DEPARTMENT OF STATE
                                
                 DIVISION OF FAR EASTERN AFFAIRS                                          August 3, 1942
 
CI/L
Mr. McDermott:
 
     Reference your memorandum of August 1, 1942, in regard to the "Draft of Proposed
Message to be Sent by President Roosevelt Chiang Kai-shek".
 
     FE offers the suggestion that the word "compact" appearing at the beginning of the
second paragraph might well be changed to "declaration of principles", the thought being that
"compact" signifies the reaching of an agreement whereas the phrase "declaration of principles"
could signify merely the announcement of something in regard to which the declarers were already
in agreement. FE suggests that the phrase "at sea" is inaccurate in that the declaration became
known as the "Atlantic Charter" not because it was signed on water but because it was signed on
a particular body of water. It is suggested that this phrase might be changed to "on board ship in
the Atlantic". FE also suggests that the last sentence of paragraph two be changed to read as
follows: "This charter has now been accepted by the twenty-eight countries subscribing to the
Declaration by United Nations of January 1, 1942".
 
       Mr. Hornbeck suggests the deletion in the second paragraph of the phrase "and Coral Sea"
on the ground that it is redundant, being
                           
                                        included