PROVOCATION.

Thames Star, Volume LXIII, Issue 17570, 8 March 1929, Page 6

PROVOCATION.

A London magistrate has decided that for a. wife to go through her husband’s pockets is provocation not justifying assault, but (liable to tend in that direction. In the age of gallantry and good ilia liners provocation was a word that seemed to be very much in vogue, and a breach of courtesy led easily to a nvaU drawing his sword in defence of his honour. In our move enlightened epoch we do not quarrel about who should take the- wall. We jostle and are in our turn jostled with impunity. Our manners are lpucn worse, but our tempers seem to- be much better than those of our ancestors!. The provocation remains, but we are apt, either through timidity or disinclination to •. make ourselves unpleasant, to content ourselves with a mild remonstrance.’ It. is rare in these clays for men to fling glasses of wine or gloves in each other’s faces, and the “tweaking" <of beards is wholly out of fashion; but there are occasions of offence when we desperately desire some lawful code by means of which we could make our provocation felt. Provocations which we endure far too good-humouredly and for which there ought to be immediate redress are infinite. The monstrous regiment of late-comers. chocolate paper rustlers and loud talkers in our theatres create provocation to assault so acute that lovers of drama have taken to reading plays at home rather than risk imprisonment. We could with equal willingness consign to the lowest circle pf the inferno those who persist in reading the news aloud to us at breakfast, or worse, lean over our shoulders in order to ’share a joy that ceases to be one if not indulged in solitude. The noses of those who, without leave, smoke in non-smoking compartments should be pulled, and those who tacitly assume ownership of Both windows) either to exclude all air, or to create a hurricane,, should be laid with other light articles on the rack or with the more cumbersome under the seat.