Student Leaders Write 2nd Letter To Johnson Criticizing War Aims

The student leaders who met recently with Secretary of State Dean Rusk have written another letter to President Johnson, expressing further dissatisfaction with the government's Vietnam policy, and requesting a meeting with, the President himself.

The letter, according to one of the signers, will adopt a "more strident tone" than any of the students' two previous letters. They wrote one to Johnson on Dec. 31, covered on the front page of the New York Times, and another to Rusk on Jan. 30, a day before their meeting at the State Department.

The students -- all editors of college newspapers or heads of student governments -- plan to release the letter exclusively to the New York Times sometime this week, probably Wednesday, when they get an effective number of signatures. They now have about 65.

Request Meeting

They are requesting the meeting with Johnson, spokesman Robert Powell, president of the North Carolina University (Chapel Hill) student body, indicated recently, because Rusk failed to answer their questions "satisfactorily."

In past letters, they have asked the Administration to explain its objectives in Vietnam, and state whether it would be willing to accept a political solution.

After their meeting with Rusk, they said they had gathered from the Secretary's remarks that the country's goal was still military victory, and that escalation would continue.

The President has still not replied to their first letter, but delegated Rusk to answer it and invite the students to a meeting at the State Department.