intrusive and frivolous politicking. We doubt there is any group behind the call and it would seem to be just another personal hobby horse of Raymond Russell, the hotel worker who likes to criticise the Bermuda Industrial Union.

We say this not to demean Mr. Russell but to put the call for a referendum in perspective before people who may not be well versed in the ins and outs of Bermudian politics take the call seriously.

Consideration on the future status of long term residents is a very serious matter which deserves Bermuda's full attention and does not need to be trivialised. Bermuda is going to make a decision which will demonstrate to the world whether this is a modern caring country with a sense of moral responsibility or whether it is a cold and careless place rooted in the past.

We are going to have to remember that the way we treat long term residents will tell the world a great deal about what we think of people and how, in the end, we are going to treat Bermudians.

There are issues in any Country which transcend politics and which should be dealt with purely on right and justice and morality. The future of our long-term residents is one of those issues. It is immoral for a country to take the benefits of the best years of people's lives and then either dismiss them or treat them as a new breed of second class citizens.

A fair measure of Bermuda's success came from the labour and talent we imported because we could not supply it ourselves. Now we may be preparing to say that we used these people but we are not willing to allow them to share fully in the success they helped to create. That is not friendly. It is not fair. It is not just.

The Green Paper and White Paper process on this issue has already taken far too long, causing both distress and unnecessary anxiety for the people involved. The public and the politicians have been aware of the problem and have been kept well informed for any number of years. The decision seems to us to be obvious and it should not be prolonged.

This is a good Country inhabited by people who are good and giving and caring.

Not everyone will agree that long-term residents should be full Bermudians but some of those who do not agree are operating out of fears for their personal future or out of favour. The decision will not please everyone but few major decisions will please everyone. However there is moral authority and national dignity to be gained from doing what is right.

If we take an action which will demean a fair number of the people normally resident here then we will shame Bermuda in the eyes of many Bermudians and in the eyes of much of the world. We must not do that to the Country we love.