THE EDITOR, Sir:

AS A Canadian, I have visited your country, not as a tourist, but to be with family members who live in Kingston. From the first time, I have been much impressed by the stunning beauty of Kingston's natural setting, by the modern state of the buildings and the main city roads (indeed I could have imagined that I had arrived in an American city), and by the people. A significant population, who speak good English, and the proximity of Jamaica to the world's largest consumer market, gives your country great potential.

Sadly, I find your country in the throes of anguish, racked by murder, crime and corruption. My own family relatives have suffered from these conditions. How has this situation developed? I believe, plain and simple, that the devaluation of the 'family', and family relation-ships, has produced this outcome. The public promotion of promiscuity and the eulogising of self-gratification has broken down family values, but at the horrific cost of a terror-stricken society.

Prosperity in a country comes as a result of efficiency, and what is more inefficient than a family where the father has abandoned his responsi-bilities, leaving the mother to bring up children on the barest of income? What hope is there for the next generation?

The solution is not socialism, which produces greater corruption. What is needed is a government that is committed to sound economic principles, and a government that will promote the teaching of family values from the earliest years in the educational system. Otherwise, the downward spiral will accelerate.

I am, etc.,

VINCENT TAYLOR

Railton Court, London

Ontario, Canada