THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, November 6, 1995 TAG: 9511040008
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A6 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Short : 43 lines
Joseph W. Luter III, chairman of Smithfield Foods Inc., and Gov. George Allen are sticking by their guns.
After Smithfield Foods' $100,000 in contributions to Allen's political-action committee caused a hailstorm of criticism, beginning last Monday, Luter expressed anger at ``liberal media'' reports and announced that he'd contribute $25,000 more. The governor said he'd take it.
The criticism has focused on the fact that Smithfield Foods made the $100,000 in contributions while facing potentially millions of dollars of state fines for polluting the Pagan River. The state has cited Luter's Isle of Wight County company two dozen times for polluting the river since Governor Allen took office in 1994, but the company has not been fined.
The governor said in his monthly radio broadcast on Tuesday that Democrats complaining about conflicts of interest are being anti-business and that Smithfield Foods, which employs 4,000, did not deserve Democrats' ``petty carping and whining.''
But if the governor sees nothing wrong with accepting large sums of money from a company that one of his agencies might fine, what money wouldn't he take?
Allen's press secretary has said the contribution was acceptable because Smithfield Foods did not specify anything it wanted in return. But it is no secret that Smithfield Foods favors less stringent environmental protection and would prefer not to be fined.
Luter has every legal right to contribute any amount to the governor's PAC, called the Campaign for Honest Change. We regret that the governor is too obtuse to see anything wrong with accepting the money.
The bright side of the Smithfield Foods contributions is that they may lead to increased enthusiasm for campaign-contribution caps, which we favor. The state is not supposed to be for sale, nor appear to be. by CNB