NOT TO BE PUBLISHAD GR BRCANAST UNTIL MORNING Of Punday, 25th January,
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On the occasion of the observance in Hong Kong of the Colony's Centenary, Lord Lloyd, secretary of state for the Colonies, has telegraphed the following message to the Governor:-
"I 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 pride we can justly feel in the achievements of a hundred eventful years.
"The scane which a hundred years ago met the eyes of the small British landing party was that of a desolate 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 dooks and wharves, a flourishing commercial and
These administrative capital, and a well armed fortress. 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.
These achievements have been built on the firm and sure foundation of co-operation between the British and Chinese peoples. This co-operation has not been and cannot be limited to the confines of the Colony. Hong Kong, with its shipping and trading interests, with the fine conception of its Universitý,, with its traditions of order and culture, humanity and tolerance, cannot fall to wield a wide, poverful, and growing influence in the far last; it must look far beyond its own borders to fulfil its true destiny.
During "Hong Kong has been a fortress for many years. the perils we have lately experienced we too have come to think of Great Britain as a fortress. From that fortress I send you this message of greeting and congratulation: and I add our thanks for the generous gifts you have made to us and the messages of encouragement and support you have sent to us. They hearten us against whatever trials may lie ahead. They are a happy augury for the future, when we sha embark on our common task of rebuilding in the days of peace
JOLONIAL OFFICE,
25th January, 1941.
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