Inland he sees rising tier above tier hundreds of fine houses built by and for the thriving merchants of the City. The harbour which fifty-nine years ago was nearly empty of shipping is now filled by steamers and sailing vessels which represent an aggregate capacity of some 15,000,000 of tons per annum.
This wonderful growth has taken place during the reign of Her Most Gracious Majesty QUEEN VICTORIA. And in the place of a few hundred people, Hongkong has now a population of over 250,000 souls. Of these about 240,000 are Chinese. They live here under no compulsion. They are freemen, and are attracted by our liberal institutions and by the equitable treatment and justice of Her Majesty's rule.
Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen. Of the future prosperity and growth of Hong- kong I have not the slightest doubt. Her geographical position, her importance as a great emporium of trade and a strong Military and Naval Station in that girdle of British Colonies which encircles the world is fully recognized by Her Majesty's Government. The opening of the West River, and of additional free- ports in China, will give a further impetus to trade between Great Britain and that enormous and undeveloped Empire. Such measures which can be regarded as certain of fulfilment in the near future will be of inestimable value to millions of the subjects of the Emperor of China as well as to the able and energetic Community of Hongkong.
In conclusion, Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen, I congratulate you on the selection of this fine site for Her Majesty's Statue, and I also congratulate you heartily on the excellent arrangements which you have made for giving to this auspicious and unprecedented event an importance and significance which it alone could deserve.
With the words on my lips of GoD SAVE THE QUEEN I now unveil this Statue.
WILLIAM ROBINSON.
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28th May, 1896.
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