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Executive Order 10010 ⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight Constitutional Neutral (+0.02) 📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations

Executive Order 10010—Creating an Emergency Board to Investigate Disputes Between the Akron & Barberton Belt Railroad Company and Other Carriers, and Certain of Their Employees

Harry S Truman Harry S Truman
•
Monday, October 18, 1948
•
7 min read (1,438 words)

Executive Brief • At a Glance

⏱️ 7 min read (1,438 words) • ● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate

I hereby create a board of three members, to be appointed by me, to investigate the said disputes.

View all 4 directives ↓
⚖️ Constitutional Footing
⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight
Concurrent Authority / Congressional Silence
📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations
Framers' constitutional debate ↓
🏛️ Scope & Affected Sectors
Executive Branch Departments General Body of the People
Inspect unabridged text ↓

Plain-English Translation & Framers' Constitutional Analysis

Early Statesman synthesis distilling legal jargon into practical meaning, statutory anchors, and structural constitutional impacts.

Signed by President Harry S Truman on October 18, 1948, this order concerns Creating an Emergency Board to Investigate Disputes Between the Akron & Barberton Belt Railroad Company and Other Carriers, and Certain of Their Employees. I hereby create a board of three members, to be appointed by me, to investigate the said disputes. No member of the said board shall be pecuniarily or otherwise interested in any organization of railway employees or any carrier. The board shall report its findings to the President with respect to the said disputes within thirty days from the date of this order.

Constitutional Assessment: This action represents an orderly exercise of Article II administrative discretion, managing the internal machinery and personnel of the executive branch without abridging the ancient liberties of the people.

Key Directives & Operative Actions

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I hereby create a board of three members, to be appointed by me, to investigate the said disputes.

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The board shall report its findings to the President with respect to the said disputes within thirty days from the date of this order.

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As provided by section 10 of the Railway Labor Act, as amended, from this date and for thirty days after the board has made its report to the President, no change, except by agreement shall be made by any of the carriers involved or its employees in the conditions out of which the said disputes arose.

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LIST A Akron & Barberton Belt Railroad Co. Akron, Canton & Youngstown Railroad Co. Ann Arbor Railroad Co.Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Co. B&O Chicago Terminal Railroad Co. B&O New York Terminal Railroad Co. Dayton & Union Railroad Co. Strouds Creek & Muddlety Railroad Co. Bessemer & Lake Erie Railroad Co. Boston & Maine Railroad Co. Boston Terminal Company Brooklyn Eastern District Terminal Bush Terminal Railroad Co.Canadian National Railway Co. Canadian National Railways-New York Canadian National Railways-New England Champlain & St. Lawrence Railroad Co. United States & Canada Railroad Co. St. Clair Tunnel Co. Canadian Pacific Railway Co. Central Railroad Company of New Jersey Central Railroad Company of Pennsylvania Central Vermont…

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Executive Branch Departments 🏛️ General Body of the People

Policy Areas & Topics

🏷️ Infrastructure & Transportation 🏷️ Labor & Employment
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The Framers' Constitutional Council

1787 Prism

Evaluating this order against the constitutional debates of 1787 and the limits of Article II executive power.

⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight)
§

"When the President acts in absence of either a congressional grant or denial of authority, he can only rely upon his own independent powers, but there is a zone of twilight in which he and Congress may have concurrent authority."

— Justice Robert H. Jackson, Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer (1952) Concurrent Authority / Congressional Silence
JM

James Madison

Separation of Powers & Legislative Primacy

"Power is of an encroaching nature, and it ought to be effectually restrained from passing the limits assigned to it." — Federalist No. 48 (1788)

Madison would view this order with watchful scrutiny. Operating in the 'Zone of Twilight' where Congress is silent, each such directive establishes an administrative precedent that steadily expands the executive perimeter at the expense of legislative primacy.

Madisonian Stance: Vigilant / Cautionary
AH

Alexander Hamilton

The Energetic Executive & Unified Command

"A feeble Executive implies a feeble execution of the government; and a government ill executed, whatever it may be in theory, must be, in practice, a bad government." — Federalist No. 70 (1788)

Hamilton would view this directive as the natural and indispensable functioning of administrative leadership. Without the power to coordinate agencies, manage personnel, and resolve operational ambiguities, the modern presidency would be reduced to an impotent figurehead.

Hamiltonian Stance: Defends Vigor & Dispatch
GM

George Mason

Bill of Rights, Due Process & 10th Amendment

"The president will be surrounded by flatterers and sycophants... and the great powers of the executive will gradually absorb the liberties of the people." — Cato IV (Anti-Federalist, 1787)

The Anti-Federalist prism advises continuous democratic vigilance. Even routine administrative directives aggregate centralized federal power away from town halls and state assemblies toward a distant executive apparatus.

Anti-Federalist Stance: Eternal Vigilance Required
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Five Measurable "Constitutional Friction" Dimensions

An objective audit measuring potential separation-of-powers tension against the United States Constitution and established Supreme Court doctrine.

⚖️ Discretionary Twilight Zone
30 / 100 friction index
Dimension 1 • Art. I, §1 & §8

Legislative Encroachment & Purse

Low Friction

Operates within delegated statutory execution without modifying legislative appropriations or taxing powers.

Benchmark: Power of the purse, taxes/tariffs, and rule of law reserved to Congress.
Dimension 2 • Art. II, §1 & §3

Executive Scope & Faithfulness

Low Friction

Exercises standard supervisory executive authority to faithfully execute existing statutes.

Benchmark: Faithfully execute laws enacted by Congress vs. unilateral decree.
Dimension 3 • 10th Amendment

Federalism & State Sovereignty

Moderate Friction

Engages state and local partners in cooperative federalism programs.

Benchmark: Police powers and un-delegated responsibilities reserved to the States.
Dimension 4 • 5th & 14th Amendments

Due Process & Individual Rights

Low Friction

Focuses on internal governmental operations with no direct impairment of private rights or property.

Benchmark: Protection of private property, contracts, liberty, and procedural justice.
Dimension 5 • Separation of Powers

Youngstown Jacksonian Tier

Moderate Friction

The order relies on inherent Article II executive discretion, civil service management, or foreign diplomacy where Congress has neither expressly approved nor prohibited action.

Benchmark: Concurrent Authority / Congressional Silence
⚖️ Audit Synthesis

This order operates within Justice Jackson’s Zone of Twilight, resting upon concurrent presidential authority or congressional silence.

Weighted composite: Art. I (25%), Art. II (25%), Federalism (15%), Due Process (15%), Youngstown (20%).
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How to read these dimensions: Executive power expands whenever an administration acts without explicit statutory authorization from Congress (Article I), touches upon police powers historically reserved to the states (Tenth Amendment), or limits private rights and property without judicial process. A low friction score indicates strict concordance with enacted law; a high friction score highlights orders testing the limits of presidential discretion.
Total Words
1,438
9,815 characters
Estimated Read Time
7 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
11.7
High School
Language Tone Score
+0.02
Constitutional Neutral
How is this scored?
Text size:

Official Archival Text

View Source Document

WHEREAS disputes exist between the Akron & Barberton Belt Railroad Company and certain other carriers designated in List A attached hereto and made a part hereof, and certain of their employees represented by the sixteen cooperating railway labor organizations designated in List B attached hereto and made a part hereof; and WHEREAS these disputes have not heretofore been adjusted under the provisions of the Railway Labor Act, as amended; and WHEREAS these disputes, in the judgment of the National Mediation Board, threaten substantially to interrupt interstate commerce to a degree such as to deprive the country of essential transportation service:

NOW, THEREFORE, #now-therefore

by virtue of the authority vested in me by section 10 of the Railway Labor Act, as amended (45 U.S.C. 160), I hereby create a board of three members, to be appointed by me, to investigate the said disputes. No member of the said board shall be pecuniarily or otherwise interested in any organization of railway employees or any carrier. The board shall report its findings to the President with respect to the said disputes within thirty days from the date of this order. As provided by section 10 of the Railway Labor Act, as amended, from this date and for thirty days after the board has made its report to the President, no change, except by agreement shall be made by any of the carriers involved or its employees in the conditions out of which the said disputes arose. LIST A Akron & Barberton Belt Railroad Co. Akron, Canton & Youngstown Railroad Co. Ann Arbor Railroad Co.Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Co. B&O Chicago Terminal Railroad Co. B&O New York Terminal Railroad Co. Dayton & Union Railroad Co. Strouds Creek & Muddlety Railroad Co. Bessemer & Lake Erie Railroad Co. Boston & Maine Railroad Co. Boston Terminal Company Brooklyn Eastern District Terminal Bush Terminal Railroad Co.Canadian National Railway Co. Canadian National Railways-New York Canadian National Railways-New England Champlain & St. Lawrence Railroad Co. United States & Canada Railroad Co. St. Clair Tunnel Co. Canadian Pacific Railway Co. Central Railroad Company of New Jersey Central Railroad Company of Pennsylvania Central Vermont Railway, Inc. Chesapeake & Ohio Railway Company-Pere Marquette District Fort Street Union Depot Co. Chicago, Indianapolis & Louisville Railway Co. Chicago Union Station Co. Cincinnati Union Terminal Co. Dayton Union Railway Co. Delaware & Hudson Railroad Corporation Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad Co. Detroit & Toledo Shore Line Railroad Co. Detroit Terminal Railroad Co. Detroit, Toledo & Ironton Railroad Co. Erie Railroad Co. Grand Trunk Western Railroad Co. Jay Street Connecting Railroad Indianapolis Union Railway Co. Lehigh & New England Railroad Co. Lehigh Valley Railroad Co. Mackinac Transportation Co. Maine Central Railroad Co. Portland Terminal Co. Monongahela Railway Co. Montour Railroad Co. New York Central (Full Line Agreements) New York Central Railroad Co.-Buffalo & East New York Central Railroad Co.-West of Buffalo Michigan Central Railroad Co. Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis Railway Co. Peoria & Eastern Railway Co. Louisville & Jefferson Bridge & Railroad Co. Boston & Albany Railroad Co. Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad Co. Chicago River & Indiana Railroad Co. (Chicago Junction Railway) Pittsburgh & Lake Erie Railroad Co. (Lake Erie & Eastern Railroad) Cleveland Union Terminals Co. Troy Union Railroad Co. Federal Valley Railroad Co. New York, Chicago & St. Louis Railway Co. New York Connecting Railroad Co. New York Dock Railway New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad Co. Pennsylvania Railroad Co. Baltimore & Eastern Railroad Co. Long Island Railroad Co. Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines Pittsburgh & West Virginia Railway Co. Pittsburgh, Chartiers & Youghiogheny Railway Co. Reading Company Philadelphia, Reading & Pottsville Telegraph Co. Beaver Creek Water Company Staten Island Rapid Transit Railway Co. Union Depot Company (Columbus, Ohio) Union Freight Railroad Company (Boston) Union Island Freight Station, N.Y. Washington Terminal Co. Western Allegheny Railroad Co. Wheeling & Lake Erie Railway Co. Loraine & West Virginia Railway Co. Alton and Southern Railroad Co. Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway Co. Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway Co. Panhandle & Santa Fe Railway Co. Belt Railway Company of Chicago Burlington-Rock Island Railroad Co.Camas Prairie Railroad Co. Chicago & Eastern Illinois Railroad Co. Chicago & Illinois Midland Railway Co. Chicago & North Western Railway Co. Chicago & Western Indiana Railroad Co. Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad Co. Chicago, Great Western Railway Co. Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific Railroad Co. Chicago, Terre Haute & Southeastern Railway Co. Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha Railway Colorado & Southern Railway Colorado & Wyoming Railway Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad Denver Union Terminal Railway Des Moines Union Railway Duluth, Missabe & Iron Range Railway Duluth Union Depot & Transfer Company Duluth, Winnipeg & Pacific Railway Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Railway El Paso Union Passenger Depot Company Fort Worth & Denver City Railway Wichita Valley Railway Galveston, Houston & Henderson Railroad Great Northern Railway Green Bay & Western Railroad Kewaunee, Green Bay & Western Railroad Gulf Coast Lines-Comprising Asherton & Gulf Railway Asphalt Belt Railway Beaumont, Sour Lake & Western Railway Houston & Brazos Valley Railway Houston North Shore Railway Iberia, St. Mary & Eastern Railway International-Great Northern Railroad New Iberia & Northern Railroad New Orleans, Texas & Mexico Railway Orange & Northwestern Railroad Rio Grande City Railway St. Louis, Brownsville & Mexico Railway San Antonio Southern Railway San Antonio, Uvalde & Gulf Railroad San Benito & Rio Grande Valley Railway Sugar Land Railway Houston Belt & Terminal Ry. Illinois Central Railroad Kansas City Southern Railway Arkansas Western Railway Ft. Smith & Van Buren Railway Joplin Union Depot Company Kansas City Terminal Railway Louisiana & Arkansas Railway Manufacturers Railway Midland Valley Railroad Kansas, Oklahoma & Gulf Railway Oklahoma City-Ada-Atoka Railway Minneapolis & St. Louis Railway Railway Transfer Company-Minneapolis Minneapolis, St. Paul & Sault Ste. Marie Railroad Duluth, South Shore & Atlantic Railway Mineral Range Railroad Minnesota Transfer Railway Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad Company of Texas Beaver, Meade & Englewood Railroad Missouri Pacific Railroad Missouri-Illinois Railroad Northern Pacific Railway Northern Pacific Terminal Company of Oregon Northwestern Pacific Railroad Ogden Union Railway & Depot Company Oregon, California & Eastern Railway Peoria & Pekin Union Railway Port Terminal Railroad Association Pueblo Union Depot & Railroad Company St. Joseph Terminal Railroad St. Louis-San Francisco Railway St. Louis, San Francisco & Texas Railway St. Louis Southwestern Railway St. Louis Southwestern Railway Company of Texas St. Paul Union Depot Company San Diego & Arizona Eastern Railway Southern Pacific Company (Pacific Lines) Spokane, Portland & Seattle Railway Oregon Trunk Railway Oregon Electric Railway Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis Texarkana Union Station Trust Texas & New Orleans Railroad Texas & Pacific Railway Abilene & Southern Railway Fort Worth Belt Railway Texas-New Mexico Railway Texas Short Line Railway Weatherford, Mineral Wells & Northwestern Railway Texas Mexican Railway Texas Pacific-Missouri Pacific Terminal R.R. of New Orleans Union Pacific Railroad Union Railway Company (Memphis) Union Terminal Company (Dallas) Wabash Railroad Western Pacific Railroad Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Co. Atlanta & West Point Railroad Co. Western Railway of Alabama Atlanta Terminal Co. Central of Georgia Railway Co. Charleston & Western Carolina Railway Co. Chesapeake & Ohio Railway Co. (Chesapeake District) Clinchfield Railroad Co. Florida East Coast Railway Georgia Railroad Co. Augusta Union Station Co. Gulf, Mobile & Ohio /Railroad Co. Southern Region Northern Region Jacksonville Terminal Co. Kentucky & Indiana Terminal Railroad Co. Louisville & Nashville Railroad Co. Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis Railway Co. Norfolk & Portsmouth Belt Line Railroad Co. Norfolk Southern Railway Co. Norfolk & Western Railway Co. Richmond, Fredericksburg & Potomac Railroad Co. Richmond Terminal Railway Co. Potomac Yard Seaboard Air Line Railway Co. Southern Railway Co. Alabama Great Southern Railroad Co. Cincinnati, Burnside & Cumberland River Railway Co. Cincinnati, New Orleans & Texas Pacific Railway Co. Georgia Southern & Florida Railway Co. Harriman & Northeastern Railroad Co. New Orleans & Northeastern Railroad Co. New Orleans Terminal Co. St. Johns River Terminal Co. Virginian Railway Co. LIST b International Association of Machinists International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, Iron Ship Builders and Helpers of America International Brotherhood of Blacksmiths, Drop Forgers and Helpers Sheet Metal Workers' International Association International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Brotherhood of Railway Carmen of America International Brotherhood of Firemen, Oilers, Roundhouse and Railway Shop Laborers Brotherhood of Railway and Steamship Clerks, Freight Handlers, Express and Station Employees Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees The Order of Railroad Telegraphers Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen of America National Organization of Masters, Mates & Pilots of America National Marine Engineers' Beneficial Association International Longshoremen's Association Hotel and Restaurant Employes' International Alliance and Bartenders' In. League of America Railroad Yardmasters of America HARRY S. TRUMAN

THE WHITE HOUSE, #signature

October 18, 1948

🔗

Referenced By Later Executive Orders (1)

Subsequent presidents who cited, amended, continued, or revoked this directive in later orders.

Amends Executive Order 10015—Amendment of Executive Order No. 10010, Creating an Emergency Board to Investigate Disputes Between the Akron & Barberton Belt Railroad Company and Other Carriers, and Certain of Their Employees
Harry S Truman • 1948-11-05
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Scholarly & Legal Citations 

Exec. Order No. 10,010 (Oct. 18, 1948), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-10010-creating-emergency-board-investigate-disputes-between-the-akron.