Published April 1989 — Download PDF of the original newspaper column
Byrd's-Eye View By U.S. Senator Robert C. Byrd West Virginia: An Especially Safe Place to Live and Work Too often in West Virginia, our news is negative; unemployment, plant closings, and layoffs giving many the impression that we have little about which to be positive in West Virginia, particularly in comparison with other places. That is a mistake. For example, Washington, D.C., has been called ''the Capital of the Free World;” annually drawing millions of visitors who come to glimpse the beauty and sample the atmosphere of this world-class city. But at night, parts of Washington assume a character that makes it one of the world's most sinister and dangerous metropolises, so that the city is now being called ''the Murder Capital of the Free World." Already in 1989, more than 130 people have been murdered in Washington. In spite of the rhetoric of city officials and highly publicized strikes against suspected drug dealers, the crime and drug situation in Washington is growing worse, not better. In 1987, for example, 227 people were murdered in Washington. In 1988, that figure had climbed to 372 murders. As of the end of March, the current murder rate projects to be more than 500 murders in 1989! Washington is not alone in its high crime rate. Most large American cities: Los Angeles, New York, Atlanta, Chicago, and San Francisco, to name but a few, face nightly and daily clashes with drug lords, pushers, and addicts that are driving up the statistics of murders, robberies, burglaries, and muggings. We in West Virginia, on the other hand, can take a special satisfaction that, year after year; West Virginia continues to have the lowest all-round crime rate in the United States. In part, that is attributable to West Virginia's inherently moral and spiritual culture. Reared in religious homes and with family loyalty, most West Virginians possess an ingrained value system that includes respect for other people, a strong sense of self-respect, a strong family ethic, and a regard for the property of neighbors and strangers alike. West Virginia can also boast many resources and advantages to attract visitors and new enterprises: natural beauty, wilderness recreation, colorful arts and crafts, and an excellent workforce, to name some. But one of our State's most outstanding assets is the moral, stable, and law abiding way of life common throughout West Virginia communities, all of which combine to make West Virginia an ideal place in which to live, work, and rear one's family. April 12, 1989