Page:The Presidents of the United States, 1789-1914, v. I.djvu/203

 JAMES MADISON 163 doubt ill-advised. Since Spain was already, on her own account and to the best of her ability, waging war upon Great Britain in the West Indies and Florida, to say nothing of Gibraltar, it is doubtful if she could have done much more for the United States, even if we had offered her the whole Mis sissippi valley. The offer of a permanent and in valuable right in exchange for a temporary and questionable advantage seemed to Mr. Madison very unwise ; but as it was then generally held that in such matters representatives must be bound by the wishes of their constituents, he yielded, though under protest. But hardly had the fresh instruc tions been despatched to Mr. Jay when the over throw of Cornwallis again turned the scale, and Spain was informed that, as concerned the Missis sippi question, congress was immovable. The fore sight and sound judgment shown by Mr. Madison in this discussion added much to his reputation. His next prominent action related to the impost law proposed in 1783. This was, in some respects, the most important question of the day. The chief source of the weakness of the United States dur ing the Revolutionary war had been the impossi bility of raising money by means of Federal tax ation. As long as money could be raised only through requisitions upon the state governments, and the different states could not be brought to agree upon any method of enforcing the requisi-