Over 5000 Scientists Ask President To Ban Chemical-Biological Warfare

Four scientists--three of them from Harvard--yesterday presented a letter to the White House asking President Johnson to stop using chemical weapons in Vietnam, and to declare that the U.S. will not initiate the use of biological weapons.

The letter was signed by over 5000 scientists, including 17 Nobel Prize winners and 129 members of the National Academy of Sciences.

Matthew S. Meselson, professor of Biology, Dr. John T. Edsall, professor of Biological Chemistry, Paul M. Doty, professor of Chemistry, and University of Illinois biochemist Irwin Gunsalus met for an hour and a half with President Johnson's scientific advisor, Donald Hornig, and Adrian Fisher, deputy director of the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency.

In addition to the letter with the 5000 signatures, the professors delivered a covering letter signed by the 22 scientists who initiated the movement in September. The covering letter asks the U.S. to sign the Geneva Protocol, which prohibits the use of gas and bacteriological warfare.

The U.S. and Japan are the only major countries which have not signed the 1925 Protocol. Although written by a U.S. delegate, it was not ratified by the Senate.

The scientists commended the U.S. for signing a recent U.N. resolution inviting all states to ratify the Protocol. But the U.S. has not followed its own recommendation.

Meselson said last night he expects a quick acknowledgement of the letter from the White House, although he hopes for some stronger action soon.

He said the group had not attempted to arrange a meeting with Johnson himself. "We chose a meeting with technological advisors rather than a formal, symbolic one," he explained.