Cabinet 1: Introduction: Ernie Webber
Prospectus/proposal for The South West Company Limited, c.1931. MS-3333
‘The Memorandum herein is not a mass of mere figures, but is the result of over six years intensive study and examination of all the problems under review...’. So begins Webber’s 104 page proposal for the South West Company, which aimed ‘to exploit the whole of the Provincial District of Southland lying south of Milford Sound and eastward of a line from Milford Sound to Lake Wakatipu...’. With the notion of raising capital of several millions in London, this scheme advanced tourism, in particular transport, with steamer and motor boat services, and light (18 inch gauge) railway routes from Oban to Port Pegasus, Otautau to Preservation Inlet, and Otautau to Wakatipu. There was also accommodation plans, with ‘Guest Ranches’, and amusements ‘for all ages and tastes’ such as for riding, skiing, canoeing, swimming, and fishing. Webber was 26 when he produced this ‘unsurpassed’ proposal, with its hand-crafted logo.