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C. MARTIN WILBUR
to such matters as the dates for village fairs, the mutual protection of crops, and the like.
The elders of the village are largely responsible for inter-village relations. One of their primary duties is to uphold the "face" of the village in its district. Many village improvements find their origin almost entirely in this desire to outshine neighboring villages in material ways. Temples which cannot be afforded and markets which are not needed are often constructed in a spirit of rivalry. Likewise "face" affords an impetus to scholarship, every village being extremely proud of its learned men, and their achievements. Indeed, in Phenix village the progress of the students of the village, even when they are away in middle school or college, is the solicitous concern of the whole group.1
Whenever a member or group in a village becomes involved with another village or members of it, the matter is thought to be the concern of the village elders. Every contact is a potential conflict, and the responsibility for such disturbances will fall upon the heads of the leaders. For this reason, quarrels, law suits or sales of property which involve outsiders come under the supervision of the elders of both groups. This system has the advantage of decreasing the number of situations which would of necessity go to the magistral courts, lacking any other machinery for settlement.
The village elders are in some degree responsible for the behavior of members of their village even when these folk are in town, or in a neighboring village. If trouble arises during such an occasion, the offending member may be punished by the village court, while redress will be made through the agency of the respective village temples. In the same way, strangers in a village, if they happen to be ill-treated by the natives, may go to the temple and demand satisfaction. Thus it will be seen that in a wider range of relationships than the village itself, but still through the familistic, customary and traditional methods, government entirely divorced from the central system is maintained.
II
The relations between the village and the central government are normally very slight. The two primary interests of the government
1 Kulp, Daniel H.; Phenix Village, p. 125.