being blamed from inside the cabinet for putting Independence "on the front burner''. Even the world's great propagandists have seldom had the nerve to blame the person least likely to be guilty. Yet two cabinet ministers have attempted to remove blame, if there is such, from the Premier and place it squarely on Mrs. Cartwright DeCouto.

This business of blaming each other comes about because there have been questions at public forums about why we are discussing Independence and who brought the whole unhappy issue forward. The questions from the public are logical because there was no mention of Independence during the last general election, there was no grass roots groundswell for Independence and the Committee for Independence, as the Leader of the Opposition has said, consisted of two or three people.

The general public has believed that the Premier raised Independence in the wake of a tight general election because he honestly believed that if his United Bermuda Party took Bermuda to Independence it would add the Progressive Labour Party's pro-Independence supporters to the UBP's solid block of support and remain in power. That public belief has not been contradicted or disputed for over a year.

Now the Hon. Wayne Furbert and the Hon. John Irving Pearman, both strongly pro-Independence, are blaming Mrs. Cartwright DeCouto with Mr. Furbert quoted as saying, "People ask how it got on the agenda so fast, and Sir John has taken a lot of criticism. But it was a cabinet decision, and it only got there because she (Mrs. Cartwright DeCouto) asked for it.'' Mr. Pearman is quoted as saying, "How the matter was raised is constantly being brought up by the public and it's vital for people to know what really happened because the Premier has been unfairly accused of foisting the issue upon the Country.'' The Hon. C.V. Woolridge, like Mrs. Cartwright DeCouto an opponent of Independence, has been quoted as saying, "Some people are trying to stir things by saying she started it all ... It's absolute nonsense.'' Two things are very important here. Either this story has been fabricated in an attempt to shift the blame to the opponent of Independence, or two cabinet ministers are badly in breach of cabinet confidentiality. Breaching cabinet confidentiality is just about the worst thing a cabinet minister can do. We understand that desperate people do desperate things and that Sir John and his adherents are desperate but this goes much too far. Either way Mr. Pearman and Mr. Furbert have a serious problem and should behave honourably.

It is highly unlikely that Mrs. Cartwright DeCouto, who is among the main opponents of Independence, would have forced Independence "on the front burner''. Even in the unlikely event that she tried, it is hard to believe that she could have single-handedly had her own way in Cabinet and pushed Independence against the will of Sir John Swan and some others.

The Bermudian public is very far from stupid.