DATE: Wednesday, August 6, 1997             TAG: 9708060003

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B12  EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: Editorial 

                                            LENGTH:   57 lines

1997 VIRGINIA ELECTION TOBACCOLAND TRUTH-BEARERWHILE OTHER CANDIDATES FOR STATEWIDE OFFICE BLOW SMOKE, BEYER SPEAKS TRUTH TO GROWERS OF THE WEED.

If one is the loneliest number, Donald S. Beyer Jr. must be feeling a bit isolated these days. Of the six men running for statewide office this fall, Beyer is the only one who has stood with tobacco-control forces in recent battles over federal regulation and a proposed $368.5 billion industry settlement.

The Democratic nominee for governor also is the only one with the gumption to speak truth to Southside Virginia's politically potent tobacco farmers and marketeers. Appearing recently at a community-college library in Danville, Beyer emphasized that the region's economic future cannot be dominated by its past.

``The jobs that we create in Virginia and America in the next 25 years are going to be based on what we know, primarily, much more than what we grow or what we get out of the ground,'' he told a skeptical audience.

It's too soon to know if expanding international tobacco markets will offset the declines in domestic consumption expected to stem from recent events. But even if there is a temporary stay of execution based on overseas sales, somewhere down the road, the prominence of tobacco as an export and agricultural product of Virginia must fade.

Too much indisputable evidence of the health hazards posed by tobacco is now widely known. The World Health Organization, among other groups, is intent on spreading the word from Hong Kong to Chile.

Rather than digging in their heels, those dependent on tobacco for their livelihood must make every effort to do what Philip Morris and other giant tobacco companies have done: diversify. They should welcome politicians who are committed to helping them make the transition.

Beyer is proposing tax credits for businesses that retrain workers, and $40 million in economic-development incentive grants for distressed regions, including the Southside.

Tobacco workers are far more likely in 1997 to reward politicians whose primary agenda is to put some of the multibillion-dollar tobacco-settlement money into the pockets of farmers. Beyer is supporting those efforts, but he has not been in the forefront of the movement, as has his Republican opponent, James S. Gilmore III.

Considering the plight of tobacco workers is a valid exercise as Congress assesses and adjusts the proposed settlement between tobacco companies and state governments. As long as money is being passed around, it's reasonable to consider both the physical and the fiscal health of communities.

But those dependent on tobacco do themselves no good if they punish candidates who speak honestly about the future. Shooting the messenger will not blot out the inevitable consequences implicit in the message.

Rather than looking to this year's cast of statewide candidates for nostalgia and false comfort, tobacco-growing regions should reward those who see clearly that the gateway to the 21st century does not lie down Tobacco Road.

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