I refer to significant progress currently being made in relation to Alternate Sentencing (your Editorial dated January 6 etc. refers) with a view to hopefully salvaging at least some of our citizens presently negatively disposed to antisocial illegal activities. I strongly commend it as well as those behind it.

On a related point, I noted with special interest your concluding remarks concerning the Regiment's role (Editorial dated January 10) "But it would be better if all young Bermudians were required to perform some kind of service to the community, instead of just a random few'', and strongly commend this enlightened perspective as well. After all, not everyone benefits from a selected number of our young men being forcefully taught the skills necessarily focused on the destruction of both property and people regrettably required for as long as the basic nature of mankind remains as it is.

However, we are all encouraged by wholly positive initiatives instead such as the strong support among some of our youth to (for example) sign up for the "chance of a lifetime'' Tall Ships 2000 opportunity (RG December 29 1999) together with the regularly offered Outward Bound programme etc. to name but two. Nevertheless, while these opportunities are purely voluntary and therefore only attract the already positively-inclined young people mostly already also benefiting from a strongly supportive family base, unfortunately none of these programmes are similarly supported by the very youngsters who need them the most. Furthermore, once a youngster is called up for the Regiment he unfortunately has no choice but to then fulfil his conscription requirement with no option whatsoever as to any more appropriate alternative form of community service that might otherwise far better serve both society's as well as his own needs.

In addition, there is unfortunately no provision for young females to be required to similarly "perform some kind of service to the community'' in spite of an obvious need as evidenced by anti-social tendencies unfortunately demonstrated by some of them as well.

On January 17 we were again rightly reminded of Dr. Martin Luther King's famous words "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the colour of their skin but by the content of their character'', a content of character which I perceive is substantially due to the positive support that both he and his wife provided their youngsters as a committed and well structured family unit. As a consequence, and in view of the obvious impossibility for far too many others to ever derive such a wonderful benefit of family support, I challenge you, Mr. Editor, to continue your most persuasive efforts to yet further encourage those in a position to provide it to at lest now urgently and jointly study the feasibility of a totally integrated and positively disciplined youth corps for Bermuda. After all, the basic premise via Alternate Sentencing has already been substantially accepted for those who have already fallen afoul of the law. As a consequence, if we can now similarly bring ourselves to constructively address the obvious needs of the great many others who have not yet progressed that far down the many antisocial paths that we have all been tempted by as young people, but are nevertheless most clearly at risk of so doing, we would as a society stand a far better chance of properly equipping them to positively respond to the testing scenarios of (for example) drug abuse and racial discrimination etc., etc. that every day claim numerous victims in our tiny community.

To this end such a programme has for many years been in the platforms of both political parties. As a consequence, are you now willing to also do your part by providing the requisite and sustained moral encouragement to ensure that it is finally brought to fruition in the hope of avoiding wasteful, yet further lost generations so starkly highlighted in both yesterday's and today's publications? TED GAUNTLETT Sandys Parish High Internet charges January 14, 2000 Dear Sir, The issue of the high price of Internet connection in Bermuda is directly related to the high cost of international telecommunication service. Although we now have two providers of international telephone services in Bermuda, Cable and Wireless and TeleBermuda, it is clear that these two providers are not really competing in Bermuda. The cost of long distance service has gone down but it has not gone down as much as it should. How can I say that? The lowest price per minute that I can obtain from TeleBermuda or Cable and Wireless for calls to the United States is between 52 cents and 76 cents per minute depending on the time of day that I make my call. On the other hand, if I lived in the United States, a quick review over the Internet tells me I could call Bermuda for as low as 20 cents per minute at any time of the day.

The question arises, why does it cost me a minimum of 52 cents per minute to call someone in the US whereas it only costs them 20 cents to call me in Bermuda. We both use the same telephone lines and the same international provider of service (Cable and Wireless or TeleBermuda). Clearly Cable and Wireless and TeleBermuda are competing in the highly competitive US market and discounting their rates to US providers and resellers of long distance services.

In Bermuda, they are charging what the market will bear and so for the same service that they are providing US carriers they are charging us more than two and one half times as much. This disparity in pricing for essentially the same service is a clear indication that they are not really competing in Bermuda.

Moreover I would guess that the volume of telephone traffic from Bermuda to the US is higher than from the US to Bermuda. If that is the case you would expect the price per minute to be lower from Bermuda to the US rather than the reverse.

As long as this disparity in long distance telephone rates continues, it is fair to say that Cable and Wireless and TeleBermuda are really not competing in Bermuda. To put it another way the consumer in Bermuda is being ripped off.

What is the government doing about this blatant ripoff? LICKIN' ALONG City of Hamilton P.S. The US rates are even lower if you consider that they charge for a 30-second minimum rather than a one-minute minimum in Bermuda and they charge in six-second increments rather than one-minute increments in Bermuda.

Points to be noted January 14, 2000 Dear Sir, Firstly, I would like to publicly thank a family in Warwick who contacted me after finding my wallet in a tree. (It had been stolen from my home in August 1999). Doubtless the thief only wanted cash, because all cards, licences and 14 bus tickets were intact. I felt violated and afraid after the break in, but my faith in human nature is now restored by this family's honesty and consideration. Thank you sincerely.

Secondly, in response to "Pressing Questions'' of St. George's, you are correct -- it is not only the cost of hotels which is discouraging other than cruise ship tourists. Airlines have a hold on Bermuda. Potential travellers from the Southern Hemisphere or Europe are confronted with extortionate air fares: it is cheaper to buy a package tour to another island than to stay with friends in Bermuda. Our son's visit here was disrupted by the airport closure on "Hurricane Gert'' Tuesday; the first plane available from New York was on Friday so he was forced to cancel because his scheduled departure from Bermuda was on Saturday. Additional flights for those Tuesday passengers may have prevented cancelled travel plans and lost tourism dollars.

Thirdly, may I beg you to use your Editor's tool to ensure that letters to the Editor comply more often with your 300 word limit? (This letter is 308 words.) After reading one or two columns on a topic the point is generally lost! Furthermore literacy is reinforced by examples in the press; whilst your newspaper should not appear to be "elitist'', your readers deserve to have journalists with excellent grammatical skills who do not use terms incorrectly, such as a recent example of "whirlwind tour'' being misconstrued as "world wind tour'', which certainly conjured up a lively mental picture! TRISH WAN Warwick Bahamas and Bermuda January 12, 2000 Dear Sir, In February 1999 I met a business colleague from Nassau, Bahamas at a convention in San Diego, California. We chatted briefly about various topics -- one of which included the election of the new Labour government in Bermuda.

As a born Bahamian and long-time resident of Nassau, he had seen the reshaping of his country as a result of his country's elections in the early 70s. During the course of our talk, he commented that the new Labour government in Bermuda would undoubtedly follow the pattern of his experiences over the past 25 years in the Bahamas.

Firstly he said, your new government will promote their pals into positions of authority at high -paying salaries creating a number of jobs that are not really necessary. These people will not be able to perform and will simply collect monthly cheques together with huge expense accounts. Instead of making cuts in government spending and personnel the new government will create additional jobs and new departments within the civil service.

Secondly he said, that the new Bermuda government would overspend the budget and look to the country to find ways of balancing the economy. Failing this they would turn overseas to borrow funds to run the country. Undoubtedly Bermuda would be in the red to the tune of many millions of dollars for many years to come.

Thirdly he said, that the hard-working businesses like his in the Bahamas, would become so frustrated with the state of play that they would lose all incentive to continue on a daily basis. Finally he said, as a matter of interest, due to complete mismanagement in his native land, it took almost 30 years to return his country on the road to recovery to where it is today.

Mankind is indeed strange, we categorically state that we record past events to ensure or educate ourselves into believing that lessons learned should be absorbed and recorded, so that we do not make the same mistake in the future.

Did we lose the record books? LOSING INCENTIVE A veteran speaks out January 13, 2000 Dear Sir, On Wednesday, January 12, there appeared in this column a letter written by one Mr. Bearden concerning the remarks made some time ago by one Mr. Lister.

An excellent piece. When Mr. Lister's remarks were published I had thought about writing something similar myself. I decided not to waste the time.

There is, however, a mistake in the letter as printed. This is probably an error in the printing process itself.

The very first sentence of Paragraph 6 reads: "The military members of the Eastern World....''. We live in the Western World. The Eastern World is the one that went bankrupt and fell apart, primarily due to the efforts of those whom, as Mr. Lister puts it, "kill for a living''. I think that it is important to note that all those who "kill for a living'' are not necessarily from the US of A. They are, and have always been from each and every country in the Western World, Bermuda included.

As a result of their devotion to Country and its principles, all of us now here in the Western World are free to sit around and self-righteously voice our personal opinions on everything and/or anybody we so choose, with no fear of the dire consequences that would result from the pursuance of this activity in the Eastern World. I know what goes on over there, Mr. Lister. I've been there.

This freedom of thought and expression is the very essence of democracy, Mr.

Lister. It is enjoyed by all of us fortunate enough to live in the Western World, including yourself. But it came at a very dear price. Freedom ain't free, Mr. Lister.

So, should you have a little spare time, take a stroll down to the Cenotaph on Front Street. There are some of your own countrymen buried there -- symbolically at least. They were a part of that mass of humanity who "kills for a living''. You can think of them as ever you wish, Mr. Lister. Because of them, you are free to do so.

Thank you for the letter, Mr. Bearden.

JUST ANOTHER VET Pembroke Corporation responds January 13, 2000 (The following was sent to Mr. Alan Bainbridge and copied to The Royal Gazette .) *** Dear Sir, Thank you for your letter of December 4, 1999, containing various allegations about tables being "stolen'' from the City Hall while you were in charge of the BMDS Bar during the annual BMDS Pantomime.

Your first allegation was that someone from the National Gallery had "stolen'' your tables (provided by Gosling's). In truth, the tables were moved by caterers who mistakenly believed that the Gosling's tables had been left at City Hall for a function in the National Gallery. The National Gallery actually had their own tables and no one from that organisation had any knowledge of this mistake, which I understand, was very quickly corrected by the caterers.

You then allege that three more Gosling's tables were removed from the building on December 3, for which you attempt to lay blame on the City Hall caretaker allowing them to be taken. In fact, the tables, owned by Gosling's, were removed by Gosling's, and it would have been impossible for the caretaker to prevent Gosling's from collecting their own property. There was clearly a misunderstanding between you and your own suppliers.

There is a solution to the problem you encountered and that is for you to take advantage of the lockable storeroom at City Hall specifically provided by the Corporation to organisations renting the theatre for the safe storage of their supplies. This may require a little extra effort on your part to store the tables away at night-time but it will save you the worry of having them removed by your suppliers -- or anyone else.

Regretfully, the Corporation cannot be responsible for property left unattended in public areas of a public building.

It would also be greatly appreciated if, in future, you could be a little more polite when communicating with our Corporation staff here at City Hall. The Corporation has enjoyed a harmonious relationship with BMDS for many, many years, and it is our sincere hope that this will continue in the future.

ROGER J. SHERRATT Secretary Corporation of Hamilton P.S. In view of your decisions to copy your letter to the Editor of The Royal Gazette , I thought it necessary to also copy this reply. A copy has also been sent to the President of BMDS although we understand that your initial letter was not authorised by BMDS and may not represent their views at all.