The tourist industry had an estimated value to Bermuda of £14,477,000 in 1966, £18,420,000 in 1967 and £26,117,953 in 1968. The pattern of tourist origins also remained steady with about 85 per cent of the total visitors arriving in Bermuda from the United States. The number of Canadian tourists increased. As a result of the devaluation of sterling, traffic from the United Kingdom to Bermuda in 1968 showed a decrease. Expansion of tourist facilities included an increase in the number of hotel beds from 5,655 in 1967 to 6,175 in 1968. Future plans call for two new major hotels to be in operation between 1969 and 1971. The promotion of tourism is the responsibility of the Bermuda Department of Tourism and Trade Development which has its head office in Hamilton and branch offices in London, New York, Chicago and Toronto. Bermuda has two ports, Hamilton, the present capital, centrally situated on a deep-water landlocked harbour and including the former Royal Navy dockyard and basin, and St George, the former capital, also situated on a deep-water landlocked harbour at the east end of the islands and including an oil dock at Murray's Anchorage on the north shore of St George's Parish. Three large, two-storey, covered wharves and one open wharf extend along the Hamilton waterfront. The three covered wharves accommodate ocean-going vessels drawing not more than 26·5 feet; the two eastern ones have a combined water frontage of 1,100 feet and the western one has a water frontage of 455 feet. The open wharf, which is between them, is 150 feet long with a depth of 24 feet of water alongside. There is also offshore anchorage in the harbour for three oceangoing vessels. The fuelling depot of the Royal Navy is now managed on behalf of the Admiralty by the Shell Company of Bermuda, Limited, and is sometimes used to bunker commercial vessels. Because of the depth of water and the crane facilities in the former dockyard it is occasionally used by commercial vessels to load or unload heavy cargoes, or by the Ports Authority for repairs. In St George there are two wharves: Penno's which is 1,200 feet long with a depth of 32 feet of water alongside, and Ordnance Island, which is 350 feet long with 24 feet of water alongside. There is also offshore anchorage in the harbour for oceangoing vessels. The oil dock at Murray's Anchorage is operated by Esso Standard Oil, S.A., and has a depth of 33 feet of water alongside. The berthing arrangements and supervision of shipping in the harbours is the responsibility of the Department of Marine and Ports Services. The construction and maintenance of harbour buildings, wharves, etc., and dredging within the harbours, are the responsibilities of the Corporations of Hamilton and St George. Direct or indirect seaborne passenger and cargo services are maintained with varying frequency and regularity with all parts of the world by the following shipping lines: Bermuda Shipping Company, Booth-Import, Furness-Withy, Independent Gulf, Isbrandsten, Manz, Pacific Steam Navigation, Royal Mail, Saguenay and Cunard. The only airfield is at the U.S.A.F. Base, which was originally constructed during the last war solely for military purposes. In 1948 this base, known as Kindley Field, was opened to civil aircraft in accordance with the provisions of a treaty agreement between the Governments of the United States of America and the United Kingdom. The base itself is leased to the United States Government for 99 years. Civil aircraft are handled in a sub-leased area at the western end of the airfield which is being extended to accommodate 'Jumbo Jets'. Both military and civil aircraft use the same runways and technical facilities of air traffic control, communications, weather and navigation aids. The airlines serving Bermuda are B.O.A.C., Pan American, Eastern, Northeast Airlines, Air Canada and Qantas. There are 132 miles of central and local Government roads, most of which are surfaced; they include 3.55 miles reserved for cyclists and pedestrians. There are also many surfaced ‘estate roads' and unsurfaced private roads. Prior to 1946 there was little broadcasting in Bermuda and local listeners relied principally on broadcasts from North America and England. In 1943 the Bermuda Broadcasting Company was formed and in 1946 started commercial broadcasting with the call-sign ZBM on 1,240 kc/s with a power output of 250 watts. In 1953 a second station ZBM-2 was opened and in 1962 power on both stations was increased to 1,000 watts and an FM station, ZBM-FM, was inaugurated. 1962 also saw the formation of a second commercial broadcasting company, Capital Broadcasting, using the call-sign ZFB, which operates with 1,000 watts power. All stations broadcast 24 hours a day except for the FM station which operates from 0700-2200 hours daily. In 1968 ZBM-FM inaugurated stereophonic transmission. Bermuda's first commercial television station ZBM-TV began operations in January 1958, and now operates for approximately nine hours daily. In August 1964 the Bermuda Government granted to Atlantic Broadcasting Co. Ltd a licence to establish and operate a second commercial television channel. This station, ZFB-TV, began broadcasting in August 1965 and now operates for approximately nine hours daily. Income tax and estate duty are not levied in Bermuda but legislative approval was given in 1967 for the introduction of a property tax. This tax is similar to the rates levied by local authorities in the United Kingdom. Revenue is mainly derived from customs duties and in 1968 these duties accounted for £5,777,537 of the Government's total revenue of £10,691,565. Miscellaneous stamp duties accounted for £627,508. Company taxes realised £307,350, vehicle licences £425,139 and omnibus services £342,924. The new land tax for the latter six months of 1967 realised £304,826. In accordance with the provisions of the Exempted Undertakings Tax Protection Act 1966, foreign companies can be granted freedom from liability for present or future taxes computed on profits or income or capital assets, gains and appreciation. Undertakings operating in the Bermuda freeport also obtain customs tariff concessions. Retail price indices for the period 1960-1967 for working class families (January 1961=100) were: Government expenditure in 1968 was £9,944,788 and the Public Debt at 31st December 1968 was £305,000. A schedule of capital projects, in order of priority, has been drawn up for the period 1967-69, totalling £3,100,000. In 1967, £600,000 was allocated for school building construction. The general administration of education is vested by law in the Member of the Executive Council responsible for education, who may seek advice from the Board of Education. Primary education was provided free for the first time in 1949 for children over 7 and under 13 years of age. Attendance between those ages had long been compulsory and continued until 1965 when it was extended to 5 to 15 years. In 1969 the leaving age was raised to 16. There are 25 free schools, as well as 10 others at which fees are charged. The management of 24 of the schools is carried on by the Department of Education, that of the remainder being vested in local governing bodies. There are also 21 private schools. Secondary education is provided at six of the schools under the administration of the Board of Education and at five other schools. A sixth form centre has been established to prepare students for advanced level G.C.E. examinations. The entrance qualification is five or more G.C.E. passes at the ordinary level or their equivalent. Technical training, including technical high school and trades training courses, is provided at the Technical Institute, while the four new secondary schools include training of a practical nature (woodwork, metalwork, domestic science and shorthand-typewriting) in their syllabuses. There is a training school for delinquent boys and another for delinquent girls up to the age of 17. There is also a free school for handicapped children and four special schools for educationally sub-normal children. Higher education is not available in Bermuda, but one Rhodes Scholarship and six others tenable at universities abroad may be awarded annually. There are also a number of scholarships offered by the Department of Education to enable prospective teachers to take training courses abroad. Government expenditure on education in 1968 was £2,238,437. HISTORY According to the Spanish navigator and historian Ferdinand d'Oviedo, who sailed close to the islands in 1515, they were discovered by Juan Bermudez. A 17th century French cartographer gives the date of their discovery as 1503 and there is evidence that the islands were known as 'La Bermuda' by 1510. The Spaniards do not appear to have taken any steps to form a settlement and the islands were still entirely uninhabited when in 1609 Admiral Sir George Somer's ship The Sea Venture was wrecked upon one of the reefs while carrying a party of colonists to Virginia. Reports of the beauty and fertility of the land caused the Virginia Company to seek an extension of their charter so as to include the islands within their dominion. This was granted by King James I in 1612 and the first emigrants went out in that year. Shortly afterwards the Virginia Company sold the islands for £2,000 to a new body of adventurers called 'The Governor and Company of the City of London for the Plantation of the Somers Islands', and for a considerable time afterwards the islands bore that name. In 1684 the charter of the Bermuda Company of London was annulled and government passed to the Crown. As in the West Indies, slavery was permitted from the colony's earliest days, but following William Wilberforce's crusade in England it was abolished absolutely in Bermuda in 1834. Later in the nineteenth century, following the inauguration of steamship services, Bermuda, in addition to enjoying a profitable agricultural export trade in vegetables, gradually became noted for its climate and charm. Slowly the tourist trade grew, many visitors coming annually to escape the rigorous North American winters and, as larger and faster ships were built and hotels erected, it finally became the colony's most important business. Since the Second World War, the tourist season has become virtually year-round, with the greatest influx of visitors coming during the long summer season. The year 1959 was the 350th anniversary of the settlement of Bermuda. Throughout the year a comprehensive programme of functions and celebrations was carried out, and a special Crown piece was issued by the Royal Mint. His Royal Highness Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, paid a flying visit in April 1959. The Parliamentary Election Act, passed in December 1962, marked an important step in the political evolution in Bermuda. Throughout its history, members of the House of Assembly had been elected by the privileged few who could meet a freehold voting qualification (5,500 in 1962). The new act enfranchised everyone over the age of 25, thus creating a potential electorate of 22,000, while retaining for property-owners the privilege of an extra vote. Bermuda's first political party, the Progressive Labour Party, was formed shortly before the elections held in May 1963 but the majority of seats was won by independent candidates. In the following year however most of the independent members formed a second party, the United Bermuda Party, and independents now form less than a third of the total membership of the House. In November 1963 the Legislature appointed a Joint Select Committee to consider constitutional change. In an interim report the Committee recommended the abolition of the additional Property Vote and reduction of the voting age from twenty-five to twenty-one years. These changes became law early in 1966. In its second report, published in November 1965 the Joint Select Committee made detailed recommendations for constitutional change. This report was accepted by the Legislature and subsequently a Constitutional Conference was convened in London in November 1966. In addition to the Governor and the Attorney-General, a representative delegation consisting of eighteen members of the Legislature attended. A new Constitution providing responsible internal selfgovernment came into force on 8th June, 1968, following a General Election on 22nd May, which resulted in the United Bermuda Party winning 30 seats in the House of Assembly and the Progressive Labour Party became the official opposition holding the other ten seats. The election campaign was marred by an outbreak, during April, of two days of civil disorder, which resulted in few casualties but over £400,000 in property damage due mainly to arson. CONSTITUTION Following the constitutional conference held in London in November 1966, a new written constitution was introduced on 8th June 1968 providing a responsible form of government. The House of Assembly adopted the report of a Boundaries Commission that the general election, held on 22nd May 1968, should result in 20 constituencies each sending two members to parliament under full universal adult suffrage. Under the new constitution the Executive Council is drawn from the Legislature, to which it is responsible, and the Governor is normally bound to act on the advice of the Executive Council except in relation to external affairs, defence, internal security and the police, for which subjects he retains special responsibility. The Governor appoints as Government Leader the member of the House of Assembly whom he thinks best able to command the confidence of a majority of members, and other appointments to Executive Council and the allocation of portfolios and the appointment of Parliamentary Secretaries are made on the advice of the Government Leader. The Legislative Council, which has power to delay legislation and to introduce and amend Bills other than Money Bills, consists of eleven members. Five are appointed by the Governor in his discretion, four on the advice of the Government Leader and two members on the advice of the Opposition Leader. There are an independent Judiciary and a Public Service Commission for Bermuda. LAND POLICY The Government has exercised control of development, in some form or other, for a considerable time. In May 1962 it was decided to review town and country development in the light of a report submitted by a commission appointed in 1944 to survey housing in the Colony, and to make recommendations for the future control and development of buildings and land. Following the review in 1962, funds were provided and arrangements made for Mr H. Thornley Dyer, FRIBA, AMTPI, Town Planning Adviser for the Kenya Government from 1945-62, to come to Bermuda for six months to prepare a development plan for Bermuda. As a result of Mr Dyer's report a Bill was forwarded to the Legislature early in 1965 and became operative on 3rd August 1965. There is a Department of Planning for the orderly development of land and for the preservation and improvement of amenities, including the acquisition of land, compensation, appeals etc. The Development and Planning Act (1965) provides a comprehensive code for the control of development having due regard to private interests where they conflict with the public need. Final development plans, based on Mr Dyer's recommendations and drafted for Legislative approval, were approved by the legislature at the end of 1968. GOVERNMENT THE EXECUTIVE COUNCIL H.E. The Governor and Commander-in-Chief Government Leader: Hon. Sir Henry Tucker, CBE, JP, MCP Member for Government Organisation: Hon. John R. Plowman, CBE Secretary to Executive Council: W. W. Wallace, OBE, DSC THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL Hon. Edmund Gibbons (President) |