1 JANUARY 1960, Page 24

A PLACE IN THE SUN

SIR,--The pen may sometimes be mightier than the sword but not, I fear, Mr. Levin's venomous little ball-point. There are many of us, both here and in the Union, who cannot accept the orthodox liberal doctrines on South Africa, even though we cannot stomach the cruelties of apartheid. If the Spectator really wants to contribute to the solution of a ter- rible problem—that is to say, if it has any respect at all for other people's views—it must recognise four truths about us. We are not all blind racialists. We • are not all bullies. We do not disregard the analogies of history. We are not—this 1 must em- phasise, for Mr. Levin seeths to have doubts—we are by no means all fools.

1 do not pretend that we offer a solution : I am merely venturing to suggest that our motives are as honourable as yours—if anything, less often streaked with hypocrisy. As for those of us who are torn between concern for the oppressed majority and pity for the doomed minority, 1 do not think we should be accused of illiberalism or amorality. In ibis, as in wider contexts, we are the new agnostics. We do not know the answer, and suspect there isn't one.—Yours faithfully,

JAMES MORRIS

Bedwyn House. Great Bedwyn, Nr. Marlborough, Wiltshire