tonight's Independence meeting in Hamilton than he heard at one in Somerset in September.

"I may decide to do a fairly long introduction that deals with a number of subjects that I think the general public would want to be able to respond to,'' said Mr. Pearman, who is chairing a Cabinet committee that is preparing a discussion paper on Independence.

Mr. Pearman said he might open the meeting with a 20-minute talk highlighting findings of two earlier Cabinet papers on Independence.

Mr. Pearman's committee is charged with writing a Green Paper that examines the pros and cons of Bermuda becoming Independent or remaining a dependent territory. The Green Paper is also to look at possible Constitutional changes if Bermuda remains a dependent territory.

Tonight's 8 p.m. public meeting at Cathedral Hall is the second of three. The last one, in St. George's, is set for November 23.

Only about 30 people attended the first meeting in Somerset's St. James' Church Hall on September 21. The news media and some who attended described the attendance as poor, but Mr. Pearman said he was "not overly disappointed''.

Still, "one would try to do things that would encourage people to participate more,'' he said.

Later this month, Mr. Pearman and his committee flies to London for talks with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office about Independence.