In Bermuda, slavery was much more than economic slavery. In order to force people to engage in uncompensated labour blacks were deliberately kept illiterate. Howard Academy was closed because the UBP failed to provide $20,000.00 that was needed to keep it open. The aborting of slavery in 1834 did not mean an equally sudden end of ignorance. Fear of subservience on the part of blacks or of the expectation of, on the part of whites in Bermuda those blacks who advance furthest in education and prosperity were likely to be most resented by whites and especially poor whites. In short, slavery not only inhibited the development of the education, work habits or personal pride needed by free men its ideological aftermath tended to penalise the development among blacks of these traits that were rewarded among other Bermudians. Mr. Gerald Simons appeared to have escaped from such behaviour when he stated that Whites, the movers and shakers, who are owners/managers, are not intellectual giants and some indeed had difficulty comprehending basic concepts.

I have no doubt that slavery was never abolished in Bermuda. The Governor who sits on the hill makes me know that I am right.

RAYMOND RUSSELL SR.

Pembroke Samaritan helped us October 29, 1999 Dear Sir, Through space in your newspaper, I sincerely hope that my letter will reach a very kind and caring person.

In the early hours of Thursday morning, October 28, sadly one of our cats was killed on the main road not far from Somerset Bridge.

I wish to thank from the bottom of my heart the person(s) who so kindly picked William up and placed him in a spot away from the traffic where we were able to find him. He was so very special to us, and I sincerely appreciate your kindness and thoughtfulness.

Gill Clifton Sandys Parish Not happy with Brown November 3, 1999 Dear Sir, Dr. Ewart Brown is my Member of Parliament and I am not happy with his representation.

First, there was the `favour' of the funeral home limousines for a party insider. Now, Dr. Brown has made -- through the Civil Service -- a request for automatic free upgrades on airlines. Dr. Brown seems to have confused public service with the gravy train.

On top of that, there is the strange eviction of Gosling's Black Seal booth at the airport. While Bermuda should be proud of our affiliation with Bacardi, Dr. Brown's comment that "there are still certain individuals and businesses in Bermuda who have difficulty sharing'' is condescending and out of place.

From reports in the Bermuda Sun, Gosling's was given only one hurried day to close their airport booth. What happened to the Government's commitment to aid local businesses and retailers? Something smells fishy here.

While Dr. Brown was solidly elected in Warwick, I have to reflect positively on the inclusive statesmanship and accessibility of his UBP predecessors. At the grass roots level, Dr. Brown seems disinterested. Will the voters feel so confident in Dr. Brown the next time around? Sincerely, Warwick West Voter What does Swan think? November 3, 1999 Dear Sir, It is with interest that I note Sir John Swan has ended his self-imposed exile. I would be curious to get his take on the Independence issue. His initiative on Independence was ill-conceived and doomed to fail -- he must not have read the polls to have even started. But when it failed he did the honourable thing and stood down. Even though I often criticise the UBP, a great deal of what they did to steer Bermuda in the direction of exempt company business was good -- they fell down by not dealing with "the issues'' -- race relations, drugs, crime etc.

Sir John Swan earned his knighthood with twenty years of service to this community but he has made mistakes -- the independence foray, the franchises issue which he created and perhaps not dealing with race relations. And almost certainly his present gave the UBP another ten years in power. In the balance, I am a fan of Sir John.

But back to Independence in 1999. With the offer now on the table of inclusion in what the European ? can offer Bermuda (we will offer them nothing) and in that it seems it will cost us nothing, I would like to know Sir John's opinion on the issue.

We do not seem to get any feedback from the PLP in fact, they are in a difficult position -- Independence has been a plank in their manifesto for years. I wonder if they will put Independence on the manifesto for their next Election -- four years from now? I was invited to speak against Independence at a forum at PH Club in Warwick four years ago.

I sat with D.J. Williams against, with Quinton Edness and Dr. Ewart Brown for Independence.

Some of your readers will remember my letter to the previous editor -- Reggie Semos said he should offer to sell me a blind horse if I thought 75% of the populace would vote against Independence! Well at that meeting Dr. Brown said that Independence was firmly on the PLP agenda and would stay on it. I offered to take the PLP members of the house to dinner if they put it on their platform and the next election -- which was the last election. Now that there are twenty-six members I will make the offer for the next election -- with the PLP's silence, we will probably not have decided this by then! But what does Sir John Swan think about Independence now. Is he happy that he was unsuccessful in 1995 or does he think Independence will benefit us still? SANDERS FRITH-BROWN Warwick Bda. not in first world November 5, 1999 Dear Sir, Even the respected and admired Sir John Swan suffers from this extraordinary delusion that Bermuda is in the "first world marketplace'' (The Royal Gazette November 3, 1999 "Sir John Swan Urges Bermuda'').

Anyone who truly believes that Bermuda is first world needs to take a good long, hard look at the Island and a good look at, and a long trip around, the world. Bermuda is, quite simply, miles behind the first world marketplace.

Period. Full Stop.

Bermuda has managed through inefficiency, lack of investment, protectionism, poor management, greed and desperately lacking leadership to have squandered any opportunity that it had to become first world (the scars of empty hotel complexes across the Island bear witness to just one spectacular loss).

Belco and BTC are typical examples of Bermuda's "second world class'' status.

No first world marketplace would even begin to entertain the service that they provide.

Painful as it is for us to face, as long as we continue to be deluded by thoughts of Bermuda as being first world than Bermuda will not be first world.

UNDER NO DELUSIONS Paget Upset with cable service November 6, 1999 Dear sir, Well over a month ago I delivered a letter and returned a box to say that most of my channels, which I have top end and pay $64.95 per month, are snowy, bad quality, non existent, unreadable (especially the weather channel we are all told to watch in case of storms). Without so much as a reply.

I have worked out about 35% of my channels are unwatchable...can I deduct that percentage from my bill until they actually fix my problem...and which seems to be a problem with everyone I have spoken to.

If that is the case, and everyone who was going through the same situation, did the same thing, their revenue could drop by 35%...and maybe they would actually give the service they promised both Government, householders and shareholders (who are their lifeline) a good service for what is still a high price.

I am now looking at alternatives.

JOHN ELSEGOOD Sandys Parish