to the Editor was use for demo purposes consequently some of this information was inadvertently lost. Therefore we have no record of these letters stored electronically. Please examine the microfilm of the actual copy of the newspaper that was published this day.

A webb of inequality Dear Sir, It is something of a disappointment that Mr. Rolfe Commissiong, whose understanding of economics seemed to rise significantly above those of his colleagues in the PLP, supported and encouraged in a recent letter ("You Go Girl'') Renee Webb's statement about refusing to grant a licence to broadcast to anyone who did not look like her.

There is a key issue for Bermudians to consider here, that issue is this: The great legal innovation of the past 1,000 years was the concept of equality before the law for each and every individual.

This has had momentous social and economic consequences by encouraging freedom of contract and the rise of the modern exchange economy. It was later buttressed by the American Revolution with the then novel concept that all men are created equal, thereby denying the proposition that the state endows people with rights.

Property, economic power, and opportunity was therefore acquired by those individuals who by virtue of their labour, hard work and ingenuity merited it rather than acquiring property, or position, by virtue of their birth or membership in some politically favoured group.

Wealth had hitherto been acquired by the unrestrained use of force, or its modern equivalent; raw political power. The rule of law meant that the lowliest person was now equal in civil rights to the most powerful, and that merit and hard work became the basis of how society was governed.

Government power was now severely limited, more limited than it has ever been in the history of the world. Equality under the law for the individual is one of the major reasons why the Western world, and Bermuda, has enjoyed unprecedented prosperity and freedom, and the absence of the rule of law is the main reason why the socialist and communist world collapsed in a heap in 1989.

Ms Web and her party have made much of the fact that in Bermuda there is no equality under the law, and very little equality of opportunity. This may have been true before the 1960s, but 40 years is a long time ago.

Both Renee Webb and Rolfe Commissiong are examples of those who have been beneficiaries of a Bermuda where individual talent is more important than skin colour.

To argue that they are victims of oppression is simply not true - they and most Bermudians are members of the richest and most privileged group of people in world history.

In the 1960s many Bermudians, black and white, and the PLP was in the vanguard of this movement, argued that irrelevant characteristics such as skin colour or eye colour should not be a qualification for obtaining a job or entering business.

Rights belonged to individuals, not groups, and least of all to races. That position has been universally accepted and is now a part of the Bermuda Constitution, and one that is currently being torn apart by the PLP with the collusion of Government House and the British Government.

Forty years on, the argument has been stood on its head by the recent statement that skin colour is now a key qualification for obtaining a job or gaining a licence from Government. Rights are now seen to belong to politically favoured races, and not to individuals.

Ms Webb advocates "Black Economic Empowerment'', and is supported by Mr.

Commissiong. There is absolutely nothing wrong with this objective, indeed all of economics is concerned with economic development, the more (and the more inclusive) the merrier.

However, laudable objectives along do not assure the success of any programme and a fair appraisal surely needs an analysis of the means by which it will be attained. However, "Black Economic Empowerment'' as advocated by Ms Webb is a policy which says in effect - the right to prosper in the new Bermuda of the PLP will be dependent on looking like those who now occupy our government.

Anyone who looks or acts differently from those in power will have a tough time. This is a reversion to the Bermuda of the 1950s and before when opportunity and justice was denied because of skin colour. for Mr. Commissiong to state that is morally right says much about his morality.

A person should be regarded for his ability, not his race. Hard work, merit, skills, personal responsibility, deferred gratification, and risking one's savings are apparently no longer considered relevant. Individual talent will be ignored. All that is needed is to look like Ms Webb and prosperity will be assured.

The gullible may believe that nonsense. Alas, or fortunately, it is not quite as simple as that. Government cannot create an advantage for one group without simultaneously creating a disadvantage for another.

When merit, the rule of law, and hard work are considered to be irrelevant by those in power, then the prosperous Bermuda we now all enjoy will rapidly sink into the third world status of somewhere like the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

When people like Renee Webb and Rolfe Commissiong fail to understand from whence our prosperity is derived we are in great danger.

They are like a surgeon who has no concept of medicine - hacking away at a limb which is likely to kill rather than cure the patient. Nobody is wise enough, and has enough knowledge to control the lives of other people.

Many describe them as being dangerous - it is worse than that - they simply do not understand what makes the Bermudian economy function so efficiently and what gives Bermuda the quality of life which is the envy of the world.

In addition, they wish to return Bermuda to an era of privilege and injustice for a politically favoured group. The record of racial improvement schemes elsewhere - Malaysia, Fiji, Guyana, India and USA are good examples - is not good.

At all stages of history, and amongst all people, vast disparities in wealth and performance have been commonplace. In no society have all sections of the population developed equally. The policy of "Black Economic Empowerment'' is a further step along the dangerous path of strengthening the power of government, and of those in it.

ROBERT STEWART Smith's Parish