LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: VOTE `NO' ON GAMBLING ISSUE

To the Editor:

I read with interest the "facts" about the economics of riverboat gambling as presented by The Yes Group in the Sept. 20 Letters to the Editor section. A close scrutiny of that letter must lead one to conclude that either the Boyd Group has very poor businessmen or that The Yes Group didn't make it past first-grade arithmetic.

If you take the $45 million they estimate the riverboat will generate in gross receipts and then subtract the figures they supply for the estimated overhead and taxes ($46.56 million), you arrive at a net loss of over $1.5 million. Don't take my word for it. Get your Sept. 20 Missourian out of the recycling bin and add it up for yourself: $16.1 million in wages plus $6.5 million in benefits plus $11.7 million in inventory and operating supplies plus $8.1 million to the state's educational fund plus $1 million for repair and maintenance plus $500,000 in fuel plus $400,000 in utilities plus $900,000 for the city's share of gross receipts plus $1 million to the city from the boat's per capita tax plus $360,000 in property tax equals $46.56 million.

Maybe the Boyd Group owners truly are the clean-cut, All American philanthropists they purported to be in their spring Madison Avenue-style television ads. Maybe they truly have the best interests of Cape Girardeau and Southeast Missouri at heart and really don't care that much about making a profit.

Come on now! The true facts about the economic impact of gambling are that after a honeymoon period of a few years, the long-term effects upon the economy will be detrimental. For example, after 10 years of legalized gambling in Atlantic City, N.J., unemployment was unchanged, the population had decreased and half the city's businesses had folded. Robert Goodman directs the U.S. Gaming Study at the University of Massachusetts. His study, nearing completion, illustrates the problems which casino gambling causes for some businesses.

"What you find," says Goodman, "is a decrease in other businesses. You find dollars are being shifted away from the theater, movies, sports events and into gambling. You also find the cannibalization of other industries. If people are spending money on gambling, they are spending less on refrigerators, cars or whatever."

Let's add up the true facts about riverboat gambling. Gambling is an economic parasite, it leads to an increase in street and white-collar crime, teen-age and adult gambling addiction increases, and the character of our city changes from the honest, friendly, hard-working midwestern community to a regional gambling center. When all the facts regarding riverboat gambling are considered, there should be no doubt that your vote on Nov. 2 should be a resounding no -- again.

DR. MICHAEL WULFERS

Cape Girardeau