Premier the Hon. Sir John Swan has warned.

Crime, drugs, and other growing social problems were related to a lack of common direction, he told The Royal Gazette .

"We can't tackle these problems until we understand what we are ourselves,'' Sir John said. A Commission of Inquiry followed by a referendum on Independence from the United Kingdom would provide "a vehicle by which we come together.'' It was time for "an enlightenment period,'' he said. "Every country either goes through an enlightenment period or it goes through a period of darkness.

"The end result is, it self destructs.'' Having avoided a caucus rebellion over Independence at a meeting last week but still facing opposition when discussion of a referendum resumes on Thursday, Sir John made his case for a full public airing and vote on Independence.

Dismissing suggestions that he was pursuing a personal, hidden agenda and dragging an unwilling United Bermuda Party along, Sir John said military Base closures announced since the October 5 general election had placed the Island at "a crossroads.'' Whatever the Country decided was fine with him. "I would like to see a happy Bermuda, Independent or not,'' he said. "A Bermuda that has reconciled itself with itself.

"It's time to find a vehicle by which we come together. We remove the taboos and then we find out what our common denominators are in a big sense.'' Young people could be inspired, either because Bermuda would seek Independence, or because the Country would not and they would understand why.

"We've got to put aside this idea of such a divided Bermuda,'' and determine "the will of the Bermuda people.'' Last week's resignation of Mrs. Ann Cartwright DeCouto as Delegated Affairs Minister showed the Cabinet and caucus was split on the route the Premier favoured.

The Premier left the door open for Mrs. Cartwright DeCouto to return, but as of last night she had not changed her mind. The course being steered was not in the best interests of Bermuda, and "unless the agenda changes, I don't think it's wise for me to be in the boat,'' she said.

But Sir John said a referendum was favoured by "the man on the street.'' To underline the point, he called into his office two Bermuda Telephone Company workers he had chatted to earlier while they made repairs in the Cabinet Building.

Mr. Barclay Carmichael, 42, and Mr. Arnold Smith, 34, said they looked forward to a Commission of Inquiry. And both felt Independence could work. "I certainly welcome the opportunity of having at least some input,'' Mr.

Carmichael said.

Many fears about Independence were related to race, he said. "There are a lot of whites in this Country who feel that if we are Independent, some coloured boy is going to run to Trimingham Hill and ransack their houses.

"We're going to have to start marching together to the same drumbeat in the same direction.'' Mr. Smith said the exercise would help develop "a sense of national pride.'' The Premier said Bermuda was "a divided Country'' along racial and other lines, and too many people felt they were working to help others, not themselves. "The only way Bermuda is ever going to work is when downtown and the back of town work together as one,'' he said.

The Commission's hearings would be held in public and its findings made known to Bermuda. And the issue would be decided outside of a general election, where it could be confused with "who is going to run the Country.'' Whatever was the outcome of the Commission and referendum, "the final result is that we will all feel good about what is produced,'' Sir John said. "If we suffer some adverse effects we know we will suffer them because we've all had some authorship in what the results were.'' A lack of common direction was related to the Country's social problems, he said. "You suppress a people and you keep them under a stiff hand and those people end up having low self-esteem and participating in low self-esteem activities.'' The UBP favoured the referendum "in principle,'' but "you're going to have some hurt,'' he said.

"There is no gain without pain.''