questions posed to the new Governor.

He, of course, is in a very difficult position. He represents the United Kingdom which long ago abolished capital punishment. The UK has also made it clear that it wants its remaining territories to do the same. Yet he is Governor of a Country with capital punishment still on the law books and which voted support for hanging in a referendum but in a referendum which was flawed by a very small vote. Bermuda's own Legislature has also, several times now, reaffirmed capital punishment for capital crimes.

Bermuda has continued to impose the death sentence and it has rather routinely accepted that the Prerogative of Mercy Committee, through the Governor's prerogative, will commute the sentence. There is something rather cruel about that. If we accept that there is every likelihood that the sentence will be commuted, then why do we impose it and leave people under threat for long periods? We doubt that anyone believes that a hanging will ever take place in Bermuda again.

Clearly hanging is a very divisive issue in Bermuda, so much so that the last time it was enforced, it resulted in severe riots. There are people who are unalterably opposed but there are those who believe strongly that Bermuda should have much stronger penalties for almost every crime and that we do ourselves a disservice by not enforcing hanging. People's views seem to fluctuate widely from case to case. Where children are victims, there seems to be much wider support for capital punishment than there is for domestic oriented murder involving adults.

While the United Kingdom, and Europe generally, has abolished capital punishment, Bermudians are often very influenced by events in the United States. After a long absence in the United States, the death penalty has reemerged in some of the states almost as a routine and sometimes in cases where there are major legal problems and serious doubts. There is also a reemergence in some of the islands to our south, notably Jamaica. There is a move in some of the islands, mainly Trinidad, to give up the right of appeal to the Privy Council in London which appears to follow the United Kingdom philosophy of opposing capital punishment and thus commutes sentences.

Perhaps it is time for Bermuda's legislature to debate hanging again. The composition of both the House of Assembly and the Senate has changed considerably since the last debate and some of the hardliners are no longer in Parliament. The result today may be quite different.

For a very long time it has been the view of this newspaper that capital punishment is such a divisive issue that to exercise the law in Bermuda would be most unwise. There is very little to be gained from putting someone to death and we doubt that it acts as a deterrent in any real way. We believe that in this small community, a hanging would have such a shattering effect that Bermuda could be torn apart. To what end would we do that? The public can be protected from convicted murderers without putting them to death.