of the Bahamas to cut that country's budget. The most amazing of Mr. Hubert Ingraham's cuts are the perks granted by Sir Lynden Pindling's government to Sir Lynden.

We can be thankful that Bermuda has been free of any number of the excesses now coming to light in the Bahamas. There are lessons which Government leaders in Bermuda can learn from Prime Minister Ingraham's actions to clean up in the Bahamas in the wake of Sir Lynden's long rule. The basic lesson is never to get into big spending on government perks in the first place because the public does not like it. We say that because some of Bermuda's leaders have been too close to Sir Lynden Pindling for comfort. Some of them have also been very quick to rush to his defence in the face of criticism.

Most of Mr. Ingraham's measures are aimed at reducing the fat in government.

He moved first to cut the privileges heaped on Sir Lynden but did not cut Sir Lynden's salary as Leader of the Opposition. He is cutting the perks enjoyed by Sir Lynden as Prime Minister including a head cook, a second cook, laundress, maids and gardeners. It is not too hard to imagine how loud the howling would be from all sectors in Bermuda if anyone suggested such a staff for Sir John Swan. Bermudians are not even too sure that their Premier should have GP1 for his own use. A private plane brought Sir Lynden Pindling from Nassau to Bermuda to help his old friends in the PLP open their renovated Alaska Hall headquarters.

Prime Minister Ingraham is cutting the cost of Prime Minister Pindling's government by $500,000 a year. The new Prime Minister has reduced Police protection for the Prime Minister saying that he has no need for Police in the bushes watching his home. He has also cut travel costs for the Prime Minister, especially the $2,000 a day spent on "presidential'' hotel suites for Sir Lynden Pindling when he traveled abroad. The New York public relations woman who was hired at $45,000 a month to spruce up Sir Lynden's image has been fired.

There was cheering in the streets of Nassau at the first outdoor opening of Parliament when it was announced in the throne speech that legislation would be introduced to reduce cabinet and parliamentary salaries by about 12 percent.

Prime Minister Ingraham also announced that he would remove the Bahamian government's monopoly on broadcasting. He said: "Never again will a government of the Bahamas have the power and the authority to misuse its mandate as the Progressive Liberal Party did.'' Bermudians can be thankful because that statement makes Bermuda's concern over the loss of "easy listening'' seem almost trite.

Mr. Ingraham's government is to review the "over generous'' pension plans for parliamentarians. The new bill will greatly reduce pensions "in an equitable and less costly'' scheme and make them contributory. We can only remember that many people in Bermuda were very unhappy about the pension scheme introduced by a former Finance Minister for Bermuda's parliamentarians.

Bermudians should be aware that the Bahamas' throne speech also said that state ownership of hotels had been characterised by "hefty losses and has become an unbearable burden on the public purse'' and that government hotels are to be offered for sale to responsible groups and chains. The Bahamas government will help and encourage Bahamians to own and manage hotels.

Sadly, the Bahamas throne speech also promised an independent audit of the public treasury and promised to put in place mechanisms to prevent fraudulent disbursements from treasury accounts.

The throne speech also said: "Throughout the Bahamas there has been a universal sigh of relief from anxiety and from fear.''