visitors can afford to be careless and unguarded against criminals.

Many of our visitors come to us from the highly-urbanised eastern areas of the United States and know well what drugs have done to their cities and even to the most sought after neighbourhoods. We do not suggest that Bermuda should in any way become complacent but visitors know that this is not solely Bermuda's problem but a general plague.

In Bermuda many of us remember the days when security at our hotels and in our homes and businesses was a minor consideration. Break-ins were relatively rare and generally confined to empty premises where they did not terrify people.

The drug culture, especially the culture of cocaine and heroin, began to change all that. The problem was then magnified by the harder times of the recession. Some people were no longer earning the amount of money they needed to feed their addiction and thus resorted to stealing.

There is no doubt that a great many Bermudians are very concerned that the recent spate of offences against visitors will scare away our bread and butter. One of Bermuda's attractions for North Americans has been its relative safety, including the safety of its streets.

It is true that these days Bermuda's national income is spread about 50-50 between tourism and international companies however, that is not a total or a very accurate picture. The difference in the number of people who benefit from tourism and international companies is huge. Figures show that tourism benefits about three-quarters of Bermuda's people while the income from international companies benefits only about one-quarter. If the income from visitors declines, the very Bermudians who need the most help will be the first to be hurt. We will begin to create an undesirable society of haves and have nots with a consequent underclass. The short-term answer is greater protection but the long-term answer has to be solutions to the problems which lead to crime. It will take us a long time but we must confront the demand for drugs and we must curtail that demand. There is not enough money and there are not enough policemen in the world to stop the supply and a tourist resort cannot search all the people who arrive here. But more than drugs, Bermuda must remove the social environments which create alienation and lead to crimes and to violence. It should be possible in a small place to identify the people who have problems and to assist with those problems.

In the meantime, the debate goes on about whether or not we should warn visitors about crime. Surely as hosts we have an unpleasant responsibility to warn visitors if we think they face a danger. It seems to be our duty, no matter how much we dislike that duty, to tell people that, just as their neighbourhood at home is no longer as safe as it once was, so Bermuda is not as safe as we would like it to be. We should invite visitors to help us make life difficult for thieves by securing premises and keeping a close eye on their possessions. We should not be alarmist but we should make the message clear.

It seems to us that visitors would much rather be warned so that they can be careful rather than be surprised in their room or grabbed on the street by a thief. After all, visitors know about crime problems and should see caring as our effort to keep them safe.