yesterday urged Bermuda: "Remain a Crown colony.'' Sir Vassel said the Cayman Islands reaped huge economic benefits from being tied to Britain, cashing in when other countries went independent.

His views were strongly backed by one of the country's first lawyers, Mr. Bill Walker.

Mr. Walker told Bermudians: "Get the best of both worlds -- the stability of being a colony, combined with almost total self-government.'' He added: "I understand absolutely the emotional appeal of Independence, but it is not sound business practice.'' Bermudian businesses were already dipping their toes in the economic waters of the Cayman Islands, he said.

"They are putting out feelers. Some have been in touch with my firm, although I can't name any of them.'' Sir Vassel added: "People have begun to anchor another foot in a country which they would prefer to move to in case of Independence.

"A lot of Bermudians have businesses in the Cayman Islands and it wouldn't be difficult for them to move if they have to do so.'' The pair stressed remaining linked to Britain provided a safeguard against political corruption.

And they warned cutting such ties could lead to "reverse discrimination'' in Bermuda, with whites suddenly finding themselves at a disadvantage in the business community.

This was now the case in Barbados where some whites complained of the difficulties in getting contracts.

"They found they had to be very much better to get them,'' said Mr. Walker.

The pair also had advice for Bermuda's Government -- abolish exchange controls, once the Independence issue was resolved.

The Cayman Islands had no such restrictions, and enjoyed a free flow of capital, they said.

Sir Vassel and Mr. Walker are directors of British Caymanian Insurance Company Ltd. -- a business Bermuda's Colonial Insurance has a 40-percent stake in.

They come here every three years for the directors' annual general meeting.

Sir Vassel, 73, was the first Financial Secretary in the Cayman Islands, a Civil Service post he held for 17 years, before entering politics as Minister of Development and Natural Resources for four years.

The first Caymanian knight, he is currently managing director of Montpelier Properties (Cayman) Ltd.

Yesterday both he and Mr. Walker spoke of the economic fate of Caribbean islands after they went independent -- and how the Cayman Islands benefitted.

Cayman got a "kick start'' when the Bahamas went independent in the early '70s under Sir Lynden Pindling, said Mr. Walker.

"Business poured out of the Bahamas. The economy there nose-dived.'' Sir Vassel said Cayman also reaped the rewards when Jamaica changed in the '70s from a right-wing to a left-wing government.

These political changes fired the Cayman Islands, leading it to its current position as the world's fifth largest financial centre after London, New York, Tokyo and Hong Kong.

Two key moves followed.

"A significant development occurred when we adopted our own currency. Prior to that we used Jamaican as legal tender,'' said Sir Vassel.

He added his abolition of exchange controls in 1980 was a further economic landmark in the Cayman Islands' growth.

"I saw it had great potential in attracting offshore business in the Cayman Islands.'' Mr. Walker, from corporate law firm, W.S. Walker and Company, said Bermuda could learn from this.

"When you get your own currency, are a growing economy and happy with the political situation, you don't need exchange controls.

" You need exchange controls when people are nervous, and are going to pull money out.'' He added: "Capital comes and goes at will in the Cayman Islands. Usually it just comes in.'' Mr. Walker believed being a colony acted as a check on political corruption.

Currently, Britain had a measure of control over the judiciary and the Police.

"I would hope very much that Bermuda would act more intelligently than the Bahamas if it went independent. The Bahamas Government behaved like idiots.'' Mr. Walker believed there was always a temptation for countries to start "changing things'' once they went independent.

Unfortunately the changes were not always for the better.

Sir Vassel and Mr. Walker agreed that the Cayman Islands enjoyed good race relations among its 33,000 residents.

"We have a very big mixed population of all shades of colour -- brothers and sisters who are happy in a multi-racial society,'' said Mr. Walker.

There was no Independence movement in the Cayman Islands, he added.

One possible explanation was that the country never had a plantation economy during the days of slavery.

"We don't have that hereditary resentment against plantation owners which was felt in other countries, where the white aristocracy were white plantation owners,'' explained Mr. Walker.

Such resentment was felt in Caribbean countries, like Barbados.

STEP CAREFULLY -- Pioneering Cayman Islands lawyer Mr. Bill Walker (left) and one-time Financial Secretary of the country Sir Vassel G. Johnson.