THE STATE and turrets which served as refuge in case of invasion, they were done in common-as hundreds of millions of peasants _stilldo wherever the village commune has resisted State encroachments. But consumption, to use a modem expression, already took place by family-each having its own cattle, kitchen garden and provisions; the means of hoarding and transmitting wealth accumulated by inheritance already existed. In all its business, the village commune was s~vereign. Local custom was law and the plenary council of all chiefs of families- "4'.llenand women-was the only judge, in civil and criminal affairs. When one of the inhabitants, complaining of another, planted his knife in the ground where the commune was wont to assemble, the commune had to "find the sentence" according to local custom, after the fact had been proved by the jurors of both litigant parties. All institutions of which States later took possession for the benefit of minorities, all notions of right which we find in our ·codes • (mutilated to the advantage of minorities), and all forms of judicial procedure, in so far as they offer guarantees to the individual, had their origin in the village community. Thus, when we imagine we have made great progress-in introducing the jury, for example--we have only returned to the institution of the barbarians, after having modified it to the advantage of the ruling classes. Roman law was only superimposed on customary law._ The sentiment of national unity was_developingat the same time, by great free federations of village communes. Based on the possession, and very often on the cultivation of the soil in common, sovereign as judge and legislator of customary lawthe village community satisfied most needs of the social being. But not all his needs : there were still others to be satisfied. However, the spirit of the age was not to call upon a government as soon as a new need was felt. It was, on the contrary, to take the initiative oneself, to unite, to league, to federate, to create an understanding, great or small, numerous <irrestricted, which would correspond to the new need. Society at that time was covered by a network of sworn fraternities, guilds for mutual support, "con-jurations," within and without the village, and in the federation. We can observe this stage and spirit at work, even to-day, among many a barbarian federation which has remained outside modern States modelled on the Roman, or rather the Byzantine type. Thus, to take one example among many, the Kabyles have retained their village community with the powers I have just mentioned. But man feels the necessity of action outside the narrow limits of his hamlet. Some like to wander in quest of adventures, in the ,;:apacityof merchants. Some take to a craft, "an art" of some kind. And these merchants and artisans unite in "fraternities," even when they belong to different villages, tribes and confederations. There must be union for .mutual help in distant adventures or to transmit 15 Biblioteca Gino Bianco
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