LOCAL GOVERNING- AGENCIES. 453 



more than president.&quot; Similarly during early feudal times ; 

 as, for example, in France. &quot; Under the first Capetians, we 

 find scarcely any general act of legislation. . . . Everything 

 was local, and all the possessors of fiefs first, and afterwards 

 all the great suzerains, possessed the legislative power within 

 their domains.&quot; This is the kind of relation habitually seen 

 during the initial stages Df those clustered groups in which 

 one group has acquired power over the rest. 



In cases where the successful invader, external to the cluster 

 instead of internal, is powerful enough completely to subju 

 gate all the groups, it still happens that the pre-existing local 

 organizations commonly survive. Ancient American states 

 yield examples. &quot; When the kings of Mexico, Tezcuco, and 

 Tacuba conquered a province, they used to maintain in their 

 authority all the natural chiefs, the highest as well as the 

 lower ones.&quot; Concerning certain rulers of Chibcha com 

 munities, who became subject to Bogota, we read that the 

 Zipa subdued them, but left them their jurisdiction and left 

 the succession to the caziqueship in their families. And as 

 was pointed out under another head, the victorious Yncas 

 left outstanding the political headships and administrations of 

 the many small societies they consolidated. Such is, in fact, 

 the most convenient policy. As is remarked by Sir Henry 

 Maine, &quot; certain institutions of a primitive people, their cor 

 porations and village-communities, will always be preserved 

 by a suzerain-state governing them, on account of the facilities 

 which they afford to civil and fiscal administration ;&quot; and the 

 like may be said of the larger regulative structures. Indeed 

 the difficulty of suddenly replacing an old local organization 

 by an entirely new one, is so great that almost of necessity the 

 eld one is in large measure retained. 



The autonomies of local governments, thus sometimes 

 scarcely at all interfered with and in other cases but partially 

 suppressed, manifest themselves in various ways. The 

 original independence of groups continues to be shown 

 by the right of private war between them. Thev retain theii 



