Edited sentence: "I do not propose to go, hat in hand, with the problems of Jamaica, to some other country begging for grants and handouts; I will never be prime minister under those circumstances - somebody else, not me."I do not propose to resort to the first alternative and preside over the stagnation of development - I cannot and could not, be prime minister under those circumstances."I propose to succeed or fail on the third alternative.Every other Jamaican Prime Minister, subsequently, has gone begging hat-in-hand, has presided over some stagnation and even regression, and has racked up the national debt, which Prime Minister Shearer left in 1972 at low and manageable levels.Hugh Lawson Shearer, presided over the last sustained period of robust economic performance.I will rely on the self-respect and alertness, the courage and self-discipline of my people to face and tackle the problems of our country.In an early address as Jamaica's youngest prime minister and the youngest in the Commonwealth, Shearer told the expectant nation: "I have three alternatives from which to select in running the country.Prime Minister Hugh Shearer answering his own proverbial questions.The first is to allow Jamaica's development to stagnate.The second is to go on bended knees to some foreign country and beg for economic assistance.The third is to call on my nation of people to accept our challenges and tackle our problems with self-respect and self-discipline