A striking commentary on the wisdom or necessity for Mr. Thomas's action against Non-Co-operation leaders in Malabar is furnished by the events which transpired on Tuesday at Ottapalam when serious bloodshed was barely avoided owing to the enjoining of strict non-violence by the leaders and the splendid self-restraint which their followers showed in spite of the gravest provocation. We commend to the attention of our readers the account published elsewhere, which is given not by a friend but by so determined an opponent of the Non-Co-operator and all his works as a correspondent of the Madras Mail must in reason be ... The correspondent naturally tries to trace the sequence of incidents to the arrogant behaviour of the volunteers but people who know the delicate gradations that exist between proper and provocative behaviour can easily understand the possibility that in this case the greatest provocation on the part of volunteers was in their daring to breathe the same air as a reserve policeman in all his glory.
