Dear Sir, Over the past five years, I have given quite a lot of "stick'' to Dame Lois Brown-Evans. I do so only because of her origins to make a point -- we all know who she is. Even white Bermudians are surprised to hear she is not indigenous and does not have deep roots here.

But this is not the point of my letter. Over the past 20 years, I would not be exaggerating if I said that hundreds of white Bermudians have wrongly attributed a comment to Dame Lois. The comment is that she said in the House of Parliament "Go out into the trees and fornicate -- numbers will prevail'' or some variation on this theme.

Dame Lois is plenty wise and tough enough not to need me to defend her. But, my recollection is that she said in or around 1972, "I would rather my black children fornicate in the trees of Parliament House then do drugs.'' There is a considerable difference in these two recollections that obviously emanate from the same, now misquoted source.

I am tired of defending Dame Lois on this issue -- and I do often. Could you assign a summer student to research this? I would gladly pay for it. It would save me time not to have to have this retrograde argument with white Bermudians.

SANDERS FRITH-BROWN Warwick The answer is income tax July 16, 1999 Dear Sir, As I listened to the debate on the land tax, it occurred to me that the problems raised by the Opposition could all be solved by replacing the land tax with a fairly administered income tax. The widow with the substantial house and no income would not have to pay any tax then while she may have to do so now. Many blacks, and it is generally blacks, are house "rich''' and cash poor. The small businesses making little profit would be taxed accordingly. The two brothers who earn the same salary which one spends on trips while the other builds a house would then be taxed similarly rather than only the one wise enough to build a house.

The Opposition complained that the middle class will be hurt most. That's not new. That's always the case. Rent control was introduced by the UBP for that very purpose. If rent control is a good thing, why are not all rents controlled? Instead, the very wealthy with high priced accommodations can charge the earth and drive up the cost of living. The hard-working middle class who have built small accommodations are being penalised by rent control which subsidises the poor (or the spendthrift). CARING FOR THE POOR IS THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE GOVERNMENT AND NOT the middle class landlords who are, already, the most likely to have problems with tenants. This is still a capitalistic society and everyone else charges what the market will bear. Most of those with controlled rents are black. It is not surprising that the UBP was anxious to control the profits of struggling black landlords. I have a real problem with the PLP following the same policy. The PLP Government should be taking care of the poor, not me, unless I choose to do so through some charitable organisation. I should not be mandated to support the poor.

The UBP Opposition and the voters need to remember that we have a land tax rather than an income tax because when the land tax was introduced it was at a time when very few blacks knew anything about investments other than in land, or an extra apartment. Land tax ensured that every black person who had anything at all would pay tax while the very wealthy white person with their world wide investments would have their enormous incomes from dividends and profits well protected. All of the problems raised by the UBP Opposition are inherent in the whole land tax concept, as well as in many of the Customs duties. The only fair tax is an income tax fairly administered without all of the loopholes for the wealthy which exist in the USA. The only reason that we do not have an income tax is because black folks have always been easily indoctrinated by white folks who know how to protect their own.

DR. EVA A. HODGSON Hamilton Parish A new form of pricing July 20, 1999 Dear Sir, NOTICE TO OUR VALUED CUSTOMERS Dear Valued Customer, Unfortunately, due to considerable increases in Government Land Tax recently imposed, we are now forced to pass on these unexpected additional operating costs to you, in order to recoup our already substantial business expenses.

However, in being fair to each and every valued customer and similar to the new tax calculations, our pricing has been formulated to five different retail bands.

In simple terms, we have created a new field in our customer database that will retain each customers ARV number along with the standard customer information.

Our new product pricing calculation will however work exactly opposite to that of the Governments tax calculations (so as not to place any additional financial burdens on each of our valued customers).

Simply put, for those customers with an ARV number of less than $28,000, they can expect to see at least a 45 percent average increase in all of their purchases. Of course those customers who rent (or currently live in a cardboard box), can expect to see a substantially higher increase in their purchases (as their ARV number would of course be zero). And for those customers with an ARV number of over $28,000, you can be assured to see huge savings on all of your purchases (providing of course, that you pay on time).

We truly apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.

Sincerely, WWW.LANDVALUATION.BM City of Hamilton Land tax hurts tourism July 20, 1999 Dear Sir, As the grisly truth of the recent swingeing increases in commercial land tax begins to make itself evident, it becomes more and more obvious that the present Government justifies the worst fears of those who perceived an utter lack of management and financial skills in the PLP. As our tourism industry limps towards extinction, Government sees fit to give it a swift kick on its downhill way. As much of the retail business in the Island hangs on by the skin of its teeth, Government gives it a vicious hit below the belt.

These businesses are the employers of most Bermudians, the very Bermudian workers who voted in the new Government. Their jobs are now threatened even as their government breaks its election promises -- and for what? So that the new Premier can cavort about the world in high style with her "bodyguard'' escort to such internationally important and prestigious events as the funeral of Vere Bird, a politician of the shakiest reputation in an island with no Bermuda connections at all. By being seen at that event, the Premier has tarnished the good reputation of Bermuda and grossly wasted the taxpayers' money.

It's time she grew up and took her responsibilities seriously. The party's over.

TOLE U.SO City of Hamilton Stop blaming the UBP July 20, 1999 Dear Sir, Over the past nine months I have read with interest the comments made by elected Government officials. I thought, perhaps naively, that one day these ludicrous comments would stop, once the new Government became established and indeed became more confident in the daily running of the Country.

The constant references to the previous government and their perceived inadequacies is becoming extremely boring and childish. Nevertheless, it continues to flourish in the House. Last Friday's comment, concerning an increase in taxes was the icing on the cake. To justify an increase in taxes which affects all of us across the board, the present Government had the audacity to say that the previous Government should have raised the tax. What kind of mindset is this! CITY OF HAMILTON Poor value judgments July 22, 1999 Dear Sir, My brother sent to me by mail a small (less than one inch square) pill box from Italy -- a memento of a good time we had together years ago.

The pill box is silver -- although clearly of the cheapest Asian craftsmanship and thinnest of metals -- and he had correctly valued it at $10. It was opened by Customs who sent a note to my Post Office to revalue it at $75. When I told the postal clerk how silly that was and I was going to have them return it to the sender, she looked at it and agreed with me that its value was minimal.

But the question is -- who are these people who are opening our private packages and making poor value judgments like this? What kind of training have they had and who is overseeing them? Suppose I had been a meeker person and was standing there with a less than $10 gift, a gift of love from my brother, and being told it was worth more than $75. I was very inconvenienced last Christmas when Customs held up all of the packages to open them before sending them to the post offices. Mine contained some documents that I badly needed before they were delivered to me.

I hope Customs will closely monitor these jokers that they have opening our private mail, and return to the practice of delivering the mail to the post offices where packages can be opened, if requested, in front of the receiver.

I am very unhappy about this situation.

BETTY BOOP City of Hamilton People our greatest asset July 13, 1999 Dear Sir, It truly amazes me when I hear our political leaders and business tycoons debate the problems surrounding our failing tourist industry. They discuss issues such as value for money, hotel closure, occupancy level, and the like.

It appears that they cover their eyes with one hand while blindly trying to piece the industry together with the other.

I, like many other concerned citizens, pray for the day when their eyes (those of our so-called leaders) will be uncovered and they will be able to see clearly the real issues which plague our little paradise.

The greatest commodity Bermuda has to offer to its visitors is not its five star hotels, pink beaches or fine dining; but its people. Yes! Its people! It is my belief that when our Government is able to bend their ears to the cry of its people then and only then will true healing begin.

CONCERNED Sandys Parish Bermuda's White Paper July 9, 1999 Dear Sir, Don't get me wrong Mr. Editor, I'm not saying that the UK White Paper is not important. It is! It's just that it's more important to the British than it is to the Bermudian. That's why the British took the time and money to produce it! Now what the Bermudian Government should do, Mr. Editor, is produce its own Bermudians Paper, outlining the Bermudian wishes and desires and present that document to the British Government for their debate! In other words Mr. Editor, it just makes more cotton picking sense that we express our wishes and desires to Britain, rather than Britain express her wishes and desires to us! DR. CLARK GODWIN City of Hamilton Go Slow Day `a dog' July 20, 1999 Dear Sir, I agree with Anthony Wade ( Royal Gazette July 21, 1999). The Go Slow Day was heralded and promoted a complete success. What a joke! "Go Slow Day'' crashed and burned.

Sure, a very few people went slow because they thought that the Police would be out in force to give them a ticket (another fallacy). Those few sloths caused traffic congestion and headaches during key driving hours because they went even slower than 20 miles per hour! I was in my car on the road almost all day (between Southampton and the airport) and saw two cars out of hundreds with their lights on.

What I did see was bikes overtaking, cars in Hamilton double-parking, reckless driving and general disrespect for the rules of the road.

Yes, we need to do something about traffic... but be transparent and honest to the public. You called the "Go Slow Day'' a cat when we could all see it was a dog! RLA Devonshire