When is our new Government going to do something about the postal system in Bermuda? On February 12, 1999, I received a Christmas card which was mailed in the UK on December 12, 1998. It was sent first class air mail and correctly addressed.

A month ago I mailed a letter in Hamilton to Southampton, Bermuda. It took six days to get there.

Two weeks ago I mailed two letters in Hamilton. The letter to Warwick took six days and a letter to Cavendish Heights took one week. All letters had the correct postage, correct mailing address and postal codes.

It is totally preposterous that a local letter should take one week to travel a few miles.

This letter is being hand delivered to The Royal Gazette .

PONY EXPRESS St. George's Buying PLP votes March 24, 1999 Dear Sir, I am sure that the voters of Paget West will recognise the recent announcement by the PLP Government that they will "build a new post office'' on Middle Road in Paget as an attempt to buy their votes. This is a clear example of election promises. It is funny how the money was not in the recent PLP Government budget, but now magically appears. This is a transparent attempt to woo voters and I am sure it will backfire in their face. Paget West voters -- do not be fooled -- vote for Pat Gordon Pamplin an honest, hardworking candidate -- United Bermuda Party Candidate.

REALIST Paget Seeking Independence March 20, 1999 Dear Sir, Seeking Independence for Bermuda as a country is one form of Independence and is both important and necessary Mr. Editor, but not more important and not more necessary than individual Bermudians seeking an independent free and creative thinking, state of mind! In other words Mr. Editor, if the individual and collective consciousness or state of mind of the Bermudian people is one of dependency, or "We can't do this or we can't do that'', as opposed to one of self-reliance, or "We can do this or we can do that'', it won't matter very much at all Mr. Editor, if the country goes independent or not! DR. CLARK GODWIN Warwick Academy soars! March 25, 1999 Dear Sir, February 28 marked the date of Warwick Academy's fifth Random Acts of Kindness. It was truly an incredible sight to see over 700 parents, teachers, students, alumni and friends of Warwick Academy come together to support both Windreach and the school itself.

The day was picturesque, the walk was fabulous and the work day at the school accomplished over $150,000 of much needed painting, cleaning, repairing and building.

A heartfelt thanks goes out to Bermuda and all who helped make this day so special. From all the teachers who gave so much time and effort to the parents who believe in our school to the students who make Warwick number one.

Additionally, without the overwhelming financial support from numerous business and individuals the day would not have been possible. Random Acts of Kindness certainly proves that our younger generation in Bermuda is one that we can all be proud of and one that will be well groomed in the future to take its rightful place in running our island home.

Thank you Bermuda for your support.

STEPHEN THOMSON Coordinator Random Acts of Kindness Spectre of Independence March 23, 1999 Dear Sir, Thank you for providing us with the White Paper on Britain and the Dependent/Overseas Territories. It provides a great deal of food for thought, and many areas of concern -- and of course raises yet again the question of whether we should seek independence.

The thought of once again having British passports is very enticing -- even more so than free admission to Britain and Europe with the right of living and working there. For a British passport has wide recognition and enables wide-ranging Bermudians to travel far more freely then our present Dependent Territories' books. Against this, Independence would mean a considerable and never-ending struggle to have our own passports recognised anywhere at all.

Among the worrying aspects of the White Paper, though, is the woolly language which sketches financial controls "of the highest standard''. This seems to leave us floundering in a sea of uncertainty. Are those semi-independent entities -- the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man -- to be forced to maintain the same standards? Will we be allowed the "high'' standards of that most civilised of nations, Switzerland? It is interesting that Switzerland has avoided becoming a member of the European Union. Does it fear for the privacy of its banks? For Bermuda one may ask whether controls which meet "fully accepted international standards'' will allow tax investigators from, say Paraguay, to trawl through bank records in the hope of finding a Paraguayan tax evader? And then there is the vague reference to the European draft directive "which would require member states to operate a withholding tax on cross-border income from savings by individuals, or to provide information on savings income to other members states.'' If agreed, this directive would also apply to "dependent or associated territories''.

With regard to other aspects of the White Paper, for myself I do not see any problem with bringing capital punishment to an end. Although one may wonder if the European Union is wise to eliminate corporal punishment -- there is reason to think that sometimes it may be a wiser and more successful choice in dealing with a male than sending him to prison to learn from other prisoners.

At the same time having such ethics forced down our throats when we have had autonomy in such matters since 1684 is hard -- but then the imposition of the bases and the loss of one-eighth of our land area seemed hard in those days.

There is a potential problem if the United States and Europe should ever get at cross-purposes over which drugs are illicit. This applies particularly to marijuana. The decision by several US states to allow marijuana to be used for medical purposes may well end by opening up the use of marijuana throughout the United States -- in which case we should have little choice but to change our laws, or see the tourist business go down the drain.

When Sir John Swan launched his Independence initiative he picked the wrong moment -- there was no logical reason then to seek Independence. Now, however, Independence might be our wisest course and must be one of the Government's considerations as they ponder Britain's carrot and stick. The White Paper gives no assurance that the demands made are final, and the name chosen for the territories reflects the fact that we remain subject to British decisions.

If Britain were moving towards a true partnership we would have been called something like "Partnership Territories'', and assured of a veto of any future commitments by British governments which required changes in our domestic laws.

Patently our Government will have to launch our White Paper in response to Britain, and we should wish them well as they undertake this daunting task.

W.S. ZUILL SR.

Smith's Parish Students are impressive The following was written to Mr. E. Payette, Principal of CedarBridge Academy and copied to The Royal Gazette .

*** March 22, 1999 Dear Sir, Thank you very much for inviting me to attend the Distribution of Prizes and Awards at CedarBridge Academy last Wednesday, March 17, 1999.

I was so impressed with the evening! The well organised and dignified manner of the participants in this ceremony were to be commended. My only thought was that it should have been aired publicly so that those who did not attend could see first hand the wonderful students who have achieved so much in their educational careers at CedarBridge.

Bermuda needed to see these terrific students who started out their studies amidst much controversy but managed to overcome those obstacles, focus on their studies and achieve their successes.

I wish them all well in their future studies and congratulate them on their achievements.

I would also like to congratulate you and the faculty who have given so much to the success of CedarBridge Academy.

Don't widen roads March 17, 1999 Dear Sir, I was appalled to hear on the radio this morning that larger cars were being considered.

This island is only 22 miles long, where is everyone going? Has the sweet life in Bermuda made us all so fat that we need wider cars? There are some parts of the island where it is difficult for two cars to pass even now, for example Harbour Road near Lower Ferry, and Fairylands Road. These areas cannot and should not be widened.

Larger cars have been creeping in insidiously over the years, and some of the station wagons that we have on the roads now are huge. Surely we do not need larger cars, and let us hope that the powers that be will resist the call of greedy car salesmen and turn the idea down.

The roads are bad enough as they are, and larger cars would leave even less room for our tourists tottering about on rented scooters. Please say NO to such an unnecessary and disastrous idea.

E. RABEN Paget Sitting on the fence March 25, 1999 Dear Sir, Unpleasant dictatorships arise when people sit on the fence and do nothing. I will invite your attention to a wonderful piece of fence sitting revealed by Kathleen M. Bell when she stated "I look forward to a Progressive Labour Party win in Paget West and I also hope for the development of a cohesive and coherent Opposition something our parliamentary system has to have in order to function properly.'' Perhaps Kathleen M. Bell can explain how both these things can happen at the same time.

Surely it is important for the Opposition to win the Paget West seat so that they have a better chance of being a cohesive and coherent Opposition which is absolutely essential for the future of Bermuda and the PLP Government.

FORMER PAGET WEST VOTER Sandys Parish