BY ROBYN PARKES
On his way from Nelson to Westport on Tuesday, 17 March 1914, the Prime Minister, the Right Hon. W. F. Massey, was met at Glenhope by a Murchison deputation and escorted to the township.
The deputation consisted of Mr. J. Colvin, M.P., Mr. A. Thomson, president of the Murchison branch of the Chamber of Commerce, Mr. Badcock, county chairman, and Mr. Hugh Fraser, county clerk.
The deputation raised several matters affecting the welfare and progress of the district. The first matter brought to Mr Massey's notice was the fact that the railway should be proceeded with forthwith at least as far as the ‘Letterbox’.
Mr. Massey remarked on the work that had already been done and said that he intended that the railway should be proceeded with as soon as possible. The need for opening up the Maruia Hot Springs and vesting them in the Murchison County Council was then raised. Mr. Massey promised to bring the matter to the notice of the Minister in charge of the Tourist Department.
Mr. Fraser then urged that a better mail service should be given to Murchison. He pointed out, as showing the progress of the district that, during the last decade, the area of settled land had increased enormously.
In 1904, there were 65,000 acres of settled land in the county, while in 1914 the total had increased to 207,000 acres but Murchison only had a twice weekly mail service. Mr. Fraser urged that a daily mail service, or at least one on every day a train went to Glenhope, was needed. Mr. Massey promised to do whatever was possible in the matter.
Other matters brought to his notice were the need for a trunk line of telephone to Nelson, a road along the Gowan River to Lake Rotoroa, which would open up one of the finest tourist resorts in New Zealand, also the need for increased road and bridge facilities in various parts of the district.
On arrival in Murchison, the Prime Minister proceeded to the showgrounds to open Show Day where he was received with cheers and to the accompaniment of ‘See the Conquering Hero Comes’, played by the band.
As to the reply to the various requests, Mr. Massey promised to do whatever possible, and to bring the matters mentioned to the notice of the various Ministers in charge on his return to Wellington. His time in Murchison ended with a luncheon at Stockton’s Hotel after which he left for Westport at around 2.30.
As to what the results of the community’s requests were - the three main ones either never happened or were considerably delayed.
The railway never got as far as Murchison. Between 1924 and 1929 a 6 km section was built to Gowan Bridge, but this was only ever used for freight. In January 1931 the government ordered an immediate halt to all work on the line due to economic conditions, and no further work was undertaken beyond Glenhope.
Three years after the request to have the Maruia Hot Springs vested in the Murchison County Council, in March 1917 it was emphatically proclaimed by the Hon Sir F. Bell that the springs of around 4000 acres would not the vested in any local body.
They were to be open for lease; the lessee to provide accommodation for a stated number of persons at a fixed tariff, accommodation for horses to be also provided at tariff rates.
In the issue of the two-weekly mail service being insufficient for Murchison, a year later nothing had changed.
