North's

An accountant, a policeman, even a stenographer who has been hospitalized for emotional distress can expect some probing questions when applying for a new job. Then how come Oliver North had no trouble winning a position in 1981 on the National Security Council staff, where emotional stability should be a prime requisite? Probably because hardly anyone knew, until the Miami Herald reported it last week, that North had spent three weeks in Bethesda Naval Hospital for emotional problems six years before he joined the NSC. Why no one knew is another question.

The Marine Corps confirmed that North was indeed hospitalized voluntarily between Dec. 16, 1974, and Jan. 7, 1975. That would be shortly after then Captain North, 31, returned to the U.S. from a brief tour in command of a Marine company on Okinawa. The Corps would not disclose the diagnosis; it referred all such questions to North, and these days the former NSC aide is not responding to any queries about anything. The Marines' statement did say North had been pronounced "fit for duty" on discharge, and "a review of ((his)) medical record . . . has failed to show any reason why he should not be considered as medically qualified for his work on the NSC."

Perhaps, but the hospitalization ought at least to have prompted some questions. Like every other potential appointee to the NSC staff, North had to fill out a form asking if he had ever been hospitalized because of emotional problems. Even if he checked the No box, a thorough background investigation might have turned up the hospitalization anyway. Yet a Government source says none of the three agencies empowered to screen NSC nominees -- the FBI, the Secret Service and the office of the White House counsel -- learned about it. NSC screenings were frequently slipshod, says the source. "There were security violations. Some people were never investigated at all." Another source of potential information is the "outpatient treatment record" that every member of the military has to carry. In North's case, several pages dealing with his hospitalization were removed. When and by whom is a matter for the Marines to investigate. In any event, former National Security Adviser Richard Allen told the New York Times he was unaware of the hospitalization. Had he known, Allen added, he might not have hired North for the NSC staff. Allen, to be sure, quickly had reason to regret taking North on. A Government source told TIME that North was one of the three military officers who discovered $1,000 in cash in Allen's safe, paid by a Japanese magazine for Allen's help in arranging an interview with Nancy Reagan. Though Allen was cleared of any wrongdoing, he resigned in January 1982. North later used the same safe to keep some of his own papers, possibly including a few that might shed some light on the Iranscam mess.