Former Premier the Hon. Sir John Swan admitted yesterday that he said on referendum morning that Bermuda's vote on Independence might be put off until Christmas.

Testifying at the second day of a Commission of Inquiry into the one-day postponement of the vote, Sir John said he made the comment over breakfast at the Princess Hotel with businessman and United Bermuda Party adviser Mr. Edgar Wilkinson.

Sir John had just come from a 7 a.m. meeting of the Emergency Measures Organisation in the wake of Hurricane Felix, after which Cabinet Secretary Mr.

Leopold Mills had announced the referendum was not going ahead as planned.

Mr. Mills has testified he made the decision himself after meeting with other senior civil servants and took no direction from the Premier or other politicians.

Over breakfast, at which then Transport Minister the Hon. Maxwell Burgess was also present, "the question was asked -- what are the implications of this (delay)?'' Sir John told the commission.

"I said, well, if in the event it is delayed, any delay beyond the time prescribed would require Parliament to be reconvened, and that we could hold the referendum at some future date.

"If that does occur, one of the commitments we made to students, since it would be affecting their future, was that provision would be made for them to be able to vote.

"The prospects might be that if in the event we wanted to accomplish that, students will not be home until the month of December.'' The commission has heard that Mr. Wilkinson was overheard in the Buckaroo Restaurant in Hamilton the same morning, saying the referendum would be put off until December. "It may have been based on what I said to him,'' Sir John said. Mr. Wilkinson is to testify today.

In fact, the vote was held the next day, on August 16, after Governor Lord Waddington intervened. Returning officers were sent out to invoke a section of the Parliamentary Election Act which allowed them to open polling stations and then adjourn voting until the next day.

Bermudians who cast ballots voted 75 percent against Independence. The Premier, who had campaigned hard for a `yes' vote, resigned as promised.

In other testimony yesterday, Opposition Leader Mr. Frederick Wade said that on August 13, Sir John told him "he may have to recall the House (of Assembly) to bring some law to postpone the referendum because of the hurricane''.

Swan at Inquiry Mr. Wade, who said the comment was made while the two leaders were attending an ecumenical service at the Anglican Cathedral, told Sir John that was unnecessary because the existing law "provides for what should happen''.

Later that night, Mr. Wade heard Sir John on the news saying the referendum would go ahead. "I presumed from that that he was just testing me to see what my feeling was on the recall of the House.'' Mr. Wade became "alarmed'' at about 8 a.m. on the 15th when he heard Mr.

Mills say on radio "he had decided to postpone the referendum indefinitely'', and immediately telephoned the Governor, who was "very upset by what was going on''. "He recognised that the Government was behaving illegally.'' As well as calling Mr. Mills and getting returning officers sent to the polling stations, Lord Waddington said: "We've got to get into court,'' Mr.

Wade said. The commission has heard that MPs the Hon. Ann Cartwright DeCouto, the Hon. John Barritt, and Mr. Trevor Moniz filed a writ that morning against Parliamentary Registrar Mrs. Marlene Christopher, seeking an order that returning officers be sent to their polling stations.

Mr. Wade felt Sir John was "very anxious not to have the referendum'', because he had staked his political future on a `yes' vote, and "it was my view that he was controlling the whole operation''.

But Sir John said Cabinet was advised by the Attorney General through Mr.

Mills that legally "there could not be a delay except for 24 hours, if the polls opened at 10 o'clock in the morning.'' The commission has heard that the polling stations were not in fact opened until past noon. The AG also felt that wording in the Parliamentary Election Act that allowed for a 24-hour delay did `not necessarily'' apply to a hurricane, Sir John said.

The former Premier, who is still an MP but described himself to the commission as "a businessman,'' denied he or any other Cabinet Minister gave "any instruction to the Secretary of the Cabinet, or to the Parliamentary Registrar, or to any other public officer as to what should or should not have been done in connection with the holding of the referendum.'' Upon learning that returning officers had been sent out to open the polls, Sir John said he and Mr. Burgess drove to the Government Administration Building to find Mr. Mills and spoke to him in front of the building because "I wanted to hear it firsthand.'' He could not recall whether Mr. Mills then got into the Premier's BMW GP1 and drove away with him and Mr. Burgess.

The Cabinet met at 5.30 p.m. that day "only to be informed as to what was taking place, not to make a decision (about the timing of the referendum),'' Sir John said. "Those were administrative matters.'' "I thought I should tell my colleagues that the polls had not opened at the prescribed time, as per the act itself, but that it was going ahead anyway.'' In other developments: Recalled to the stand yesterday, Mr. Mills said it was "difficult to answer'' why it was not announced until after 7 p.m. that the referendum would proceed the next day.

He was busy with several meetings, and "it wasn't up to me to make that announcement'', he said.

The commission was told Sir John could not be located on the morning of the 15th after he left the Princess Hotel. He said he could not recall where he went after breakfast, but "I probably went home and checked up on my home''.

Commission chairman the Hon. Telford Georges told Sir John he sensed "a fundamental problem of distrust -- a feeling that you would have been anxious to have the referendum postponed''.

Asked whether he felt there could be "a political advantage from the postponement of the referendum,'' Sir John said he would have preferred more time for people to get information but respected the decision to hold it in August.

Sir John was cross-examined by UBP backbencher Mr. Trevor Moniz, a development that Sir John described as "extraordinary'' in complaining to Mr. Georges.

The commission, appointed by Lord Waddington, is made up of Mr. Georges, Dr.

Walwyn Hughes, and Ms Sonia Grant.

Dr. David Dyer MP, Ms Valerie Pethen of Government Information Services, Mrs.

Cartwright DeCouto and Mr. Moniz are expected to testify today.