LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: MAJORITY SHOULD RULE, PAY

To The Editor:

In regards to the letters concerning riverboat gambling: I've lived in Cape for about seven months and have enjoyed what I have seen since being in Cape Girardeau: nice quiet neighborhoods, good friendly people. I grew up in a city the size of Cape in northern Iowa, and until I moved here to Cape I had forgotten how simple and easy life could be.

The past 13 years I had lived in San Diego, Calif., where crime, drugs and a bad environment were created by allowing outside sources to come and jeopardize this simple way of life. Granted, voting "yes" on the riverboat issue would raise jobs and revenue but it would also raise taxes to pay for security and the like. I believe in a free America, if people (enough people) believe in something and are willing to cover and pay to make it work they should have a chance at it.

"Moral Majority" should be the rule -- "the only rule" -- in this issue. People that don't care for this riverboat gambling have to vote "no," not just provide lip service.

People that desire riverboat gambling should look at how far they are willing to go for this issue. Here's an idea: If all interested people for riverboat gambling were willing to put say 5 percent to 10 percent of their pay or taxes into a pool to cover for security guards, wages, etc., this is the Moral Majority working, not the money of people who vote "no" on the riverboat issue. Make the "yes" on the riverboat issue accountable for their desires, not people against it.

I'll vote "yes" if I see an agreement on the support in this riverboat issue from people for riverboat gambling.

Jim Estal

Cape Girardeau