Bermudians were telling him "the ballot makes no sense -- we've got to find a better way to take control,'' Mr. Simmons said.

MPs could read into that whatever they liked, he said.

Human Affairs Minister the Hon. Jerome Dill said Mr. Simmons' comments "should cause great concern to every single member of this House.'' Clearly, it could not be UBP supporters who were getting frustrated with the ballot, "because their views are reflected by a UBP victory at the polls,'' Mr. Dill said.

"We are clearly talking about PLP supporters.'' If people were considering turning away from the ballot, it was "very serious,'' and a matter on which the House should focus, he said.

"What should the response to an observation like that be?'' Mr. Dill asked.

"If we are genuinely concerned about the rule of law in this country ... we have to have one response. The ballot is the way. That can be the only way.'' Ms Renee Webb (PLP) interjected that that would be fine if there was a system of one man, one vote, and all votes had equal value.

"What are young people ... supposed to think when one of their elected representatives says there must be another way, other than the ballot?'' Mr.

Dill asked.

Every MP should have "a commitment to the ballot, to the exclusion of all else,'' he said.

Ms Webb said the problem was that the constituencies were not balanced. For instance, there were about 1,000 voters in Paget constituencies and twice as many in Warwick constituencies. But each constituency elected two MPs.

Mr. Dill "should avoid misrepresenting the truth,'' she said.

And Mrs. Lois Browne Evans (PLP) took strong exception to Mr. Dill's remarks.

He had grossly misrepresented Ms Webb's remarks, she said.

And the PLP had to believe in the ballot, or the party would not keep coming back election after election, she said.

"We've never believed in changing the Constitution, as rigged as it is, by any other means than the ballot,'' she said.

Earlier in his remarks, Mr. Simmons said Government was not listening to the people and they were getting angry.

A petition was getting started to stop the planned one percent increase in the hospital levy, he said.

Bermuda had "desperate unemployment,'' and Bermudians were blaming that on an Immigration Board that was allowing foreigners to take the jobs of locals, he said.

Labour and Home Affairs Minister the Hon. Irving. Pearman said Mr. Simmons' comments about unemployment were not accurate.

The unemployment rate had dropped steadily to just over two percent from more than five percent in 1990, he said.

Almost all jobs had to be advertised, and if someone wanted to apply to hire a non-Bermudian, they had to give information about the Bermudians who had applied.

Mr. Reginald Burrows (PLP) said the unemployment figures did not show the whole picture. Many Bermudians were able to secure mortgages to purchase homes during the "boom years'' of the '70s and '80s because they were working two or three jobs.

Now, many of those same people had one job, or none at all.

Cutbacks in the number of Police officers had contributed to road fatalities, he said.

Shadow Labour and Home Affairs Minister Mr.

Alex Scott said Mr. Pearman should show the human face of unemployment statistics.

Even if the correct rate was 2.9 percent, that would represent 573 people, he said. The actual number was 1,500 to 2,000, he claimed.

The Labour Minister should be protecting Bermudians, not politically grandstanding and suggesting "the picture is rosier than it is,'' he said.

Mr. Stanley Lowe (PLP) said he was concerned about the growing number of university-educated Bermudians who were "pounding the doorsteps'' and unable to find work.

Shadow Finance Minister Mr. Eugene Cox said he was amazed at how little criticism there had been in the Press about his Budget Reply. "Some people are beginning to see correctly,'' he said.

Government was unable to come up with any "real criticism'' of the Budget Reply and was "coming through the back door'' by imitating the PLP, he said.

There was a recent call for an institution to supervise financial institutions, which the Opposition had called for.

And on Saturday, there was an article in the Press about plans for a Government training scheme, also called for by the PLP, he said.

Finance Minister the Hon.

David Saul said Mr. Cox had it mixed up, and the Press had merely "ignored'' the PLP's Budget Reply.

The Bermuda Monetary Authority had been talking to financial institutions about further regulations for months and it was "sheer nonsense'' to suggest the idea came from the PLP Budget Reply.

"It shows an ignorance of the way the Monetary Authority does act,'' Dr. Saul said.

Mr. Harry Soares (UBP) said people were "very concerned about the state of politics in Bermuda''.

People felt motions were being brought to the House of personal or political gain, not for the good of Bermuda, he said.

Some MPs took the position that if everything did not go their way, "I'm going to take my marbles and go home.'' He hoped MPs would attend their respective churches and consider the matter over the Easter Break.

Mr. Walter Lister (PLP) said that if Mr. Soares was talking about legislation brought to the House, it had to be the UBP that was at fault.

PLP motions came because the party's MPs responded to community concerns, he said.

"Then act upon them,'' interjected Mr. Pearman .

"We're not going to be pushed by anybody or shoved by anybody,'' Mr. Lister said.

Mr. Dennis Lister (PLP) said the three PLP motions had dealt with twice-weekly garbage collection, annual voter registration, and retraining for the Base takeover. All were important issues to the community, he said.

Government motions had included Health Minister the Hon. Quinton Edness' AIDS motion, which was a chance for Government to pat itself on the back, he said.

And there was the Hon. John Stubbs' bill to legalise gay sex and the Premier's move for an Independence referendum, he said.

"If there was one motion that was brought to this House for personal reasons, that may be the one,'' Mr. Lister said.

Youth and Sport Minister the Hon. Pamela Gordon said AIDS was "devastating a large portion of our community,'' and the Health Minister's motion on AIDS could not be deemed "frivolous''.

Works and Engineering Minister the Hon. Leonard Gibbons said he was concerned about an editorial in The Royal Gazette that said roads had been paved for the Queen's visit.

That was not true, and paving done recently had been scheduled for some time.

Some asphalt laid near the Maritime Museum was the only work done as a result of the Queen, he said.

Mr. Nelson Bascome (PLP) said he was concerned about the rise in violent crime in Bermuda. If something happened to a visitor on Court Street, Bermuda's fragile tourism industry would receive the kind of disastrous publicity Miami had.