By and for Bermudians

January 12, 2008

Dear Sir,

To Fellow Supporters of the BSoA: Needless to say I am somewhat put out by this turnaround coming from the Corporation of Hamilton, an ally to the arts these many years? They and the Society were bonded at conception one might say? Sir Gilbert Cooper, Mayor at that time, is probably spinning in his grave ... this was his baby!

As we understood it the new City Hall and Art Gallery was here to stay. At this time the Society and Arts Council met to discuss a proposal for what we all know was to become a most stimulating feature every year: the Primary and Secondary Schools Annual Exhibition that would cover a six week period and at the same time, encourage our young people ¿ giving them a valuable sense of personal achievement.

The gallery opened each new year with spaces reserved for the required six weeks giving the schools time to set-up and display their handiwork. Sponsored by the Arts Council the income went toward enabling the Society to refrain from charging an admission fee for visitors, young and not so young, and has maintained that principle ever since.? We had achieved a unique cultural standing, small and dedicated, and were naturally pointed out as a special attraction for visitors to come and relax in while enjoying the arts, following a tour of the City of Hamilton.

It was 1961 when we were granted this wonderful setting for the visual arts by and for Bermudians. All this before the West Exhibition Room became a national gallery, the concept of which we supported and encouraged in our early formation, i.e. Constitution. The last time this disruption threatened a few years ago, it was to consider raising the roof (literally) above the theatre making raised seats and a balcony a new feature. With this a possibility, they were planning to build out the back to create another space for the Society. There was no talk of giving us notice to vacate. The gallery has honoured its purpose with a consistent dedication to all those that initiated its original formation in 1953 and have maintained a steadfast appreciation towards the Founding Fathers of City Hall from 1961 to this day.

Another interesting and timely observation is that the BSoA has always and forever been a sanctuary, a nurturing venue for the personalities creating the arts and those aligned in mutual accord through theatre and music... they stood for a neutral arena in our Island where racial disparity was never, ever, given the slightest consideration ... it just couldn't survive in this single-minded environment where the mixture of all races and cultures have been an essential ingredient and a saving grace. The creative arts is by virtue of its very existence, a very sound learning ground. I pray it can continue and remain a tranquil setting for the future development of the artists of Bermuda.

The Good Book often has a timely comment for you if you take the trouble to look. The following sentiment landed in my e-mail box the other day, totally unsolicited yet strangely pertinent and seems rather appropriate to the occasion. I offer it to the reader with kindest regards, it reads as follows and has a tongue-in-cheek flavour.

"Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee: He shall never suffer the righteous to be moved." Psalm 55:22

MAC MUSSON

Former Curator of the BSoA

Time to take action

January 14, 2008

Dear Sir,

It looks as though the South Shore entrance to Devon Springs Road will be closed for another four years. The PLP has left the road blocked for years and it appears that the situation will not change any time soon. New housing developments are currently being built which will result in more traffic in the area. Saturdays will soon become unbearable with the increase in residential traffic combined with those parking outside of the parking lot for The Barn. Children are also unwisely using a section of the road as a playground due to the decreased traffic. I guess it'll take an accident or the wall falling on someone before any action is taken.

STILL W AITING

Devonshire

Soldiers, not tree cutters

January 13, 2008

Dear Sir,

This is not June of 1915 when Bermuda had to do its part to defend the realm in the trenches of northern France. Nor is it 1942 when Commonwealth forces were being pushed to the Nile. Just five years ago two volunteer armies punched 400 miles in three weeks to capture a major city and topple a government. It is a time when ideals of serving one's country and remaking model citizens are long gone. They died at Passchendaele, Porkchop Hill and Hamburger Hill. Around the world, democracies are steadily moving toward voluntary, professional armies.

We know that conscripts will fight and fight hard and make no mistake, all countries need a military, but a country without borders, one which has never seen hostile attack, need not place such a burden on a minority of its people. Bermuda will not need for the foreseeable future to draft hundreds of men to fight in a war in a far off land. This is not a criticism of the people serving in the Regiment. In fact, anyone who has watched can see they are competent soldiers. That in two weeks it is able to create good soldiers is truly impressive. But it is not enough.

The debate on conscription has entirely missed the point. The military is subordinate to the civilian/political leadership of a country ¿ that's what separates us from chaos found around the world. Military doctrine and strategy are formulated within the framework of civilian directives. Doubt me? Harry Truman humbled Gen. Douglas MacArthur ¿ to the extent that it could be done ¿ when the old Pacific hand lobbied outside of his chain of command to be able to use The Bomb on North Korea.

Bermuda has conscription to bolster the Regiment's size, to put on a good show on the Queen's Birthday and Armistice Day celebrations and the chimeric view that it is changing lives. Of course many enjoy their time at Warwick Camp ¿ after a hard drill, they're welcomed into the brotherhood in the various messes to revel into the night.

The debate here is couched in terms of patriotism and duty when it should be about readiness and necessity. It would be interesting to see what the British Army's experts in creating and maintaining small countries' militaries have to say about our conscription law. We don't know because successive Bermuda Governments refuse to release the reports ¿ citing secrecy. They are wedded to the idea of changing our young men's lives and we are not doing a very good job of it.

In the wake of the apparently less than satisfactory performance of the Regiment during the 1977 riots, the Bermudian D Day veteran Maj. Gen. Glyn Gilbert was asked to return home to evaluate. That the old paratrooper's recommendations have been accepted is commendable. But one must ask if he was asked to evaluate the necessity of conscription. Have any of the British Army experts been asked? Do we want to know their answer?

You see, there is nothing like a motivated soldier ¿ ask the US Marines or Viet Cong they fought. If the scenes of Court Street on December 1, 2 and 3, 1977 are ever repeated again, would it not be better to have as a reserve a professional unit of soldiers with modern equipment? There is a fundamental difference between a policeman and a soldier. The former has a duty to protect life and limb in all but the most extreme circumstances while the latter must shoot to kill. It is not to cut up trees after a hurricane. And therein lies the unit's role; The Bermuda Regiment is not a fighting force but an organisation which needs to make an impressive display twice a year at the Queen's Birthday and November 11 parades. It is also to augment Works & Engineering crews in the clean-up in the wake of a major catastrophe. And with a Government that has one eye on Independence, we must surely need impressive numbers in front of the Flagpole on that great day and when visiting dignitaries alight at LF Wade.

A small minority of Bermudians are subjected to the draft. Once women are excluded, the unfit, those that spend their eligible years abroad, those that opt to spend two years on easy street as a Police cadet while getting tuition for the Bermuda College and those who have criminal records, we are likely down to less than one in five Bermudians ever having to report at Warwick Camp in the second week of January. What of women? What of expats that come here in their 20s and marry? What of the several ways of avoiding service? Why must one in five of young Bermudians be expected to serve their country and not the others?

When will Bermuda see that conscription is a farce, just like Great Britain, Canada, Australia and the United States saw it in the 1960s and 1970s? Do not believe that the Regiment is having any effect on turning young men around. At any one drill night, there are more young men at Westgate and at the Prison Farm than at Warwick Camp. We need dispassionate commentary from former Regiment commanders, not gung ho attitudes that there is no other alternative to conscription. An officer is a leader and thinker not a cheerleader. What do the retired officers believe? Consider their words through the prism of make-work and a can-do spirit that militaries inculcate.

Has anyone considered that we are teaching potential rioters how to fight one while hoping they don't use their brains and figure out how to beat the security forces? Have we considered that we are potentially teaching criminals how to maintain a weapon and to shoot? Anyone who has ever been in a fight can attest that the other guy has his own plan and is full of surprises. Strategists and tacticians know they must have multiple plans, fallback positions and are prepared to retreat. And they know the humility of being defeated and plan for what to do next.

By the same token, officers take what they've been given by the civilian leadership and make the best of it. All would not be lost. Would not Bermuda be better served by a platoon-sized unit of professional officers and senior non-commissioned officers based full time from Warwick Camp? Would it not be better to have a hundred or more part time soldiers paid a wage substantially more than the "bounty" they are paid now? Would not a scholarship to some young person to Sandhurst be of more benefit? After all, that is what is done throughout the Commonwealth? Why must Bermuda be different from Jamaica, Barbados, Trinidad, Grenada, and other small, English-speaking countries which rely on volunteers? Why must Bermuda go against the grain of the British Army?

TIGHT GROUPINGS

City of Hamilton

Paget

Get it right

January 15, 2008

Dear Sir,

Yesterday's Royal Gazette Editorial contained misinformation that I think deserves correction to prevent it from being repeated elsewhere. I understand, of course, that it is not my role to criticize the opinions of a newspaper, so this is an attempt to address only the misinformation that has been passed along to the public. Yesterday's editorial stated: "¿ it is notable that Dr. Brown has not sent congratulations to Sen. Hillary Clinton on her victory in New Hampshire, let alone to any of the Republican candidates."

The truth is Dr. Brown has indeed written to congratulate Sen. Hillary Clinton and Sen. John McCain on their respective primary election victories in New Hampshire last week. The Royal Gazette would have known this if only it had asked. No one has asked.

Dr. Brown has decided to send congratulations messages to Primary and Caucus victors who either have a connection to Bermuda or a personal connection to the Premier. The Premier met Senator Barack Obama and Sen. Clinton at a Congressional Black Caucus event last fall. The Premier also met Sen. John McCain during his most recent visit to Bermuda.

All three of those senators have received, or are about to receive through the post, correspondence from the Premier. Incidentally, there is no known connection between Governor Mike Huckabee and Bermuda, and no previous connection between the Governor and the Premier ¿ so there was no note sent to Gov. Huckabee following his Caucus win in Iowa.

If Senators McCain, Clinton or Obama should win a party nomination for the general election I expect he or she will be getting another note from the Premier; and likewise if one of them should win the Presidency.

The relationship between Bermuda and the United States is a crucial one. Whenever there is an opportunity for leaders in Bermuda to nurture that relationship with correspondence to leaders in the United States, the opportunity is taken ¿ not haphazardly, but smartly and tastefully.

We are willing to make this kind of correspondence available to the media and will do so again today with the previously sent letters to Senators Clinton and McCain. I had anticipated a declining interest in this sort of thing following the first big vote in Iowa ¿ there was no intention to bore the public with a cascade of letters ¿ but it would appear some local media are hungry for this content.

The Royal Gazette's Editorial writers are certainly entitled to their opinions, and their right to have those opinions should be protected always, but the public would benefit greatly if the chief editorial commitment is getting it right. Otherwise it sets a bad example for a staff of reporters to have editorial leadership that does not see fit to first check its facts before rushing to print.

GLENN JONES

Press Secretary to the Premier

Editor's Note: Mr. Jones is right to point out that the Editor did not check to see whether letters had been sent to other primary victors, having made the assumption ¿ always fatal in journalism ¿ that having received, unprompted, the Premier's letter to Sen. Obama, that other congratulatory letters would also be made public. The Editor also respectfully disagrees, with a degree of incredulity, with Mr. Jones' statement that he believed interest in "this kind of thing" declined after Iowa; interest in the US and Bermuda clearly increased, not least because of Sen. Obama's Iowa victory.

A lousy deal

January 14, 2008

Dear Sir,

The Hon. Dale Butler has threatened to introduce legislation to overhaul the Corporation of Hamilton, if it goes ahead with its plan to evict an art gallery from City Hall. This is a lousy deal, and Mr. Butler should back out of it as soon as he can.

Preserving the Bermuda Society of Arts Gallery is a worthy cause. But if the City agrees to keep the gallery, as I expect it will, Mr. Butler will find he has committed his Government to preserving the city's secret meetings and undemocratic electoral system as part of the bargain.

Many Government Ministers have promised to do something about our archaic and undemocratic capital city. I remember the Hon. Quinton Edness made the pledge, when he was a Home Affairs Minister for the UBP. The PLP has made similar promises. Former Hamilton Mayor Lawson Mapp said he would change the system but he never did. Corporation Councillor Graeme Outerbridge ran on a vow of ending closed city council meetings but the doors are still locked. I would hate to see Mr. Butler willingly sell himself into the pro-secrecy camp.

TOM VESEY

Paget