Honor and Dishonor

The secretary of state is a man of honor. George P. Shultz says of President Reagan’s order to use lie-detector tests on thousands of federal workers with access to state secrets that “the minute in this government I am told that I am not trusted is the day that I leave.”

Who among the honorable men and women who serve this country can fail to agree?

Preoccupied with security, from harmless leaks to serious breaches, the Reagan Administration has long sought to employ the polygraph; the recent flurry of uncovered spies led to Reagan’s order expanding the use of the tests from the intelligence agencies and the Pentagon to other parts of the executive branch, including the State Department and, at least in theory, Cabinet officers.

The President’s order is outrageous; the set of mind underlying it, shabby and squalid. Lie-detector tests are reliable only in movies; scientific evidence is overwhelming on that point. The devious slip through them; the nervously blameless bring suspicion upon themselves. The tests’ use, as proposed, as a condition of employment bespeaks a mistrust of others so deep that it would destroy the mutual respect that civilized people depend on to conduct their affairs. A government that would so demean its servants cannot obtain the men and women of quality the people are entitled to.

The secretary of state, speaking from common sense and from indignation, was only stating the obvious: A government that recklessly employs the polygraph forfeits the respect of decent citizens.