That was the message yesterday from Education Minister the Hon. Clarence Terceira, who spoke to the Senior Islanders Club at Admiralty House Community Centre.

"It's not going to benefit us in any positive way,'' he said of Independence.

"It's going to be in a negative way. There's no doubt about it at all.

"We possibly can do it and survive, but at a lower standard of living.'' Dr.

Terceira said he feared damage to international business and tourism, as well as increased costs for external affairs when the Island was already taking a financial pounding over military Base closures.

The small group of seniors who heard Dr. Terceira speak appeared sympathetic to his viewpoint.

Mr. John Wesley DeShield, 85, wanted to know how "the poor man'' was supposed to meet the increased costs of Independence.

"I think we're better off without Independence,'' the Second World War veteran said. "I'm not for it.'' If Bermuda opted for Independence after a planned Commission of Inquiry and referendum, "our ties with Britain, which are substantial in benefit, would go out the window,'' Dr. Terceira said.

He cited the help the British Government gave over the weekend in locating a Bermudian missionary in Rwanda. Finding Miss Dana Bassett would have taken longer in an independent Bermuda, he said.

"If we went independent and we then wanted the British consuls around the world to help us, we'd certainly pay for that,'' he said. "They'd send us the bill.'' A Commission of Inquiry, with its powers of subpoena, was "a peculiar instrument'' for gathering information on Independence, he said. But the information should be gathered so the referendum could be dealt with and put behind Bermuda.

"I've always said that if you're going to have it, let's get the information out and get the referendum out of the way so things can settle down.'' Another view was that in light of a scientific poll by The Royal Gazette which showed two-thirds of Bermudians opposed to Independence, "perhaps the best thing to do would be just to drop it.'' Dr. Terceira later said he personally felt Independence should be "shelved,'' but if the referendum was to be held, it should be done quickly.

He would not vote against Government on the Independence issue, he said.

Dr. Terceira said international business was nervous about Independence, a and he understood companies planning on locating on the Island had put their plans on hold.

In tourism, Bermuda would soon lose its British flavour that visitors liked, he said.

And cost was an issue which "no one has tackled yet.'' His friend, lawyer Mr.

Livingstone Johnson, was the first Bahamian ambassador to the United States, he said. At the same time, he represented the Bahamas at the United Nations in New York and at the Bahamian High Commission in Canada.

Mr. Johnson told Dr. Terceira that Independence was "very glamorous,'' but "very, very expensive.'' It was estimated that the first year of Independence would cost Bahamas $300,000, he said. But the actual cost was $1.6 million.

Before long, Bahamas had separate representatives in Washington DC, New York, and Ottawa, as well as London, Haiti, and countries throughout central and South America.

This year, external affairs alone was costing Bahamas more than $3 million, and "their total cost is approaching $10 million.'' An independent Bermuda could say that it would not have extensive consular representation, but "as you get into the world of diplomacy, you need these extra people here and extra people there,'' he said. "It creeps up.'' There was an "opportunity cost'' associated with the loss of the Bases, which pumped millions into the economy through rents and purchases of goods and services. And it could cost about $10 million for Bermuda to run the Civil Air Terminal.

"If on top of that you are going to spend five or six or seven million on Independence, where is the money going to come from?'' Dr. Terceira asked.

Would old age pensions or education have to be cut? The Base closures would have some benefits for Bermuda. For instance, Bermuda could take over the Roger B. Chaffee School at the US Naval Air Station, rather than spending $5 to $6 million on St. George's Secondary School to upgrade it to a middle school.

And a huge hangar just constructed for the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation could be used for major international exhibitions.

But in the big picture, benefits like those were "very, very small potatoes,'' he said.

The Hon. Clarence Terceira