A CANTERBURY TRIBUTE

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XLII, Issue XLII, 18 July 1923, Page 7

A CANTERBURY TRIBUTE

SIR, WILLIAM AND OTIRA TUNNEL

CHRISTCHTIRCH, July 16

In paying a. tribute to the late Sir William Fraser, Mr. H. J. Marriner, chairman of the Railway Committee of the Canterbury Chamber of Commerce, said that the people of Canterbury particularly were -indebted to Sir William Fraser in his capacity of Minister of Public AVorks. During the war, when money was tight, a crisis arose with regard to the carrying on of work in connection with the Otira tunnel. Strong pressure was brought to~ bear on all the Ministers in favour of closing down the work, or at least cutting down, the amount of money required. The arguments in favour of that course were logical, but at the critical moment Sir "William Fraser, having carefully considered every detail, decided ' that the wisest and most economical course was to push the work through to its completion.; and, as everybody now knew, his efforts in that connection were successful. Since he left office his successors had carried on the work, and it was the irojiy of fate that Sir William Fraser should be taken when the linking-up of the East and West Coasts was an accomplished fact, and on August 4, the date fixed for the official opening of the Otira tunnel, his kindly presence would be much missed. /