within reason, the referendum should take place as quickly as possible. We do not mean that it should be rushed because we believe the people have a right to be well informed, but we do think that a looming referendum is unsettling for Bermudians and confusing for those people who are Bermuda's business interests.

Just as an example of what can happen, the suggestion of a referendum on Independence and talk of a relaxation of currency control, has already made the prices on Bermuda's stock exchange very soft. That tells us just how unsettling even discussing major changes can be.

For instance, we suspect that until some of these issues are settled, there is likely to be very little major investment in Bermudian real estate. We think that is especially true of investment by Bermudians who will want to have some idea of what the future holds before they spend large sums of their cash.

The same thing is very likely to be true of companies thinking about locating in Bermuda. Those companies already here know and understand how Bermuda works and are unlikely to be thinking of leaving even though some will be nervous.

However many of those thinking about Bermuda and taking a look at their options have to be considering a "wait and see'' stance. They would not want to rush into a country where the future is uncertain.

Bermuda's own action in debating a referendum has an impact on a major Bermudian business, international companies. Bermuda should think about that before we do anything which might disrupt a major part of what is only a two part economy. Bermuda is in business. It operates a service industry and service industries take delicate and careful handling.

In the past Bermudians we have sometimes been careless and disrupted the tourist industry. Thus, since the early 1980s, the benefits to Bermudians from tourism have been in decline. Disruption of an industry does have long-term effects which might not be noticed immediately but which take a gradual toll.

We have to face the fact that Bermuda is in two businesses, tourism and international companies, and we should not indulge ourselves by disrupting those businesses. If we do so, we do so at our own peril.

It seems clear to us that talk of independence is disruptive to our international businesses. Therefore this newspaper thinks that we should get to the referendum as quickly as possible in a way that will do the least damage. Whichever way the referendum goes, the future will be clear and Bermudians can move forward. It would not be fair to ourselves to delay a vote to our own detriment.