Page:The Presidents of the United States, 1789-1914, v. II.djvu/30

12 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS 1802 who had repealed "the midnight judiciary act." He opposed the Panama mission, and re duced the "Monroe doctrine" to its true historical proportions as a caveat and not a "pledge." On all questions he was strenuous for a "strict con struction of the constitution." He favored in 1826 the passage of a general bankrupt law, in opposing the pending measure, sharply accentuated the technical distinction of English law between "bankrupt" and "insolvent" acts a distinction which, in the complexity of modern business trans actions, Chief- Justice Marshall had pronounced to be more metaphysical than real, but which to Van Buren was vital because the constitution says nothing about "insolvent laws." He was re-elected to the senate in 1827, but soon resigned his seat to accept the office of governor of New York, to which he was elected in 1828. As governor he opposed free banking and advocated the "safety- fund system," making all the banks of the state mutual insurers of each other s soundness. He vainly recommended the policy of separating state from Federal elections. After entering on the office of governor he never resumed the prac tice of law. Van Buren was a zealous supporter of Andrew Jackson in the presidential election of 1828, and was called in 1829 to be the premier of the new administration. As secretary of state he brought to a favorable close the long-standing f eucl