Page:The Presidents of the United States, 1789-1914, v. I.djvu/208

 168 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS can people. In Virginia the masterly reasoning and the resolute attitude of a few great political leaders saved the state from yielding to the de lusion, and among these leaders Mr. Madison was foremost. But his most important work in the Virginia legislature was that which led directly to the Annapolis convention, and thus ultimately to the framing of the constitution of the United States. The source from which such vast results were to flow was the necessity of an agreement be tween Maryland and Virginia with regard to the navigation of the Potomac river, and the collec tion of duties at ports on its banks. Commissioners appointed by the two states to discuss this question met early in 1785 and recommended that a uniform tariff should be adopted and enforced upon both banks. But a further question, also closely con nected with the navigation of the Potomac, now came up for discussion. The tide of westward migration had for some time been pouring over the Alleghanies, and, owing to complications with the Spanish power in the Mississippi valley, there was some danger that the United States might not be able to keep its hold upon the new settlements. It was necessary to strengthen the commercial ties between east and west, and to this end the Potomac company was formed for the purpose of improv ing the navigation of the upper waters of the Potomac and connecting them by good roads and