29 AUGUST 1941, Page 13

" ATLANTIC HARVEST"

SIR,—In the article "Atlantic Harvest," published in your issue of August 22nd, I find two sentences which deserve attention and approval. Speaking about the Charter of the Atlantic, you stress the fact that " discussion there must be in many quarters in due course, for problems both of definition and of application present themselves on even the most cursory reading. The nations which have already hailed the declaration with ardour as a new charter of human freedom must know in detail as well as in general principle to what they stand committed." The Anglo-American declaration provides a broad basis of collaboration for all the nations of the world, and it is obvious that the whole super-structure should be built up with extreme care and foresight_ The Charter of the Atlantic is, I think, based on a different idea from the Wilsonian declaration. The latter formulated the ideals of nationalism and independence, while the Churchill-Roosevelt declaration is stressing the economic factors. As the problems of frontiers and territorial changes are always the most dangerous and slippery ones and likely to provoke antagonisms, it has been certainly wise to underline those motives and ideas which can unite and not split up and antagonise the nations of Europe. On the other hand, it should be realised that the economic solution is not a panacea for all the evils of the world, and that the future order of Europe cannot be constructed entirely on economic basis. Economy and strategy, economy and frontiers are strictly interdependent and interwoven, and for that reason the future peace must take into account all the vital factors, needs and considerations.—Yours truly,

Regent's Park, N.W. r.

AXEL HEYST.