The crowd wasn't big at Government's first town hall meeting since the United Bermuda Party's changing of the guard in August, but it was vocal.

Among the concerns of the 50 or so people who turned up for Premier the Hon.

David Saul's inaugural "get to know you'' session at Cathedral Hall in Hamilton last night were the increase in crime and violence, the trimming of Government "fat'' and even the banning of Hallowe'en.

Dr. Saul, who shared the hot seat at the meeting with Finance Minister the Hon. Grant Gibbons and Home Affairs Minister the Hon. Quinton Edness, said he hoped that the "monthly Bostonian-type town hall'' gatherings would "encourage everybody to come out and let us know what they want, what they feel''.

"We want,'' the Premier said, "to know what the grassroots and indeed the people of Bermuda think.'' He also promised to hold the remainder of a proposed series of meetings in various parts of the Island and to "introduce'' a new selection of Cabinet ministers and backbenchers at each of the events.

In the wake of this week's Hallowe'en hooliganism, the issue of crime and violence on that night and in general was a dominant topic at last night's meeting.

"When are we going to get tough?'' one man asked of the Government panel.

"We have noticed for the past number of years a steady decline in the behaviour of young people. I think it's high time that we got tough with these folks.'' "It is nonsense (to ban Hallowe'en),'' another man said of Mr. Edness' call this week to re-examine the appropriateness of October 31 festivities.

"Let's just set an example of those that have been caught (in the act of vandalising) in the last few days.'' For his part, Mr. Edness, who denied that he had personally called for the banning of the holiday, stated that the safety of the community would be a top priority of his newly established public safety portfolio.

Echoing the Minister's toughening stance on crime, the Premier also said: "For those of you who think that we've taken the cat-o'-nine-tails off the books, we haven't. Whether or not we use it is another matter. But the threat of using is as much of a deterrent as the execution.'' Speaking in his capacity as head of the Base transition team, Dr. Gibbons pledged to "do our best to make sure that the Base lands are used in the best interest of Bermudians''.

Dr. Saul also promised to "make every supreme effort to eliminate waste'' in Government.

Not everyone was convinced by Dr. Saul's sentiments.

"We need less elaboration and more demonstration,'' one woman said. "We talk a lot but we need to do more.'' Another woman added: "What we want from this Parliament is less confrontation and more unity to address the problems of this Country.''