wants full-time cabinet ministers at increased salaries. To be fair, the leader of the PLP has said that he would introduce such a programme gradually especially since the recession is still biting. We do think that some cabinet ministries today are demanding in terms of both talent and time and require considerable experience and expertise. In today's world the top ministries require brains and ability.

Mr. Frederick Wade says that he does recognise that the idea of top salaries at top ministries would "cause a stir among voters''. However he has said that the PLP platform advocates full-time ministers and, "One of our first tasks would be to consider how to make that feasible.'' The PLP will have a problem with the public because Bermudians have never really been very happy with full-time politicians or with spending too many dollars on parliamentarians. When a UBP Minister of Finance. Dr. Clarence James, increased salaries and provided substantial pensions for parliamentarians, he lost his seat and the UBP suffered at the polls.

The PLP has an additional problem. When you examine the PLP slate of candidates, it becomes clear that very few of them have commanded or can command commensurate salaries in the private sector. In fact, some of the candidates who might well be considered for cabinet posts are not now employed in any meaningful managerial capacity at all. It would seem extraordinary for the PLP to ask the Country to pay more than is warranted for the talent it gets.

We have heard and we put it no higher than that -- we have heard that the PLP wants cabinet ministers to be paid $125,000 a year so that as full-time ministers they will be better paid than the civil servants they command. It is hard for us to believe that the Bermudian public would swallow such a sum.

Bermuda has a long and proud tradition of public service and sacrifice for the Country for very little recompense.

Clearly if ministers received high pay then the back benchers would expect a proportionate increase, even though Mr. Wade does not favour across the board increases for MPs at this time. Where would it end? Probably it would end with the rest of the Country thinking, quite logically, that they too should have a big wage increase, deserved or not. Mr. Wade says he would raise the pay for ministers by "streamlining'' Government and by reducing the number of MPs from 40 to between 30 and 35.

It is difficult to believe that a political party which would start by increasing its own salaries, would wind-up doing much "streamlining''. Be that as it may, we do think Mr. Wade should tell the people what salaries he would propose for top ministers and which constituencies would lose their MPs so that cabinet ministers could get higher pay.