Bringing gambling out of the shadows

TREASURER TIMOTHY P. Cahill's Sept. 20 op-ed "Massachusetts' fortune is with gaming" is right on, while David Wylie's letter in the same edition is naive and short-sighted. Those who choose to gamble sensibly, as I believe I do, are contributing a great deal to the difficult economics of this and all states. The gambling dollars from the lottery and potentially from casinos can be a huge contributor to safe bridges, better-equipped schools, and more reasonable town and city taxes.

I do not know a single gambler who didn't find a way, illegally, before lotteries and casinos came about, to pursue this admittedly risky avocation. Then the state derived not a penny from the pursuit, and the fact that it was illegal brought more negatives than the present regulated activities. Today money from gambling that is prohibited in Massachusetts is deposited either in some other state's coffers or in the pockets of those engaged in criminal activities.

PETER BERTSCHMANN
Sherborn

YOUR SEPT. 18 editorial "Ground rules for gambling," regarding Governor Patrick's plan to license three resort casinos in Massachusetts, calls to mind a couplet by William Blake, who recognized the law of cause and effect:

The whore and gambler, by the state

Licensed, build that nation's fate.

If we don't change direction, we'll end up where we're going.

MICHAEL SPERBER
Gloucester