LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: SETTING RECORD STRAIGHT ON TAX AND THE DRURYS

To the editor:

The lad complaining in a letter to the editor about Jim Drury and his opposition to the River Campus tax needs to be set straight. I will ignore the comment about greed since the writer obviously does not know the story of the Drury brothers. They made their money the hard way. They earned it with sweat of the brow, courage to take risks and faith that their efforts would be rewarded.

That said, the River Campus tax has not been approved by Cape Girardeau voters. The tax is on the people who rent motel and hotel rooms.

The motel owners do not pay it personally. Like many in business they are simply tax collectors for various government entities. Mr. Drury's problem is that he does not like to be lied to or cheated. If the government asks for a tax for a specific purpose and then uses it for something else or does not follow through with what they have said, he seems to get annoyed. He has been acting in a forthright and upstanding way. There is no doubt in my mind that he would have had a hand in that tea affair in Boston. And good for him.

ROBERT LUCAS

Cape Girardeau