Men could, to a limited extent, use magic. The dagger-smith "cast spells" (don't think of D&D-type magic here) on the daggers, and Aragorn used magic in the arts of healing.
The letter to which Thingol is referring was never sent. Tolkien got up to the point where he said "Men couldn't use magic". Then he wrote to the margin "but Numenoreans used 'spells' in making swords". Then he discarded the letter.
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