public a steady diet of anti-Independence stories and editorials, a Government senator charged.

Sen. Larry Scott made the allegation during yesterday's Upper House discussion on Government's position papers which set out what would happen if Bermudians voted for Independence.

"The anti-Independence position has been so valiantly carried by The Royal Gazette ,'' Sen. Scott said. "Especially the editorials ... the (newspaper) has biased the debate.

"It's as if the editor went to a blockbuster movie with note pad in hand shouted fire and ran out.

"As the audience attempted to find shelter he then asked them their opinion on the fire.

"It's no surprise then that 83 percent of the people say there is a fire.

Having garnered that opinion they then place it on the front page that Bermudians don't want Independence.'' Sen. Scott said there was a good cross-section of Bermudians who favoured Independence and he was one of them.

He said he has looked forward to this debate for a long time and unlike many Bermudians who are against severing ties with Britain, he was a strong proponent of self-determination for Bermuda.

Sen. Scott said that if the United Bermuda Party were given a mandate to take Bermuda to Independence he would suggest that Royal Gazette Editor Mr. David L. White be made a high commissioner to South Africa.

"He could then find and join the old white society and yearn for the good old days.

"If he could make those days come back he would do so. He wants to make the clock stand still but the world has moved a long way. To have the clock stand still is simply not on.

"The old pedestrian horse and cart period that they consider to be the good old days has long gone.'' Sen. Scott then went on to attack the Progressive Labour Party, whose members remained silent throughout the discussion.

He charged the PLP had refused to move with the times and continued to argue for Independence from the point of view of the 1950s.

Now that the "evil colonial power'' clarion call had diminished in value to attract adherents to its position, Sen. Scott said, the PLP had resurrected the constituency boundaries issue and was using it to play politics.

Government Senate leader the Hon. Gerald Simons introduced yesterday's Independence discussion with an hour-long speech that set out the reasoning behind the papers.

He said that the papers were not set in stone and would be amended as good ideas were generated.

Sen. Dr. Norma Astwood (Ind.) said it was ironic that yesterday's Independence debate followed last week's discussion in favour of changing the age of majority from 21 to 18.

At that time she said, senators agreed that young people should be given more opportunities to accept the responsibilities of adulthood.

In a similar vein she said, Bermuda celebrates 375 years of Westminster style rule next month and it was totally appropriate for Government to ask the people for their views on Independence.

"Surely we must have reached the age of majority for assuming our place in the global village?'' she asked.

Sen. Astwood said although there was a substantial amount of information circulating in the community, it has not brought Bermudians together with any degree of enthusiasm for Independence.

The independent senator said she was concerned the papers have not set out a large enough majority of Bermudians required to vote in favour of change in an entrenched provision in the constitution.

"That is not a simple matter (changing a specially entrenched provision),'' she said. "A larger majority is needed. We need a large number of Bermudians to vote affirmatively.'' Sen. Astwood said it was discriminatory for Government to assume that wealthy retired persons were all older for the purpose of issuing certificates of residency.

She said there were many younger people with considerable assets or who were "nouveau riche'' that were also retired and this privilege should be open to them as well.

Sen. Astwood also queried how Government was going to assess the "character and conduct'' of long-term residents who would apply for Bermudian citizenship.

"Who will make this assessment? And who will define good conduct and character? Is it by omission? The fact that they have not been before the courts or have a Police record is not enough to suggest that a person has good character.'' Sen. Astwood said political changes in Bermuda had changed the equilibrium and made it necessary to reassess present constituency boundaries.

Fellow Independent Sen. Alf Oughton meanwhile, said the PLP was merely playing politics when it came to the issue of the constituency boundaries.

He said other places had much larger disparities. Sen. Oughton said the issue of citizenship for long-term Bermuda residents would be addressed at Independence.

But he wanted to know if Government was still going to deal with the issue in the event of a "no'' vote.

Moreover Sen. Oughton said research should be carried out to find out how many of the non-Bermudians on the 1976 voting list had applied for Bermuda status and had been turned down.

Sen. Oughton said the requirement that a simple majority of Bermudians plus a three-fourths majority in both houses to change an entrenched provision was not enough.

Sen. Yvette Swan (UBP) said it was untrue to suggest Government's estimation of $2.3 million for external affairs was too low.

She said both Barbados and the Bahamas had populations of more than 250,000 people with missions in various parts of the world.

Yet the Bahamas spent $8 million on external affairs, while Barbados spent $6 million.

Sen. Lawrence Scott (UBP) said he took offence at those who worried about corruption in an Independent Bermuda, since the Country had no tradition of corruption.

Bermuda was better positioned than any other Commonwealth country was when it moved toward Independence.

Returning to the subject of The Royal Gazette , he said he did not believe the newspaper reflected "public sentiment'' on Independence, and people would be "pleasantly surprised'' by the outcome of the referendum.

Government had "taken the rug from underneath'' the PLP, he said.

He urged the Opposition to "hold hands'' with Government on the Independence issue.

On both Independence and emerging from the recession, Sen. Scott said he expected more boldness from the business community, "not this coy timidness.

"Maybe if the issue dies on the 15th, the business community will say, fine, that's what we wanted, let's go back to business in the bad old days,'' where "I can do whatever I want against whatever worker I have working for me.'' Many of the anti-Independence voices heard from the business community were from "the old traditionalists'', he said.

"There are some talented young business people today who are going to make those pedantic old businesses on Front Street look like they were lollipop stores.'' Senate President the Hon. Albert Jackson (Ind.) said there were just two points he wanted to raise, ones which others had not brought out during the debate.

First, he thought Government might want to rethink its plans to use referenda as part of the formula for amending both ordinarily entrenched and specially entrenched provisions in the Constitution.

"There might be a substantial time lag between the recognition of a problem that may arise and the point at which it might be possible to rectify any such problem,'' Sen. Jackson said.

Second, he wondered whether Government could give any assurances that certain conditions would be maintained under Independence in Bermuda's relations with external bodies.

He was happy to see that Government planned full membership for Bermuda in both the Commonwealth and the United Nations, which he felt was "very important and perhaps essential''.

It was not for him to say how Bermudians should react to the referendum.

However, "I share the view that it becomes a matter of responsibility, very deep-seated responsibility, for those who are entitled to respond to the referendum to do so in keeping with their respective and very private decisions.

"It will be a great pity as I see it if as many Bermudians as possible do not in fact carry out their responsibilities and act in accordance with their finest judgment.'' Mr. Simons then restated his motion that the Senate take note of the compendium of position papers. The motion passed without objection at 4.15 p.m.