LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: GOD GIVES MISSOURI A SECOND CHANCE

To the Editor:

Yes, God has seen fit to give Missourians a second chance to renounce gambling (not "gaming") as a way of life. PLEASE don't let this opportunity pass to vote NO on the gambling Constitutional Amendment...and to tell the Vegas gamblers they can keep their machines out of Missouri. 1 Timothy 6:10 says, "For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil." Missouri cannot afford the dependent/indigent citizens that gambling would create.

We returned last month from Florida via Biloxi, Miss., where I witnessed the gambling scene that corrodes their gulf view. Each casino was trying to "out-do" the others with taller and larger units, more flashing lights and bigger parking garages. You would not believe the traffic congestion throughout the gulf drive...people as well as vehicles. Ugly!! (Every once in awhile you could glimpse between/behind the casinos a few hardy souls trying to enjoy the beach.)

You may have noticed (you could hardly miss) the deluge of paid advertisements from the gambling interests in the newspaper(s) and on television urging Missourians to vote "Yes" to gambling. The ads glorify gambling and try to entice us into the "everyone is doing it!" cesspool. One interview with an exuberant female gambler at Metropolis, Ill., stated that she "usually" spent $200/week gambling. How many of you can afford to add $200/week to your weekly budget? I wonder where she would have spent this money had she not gambled it away...in the local community?

If you want to see what our state/cities would (not could) be like if the gambling Constitutional Amendment passes, there is an excellent article in the March 1994 Travel Holiday magazine entitled "Casino Craze" by Peter Hellman. The blurb following the title on the contents page states, "The gambling epidemic sweeping America carries the lure of instant riches, the look of a social plague, and the seeds of an economic bust. A cool-handed report on the boom's truth and consequences." This article tells the real story of gambling, unlike the pipe dreams and smoke screens we are reading and hearing about in our newspapers and on television. This article also tells why Hawaii's Governor John Waihee is "adamantly opposed to gambling strictly for business reasons."

Since the Constitutional Amendment would also legalize land-based casinos/operations, we would become another Atlantic City. The above noted magazine article states, "The perils of attempting to meld tourism with gambling are clear in Atlantic City, where casinos thrive but restaurants and mom-and-pop shops fail." After all, the casinos furnish free food for their gamblers so why would they patronize and spend their "gambling money" elsewhere? (Are you listening downtown Cape?) Every truck-stop, restaurant and resort would have wall-to-wall gambling machines. God forbid!!

In the above-noted magazine, a side article on the compulsion of gambling gives Emily's testimony. "When she visited the Mississippi casino to let off steam from job-stress, she never dreamed that she would embark on a gambling spree that would leave her $20,000 in debt." (I wonder if she thought "that only happens to someone else...not me!" Her last statement was "It's still really hard. I have lost just about everything, including my marriage of 24 years. With the help of Gamblers Anonymous (5 chapters have sprung up in the Gulfport area), I'm taking it one day at a time. Gambling is going to hurt a lot of little people to make just a few people rich." The primary article also states that "As casinos proliferate, economic cannibalism looms. Once visiting gamblers get their own casinos back home, the locals will be left holding the bag." I urge everyone who wants to learn the facts about gambling to go to the library (if they don't have this magazine, borrow a friend's) and read this informative article; we have too much at stake to be uninformed!

Some near-sighted politicians and the gambling interests would have you believe it would create thousands of jobs. It would...and among them would be marriage and gambling counselors, additional police, people to build bigger/larger jails and wider streets to handle the traffic. And who pays for these? One guess!

What about our future -- our youth? Do you believe they should be encouraged in the "get rich quick" attitude -- or the "you get what you work for" lifestyle? We have declared war on alcohol, drugs and tobacco and are spending much time and money in educating the youth on the harm these vices cause (locking the barn door after the horse is stolen). Now will we have to add gambling to this list -- or will we vote "No" and stop this vice before it becomes epidemic?

The choice will be made on April 5. You can vote "NO" on Amendment 3 to really keep your hard-earned money within our state/city/businesses...or you can vote "Yes" and send your money to Las Vegas...or you can stay home and not vote and live with those consequences. Your choice - but get the real facts if you intend to vote!!

SHIRLEY A. SEABAUGH

Jackson