Independence might be taken as the final word on the Independence vote. That is not the case and should not be assumed to be the case. What we publish today is only the opinion of the Bermudian voters at the time the poll was taken. A good deal can and will happen between now and August 15 and neither the public nor supporters and opponents of Independence should be encouraged to think that the result is now settled.

However, there is no good news in the poll results we publish today for either of Bermuda's political leaders.

Sir John Swan's dream of leading Bermuda to Independence appears to be fading.

Among those who would vote in the referendum, the number opposed to Independence has grown from 64 percent in the spring to 68 percent in our latest poll. The number in favour of Independence has remained the same at 17 percent.

Mr. Frederick Wade's appeal to PLP supporters not to vote also appears to be going unheeded. The number of people who say that they will vote has grown from 69 percent in the spring to 72 percent now but, more interestingly, despite a PLP "Don't Vote'' campaign, the number saying they will not vote has decreased from 16 percent in the spring to 11 percent now.

This tells us that Bermuda has high quality voters who will not be swayed and are quite capable of thinking for themselves. It also tells us that democracy is in good hands with Bermudians because they value their say and their vote and are not going to be talked into staying quiet and throwing a vote away.

The latest poll is very interesting because, despite the public having been heavily in favour of more information, it indicates that we could have held the referendum months ago. Instead, the Country has been kept in social turmoil and the economy has remained uncertain so that those in favour of Independence could look for a miracle.

Despite all the advertising and the biased propaganda and the speeches and the pro-Independence travelling road show, the voters appear to be moving away from Independence.

We can only think that voters have been offended by the lack of unbiased information and by politicians being less than straight with them on Independence. Indeed, the pro-Independence travelling road show and the television advertising has been enough to alarm the most complacent voter. It must have seriously damaged the credibility of those Cabinet Ministers taking part. The public is, we think, alarmed that our leaders could be so cynical that we could have a referendum called for the most inconvenient time for the public, mid-August.

Politicians should be the first to know that Bermudians are not stupid but some have tried to treat them as unthinking and naive. Bermudians are not about to be hoodwinked by politicians of whatever stripe who have personal agendas.

They are too proud of Bermuda.