Bermuda shorts
Sir: Mr Keevil. in his letter about my article on Bermuda (24 Octo- ber), mangles logic wonderfully. I don't see why the fact that so many black Bermudians are self- employed makes it impossible to collect income tax. I wish, as a self-employed though drab olive- coloured writer, that Mr Keevil could persuade the tax authorities here they can't collect from the self-employed. I don't have statis- tics to be able to refute the impli- cation that most black Bermudians are self-employed but, on the face of it. the only ones who arc, are the cab drivers and private caterers. The maids, hotel staff, shop work- ers and domestic staff who appear to outnumber cab drivers and caterers are not self-employed. Am
I also to take it that self-employed white Bermudians can have tax ,collected from them easily? Finally, the inflation is not caused wholly or largely by the fact of in- direct taxation but by the fact that the economy is geared to rich tour- ists.
Secondly, I did not mean to sug- gest that tourism was bad for Ber- muda. I was trying to give a psy- chological explanation for the way many Bermudians feel Though I did not say so in the article, I did go to speak to the official spokes- man of Sir Henry Tucker's govern- ment, after I had interviewed the PLP and tried to get him to answer 'their criticisms. The gentleman, however, was evasive to the point of saying nothing about these and concentrated solely on the prob- lems of increasing the tourist trade as fast as possible without ruining the environment. There seemed to be little point in underlining the insensitivity of the government towards the problems I outlined further.
Lastly, if Mr Keevil had read my article carefully instead of letting himself be incensed by its general tone, he would have observed I said I attended the trial I mentioned. The only thing I relied on Mrs Browne-Evans for was the com- ment that the white magistrate would have convicted if it had been at all possible. As for Mr Outerbridge, does he deny_that the original, early settlers took the land. How much of it do the descendants of the slaves—who one presumes also worked—own now? .
David Cohen 28 Vincent Court, Seymour Place, London wl
Previous page
