We endorse the proposed Narragansett Indian Tribe destination-resort casino to be run by Harrah's in West Warwick. So we recommend voting yes on referendum Question 1 on the Nov. 7 ballot.

The project would produce many new jobs -- first, several thousand construction jobs and then several thousand permanent positions. It would also provide substantial property-tax relief: Some of the revenue from the project would be dedicated to such relief, much needed in a state with among the country's highest such levies. And the casino would increase state income- and sales-tax revenue, thus reducing pressure for rises in those taxes for Rhode Islanders. That, in turn, could make it easier to draw other business to the Ocean State.

The project would return to the economy of Rhode Island hundreds of millions a year in dollars now going every year to the huge Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun casinos, in eastern Connecticut. There would be that much more money spent in stores and other businesses in Rhode Island rather than there.

Many people assert that Rhode Island must not have "a casino." Too late! The proposed project would be the third casino in the state. The casinos in Lincoln and Newport are big and well established, although, it is true, they function mostly as slot-machine palaces, without the (far-more-social) card and other gambling games that the West Warwick project would have.

As for gambling itself, Rhode Island and most other states have been deep into state-sponsored betting for years -- starting with the state lotteries established in the 1970s. To complain about yet another gambling venue seems a bit disingenuous at this point.

Many also complain that the Narragansetts are partnering with a big, out-of-state gambling company in their project. But the Narragansetts have been pushed toward this alternative. In the 1990s, the late Sen. John Chafee got Congress to require the Narragansetts to get the same statewide and local voter approval that a non-Indian commercial gambling promoter would need before opening a modest casino, to be run by Capital Gaming, on their tribal land in Charlestown. The Narragansetts are the only federally recognized tribe in America that need such approval. This has forced the Narragansetts to find another town -- West Warwick -- and company to partner with, since local opposition in Charlestown prevented them from opening a casino on their own land.

The special legislation aimed against their business plans still rankles the Narragansetts, and understandably so.

We like other forms of economic development much more than gambling: research and development, manufacturing, international trade and other sectors. Consider what a boon boosting the port at Quonset would be in long-term wealth creation! But, of course, that has been blocked by wealthy local people, as have been some other attempts to do major economic development in a state that all too often expresses an extreme NIMBYism toward new projects. And as Connecticut has witnessed, high-quality casino gambling can be a big jobs producer.

What is clear is that Rhode Island can leverage some of its tourist strengths with the proposed destination-resort casino, and in doing so, not only keep many Rhode Islanders and Massachusetts residents from going to Connecticut to gamble but also draw people from Connecticut and points west to enjoy the casino and then Rhode Island's other attractions. A destination-resort casino in Rhode Island could be more successful than even the hugely successful ones in eastern Connecticut because there are many more attractions in Rhode Island than in the eastern Nutmeg State -- in short, more synergy.

It's time to let the Narragansetts build their casino.