James Madison Jr letter to James Monroe, 17 April 1790

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New York, April 17, 1790.

DEAR SIR, The House of Representatives are still at the threshold of the Revenue business. The assumption of the State debts is the great obstacle. A few days ago it was reconsidered, and rejected by 31 against 29. The measure is not, however, abandoned. It will be tried in every possible shape by the zeal of its patrons. The Eastern members talk a strange language on the subject. They avow, some of them at least, a determination to oppose all provision for the public debt which does not include this, and intimate danger to the Union from a refusal to assume. We shall risk their prophetic menaces if we should continue to have a majority.

Author:
1790

Source:
Letters and other writings of James Madison. Vol. I. 1769-1793. Philadelphia, J. B. Lippencott & Co, 1865, digitized by archive.org