That was the very perceptive message from the new Premier last Thursday. We hope today that the message was received by those people who think the new Government has instant solutions to complex and difficult problems.

It is the nature of any government anywhere in a democracy that the wheels move slowly.

The new PLP Government, no matter how fast it wishes to move, will be slowed by the processes of the Civil Service and by the long time it takes to get new legislation drafted and processed through the Legislature. It will also find that multiple consultation which is often necessary between the Ministries will be a time consuming and delaying process.

We say all this because we think there is a high expectation of instant solutions and rapid changes. As Jennifer Smith has said: "Change is gradual.'' It may not be gradual because the new Government wants it to be but simply because the nature of the system forces change to be gradual. It must be a matter of concern that high expectations can lead people to become quickly disillusioned.

However, perhaps we are wrong. It may be that the Government's supporters who have waited some 35 years to come to power are, at heart, very patient people who are willing to wait a little longer as long as the solutions are being worked on by their chosen representatives.

There are some things the new Government can achieve quite quickly. The international business sector provides about half of Bermuda's income. It can be very fickle and it needs some assurances. Right now it is making conciliatory noises and waiting to see what the PLP Government will do. But it does seem to understand that one of the messages it has to get across to Bermudians is what is in the international company sector for them. If that message can be gotten across, it would be a big plus for Bermuda.

The new Government needs to reassure international business that it will not be pressured or threatened. Bermuda's Government must remember that when Lynden Pindling tampered with these companies in the Bahamas, they came to Bermuda. They could just as easily leave Bermuda and go elsewhere.

We believe that whether or not the companies stay will depend a great deal on the granting of work permits. No one can successfully run a multinational company which competes against the world without top talent. If that means some non-Bermudians, then we will have to accept the fact that non-Bermudians produce jobs for Bermudians and the international company sector produces about half of Bermuda's basic income.

That is not likely to change until such a time as Bermudians are trained for the top and no country as small as Bermuda is ever likely to produce enough top talent for top jobs in this sophisticated economy.

The economy has to be protected because it is still everything. Without a successful economy the new Government cannot meet its promises on housing, crime, drugs, social programmes or anything else. Then too the new Government has to protect the very high standard of living or disappoint over half of the population.