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Executive Order 1113 🏛️✅ Zone 1: Maximum Authority Constitutional Neutral (+0.02) 📜 10th Amend: Intergovernmental Federalism Cooperation

Executive Order 1113—Amending Paragraphs 114, 115, 120, and 129 of Consular Regulations of 1896, Regarding Communications

William Howard Taft William Howard Taft
•
Tuesday, July 20, 1909
•
2 min read (374 words)

Executive Brief • At a Glance

⏱️ 2 min read (374 words) • ● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate

Paragraphs 114, 115, 120 and 129 of the Consular Regulations of 1896 are hereby amended to read as follows: 114.

View all 2 directives ↓
⚖️ Constitutional Footing
🏛️✅ Zone 1: Maximum Authority
Express or Implied Congressional Authorization
📜 10th Amend: Intergovernmental Federalism Cooperation
Framers' constitutional debate ↓
🏛️ Scope & Affected Sectors
Sovereign State Governments & Localities Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants Private Citizens & Property Owners
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 William Howard Taft on July 20, 1909, this order concerns Amending Paragraphs 114, 115, 120, and 129 of Consular Regulations of 1896, Regarding Communications. Paragraphs 114, 115, 120 and 129 of the Consular Regulations of 1896 are hereby amended to read as follows: 114. ADDRESS OF DESPATCHES.—All communications to the Department of State should be addressed to the Secretary of State. 115. FORM OF DESPATCHES.—Despatches should be written on one side only of single-sheet despatch paper.

Constitutional Assessment: Reviewed under the Tenth Amendment and the principle of dual federalism, this order touches upon domains traditionally reserved to the sovereign States. The Framers would caution against any attempt to commandeer state officers or displace local police powers through federal executive fiat.

Key Directives & Operative Actions

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Paragraphs 114, 115, 120 and 129 of the Consular Regulations of 1896 are hereby amended to read as follows: 114.

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Where one or more paragraphs of a despatch seem to require precaution against publicity, a red line may be drawn to mark them and the word "Confidential" plainly written in the margin.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Sovereign State Governments & Localities 🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants 🏛️ Private Citizens & Property Owners

Policy Areas & Topics

🏷️ Uncategorized
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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 1 (Maximum Authority)
§

"When the President acts pursuant to an express or implied authorization of Congress, his authority is at its maximum, for it includes all that he possesses in his own right plus all that Congress can delegate."

— Justice Robert H. Jackson, Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer (1952) Express or Implied Congressional Authorization
JM

James Madison

Separation of Powers & Legislative Primacy

"The constitutional magistracy was designed not to invent policy, but to be the faithful instrument of the laws passed by the people's representatives." — Speech in the First Congress (1789)

Madison would approve the structural posture of this order. The President acts strictly in subordination to statutory authority granted under Article II, Section 3 ("take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed"). The checks and balances hold firm because the policy origin remains with the legislature.

Madisonian Stance: Concurring (Statutory)
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: Supportive of Execution
GM

George Mason

Bill of Rights, Due Process & 10th Amendment

"The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people." — 10th Amendment to the US Constitution (1791)

Mason would scrutinize whether this federal directive intrudes into police powers, land stewardship, or municipal domains historically reserved to local citizens. The Anti-Federalist demand is that federal administration must never supplant state self-governance.

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.

🛡️ High Constitutional Concordance
27 / 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

Moderate Friction

Applies regulatory or compliance standards to private contractors or commercial entities.

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

Youngstown Jacksonian Tier

Low Friction

The President operates strictly as the constitutional Chief Executive, carrying out policy established by Congress with strong statutory backing.

Benchmark: Express or Implied Congressional Authorization
⚖️ Audit Synthesis

This order operates in close harmony with statutory authority and standard Article II supervisory execution.

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
374
2,205 characters
Estimated Read Time
2 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
10
High School
Language Tone Score
+0.02
Constitutional Neutral
How is this scored?
Text size:

Official Archival Text

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Paragraphs 114, 115, 120 and 129 of the Consular Regulations of 1896 are hereby amended to read as follows: 114. ADDRESS OF DESPATCHES.—All communications to the Department of State should be addressed to the Secretary of State. 115. FORM OF DESPATCHES.—Despatches should be written on one side only of single-sheet despatch paper. The margin should be one and one-half inches on the left-hand side of each page, one inch on the right-hand side, one and one-half inches at the top, and one inch at the bottom. The salutation is the word "Sir," which should be depressed one-fourth inch more than the left-hand words of the text of the despatch. The space between the salutation and the address above and also between the salutation and the first line of the body of the despatch should be one-half greater than the space between the other lines; the same space should be left between the last line of the body of the despatch and the first line of the closing phrase. At the end of each page, at the right, just above the fair margin, should be written the word which will be the first word of the following page. After the first page, each page should be numbered in the middle, just below the fair margin, a short horizontal being placed on each side of the figure (Forms Nos. 6 and 7). 120. CONFIDENTIAL COMMUNICATIONS.—Despatches regarded as especially of a reserved or secret nature should be conspicuously marked "Confidential " on the top of the first page. Where one or more paragraphs of a despatch seem to require precaution against publicity, a red line may be drawn to mark them and the word "Confidential" plainly written in the margin. The Secretary of State, however, reserves the ultimate right to decide whether the suggested reserve is necessary in the public interest. 129. PRIVATE CORRESPONDENCE WITH DEPARTMENT DISAPPROVED. —Recourse to private letters to the Secretary of State or other officers of the Department of State upon topics relating to the official business of the consulate is disapproved. All communications in relation to the public business should be in the form of regular despatches to the Secretary of State. WM. H. TAFT.

THE WHITE HOUSE, #signature

Washington, July 20, 1909.

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Scholarly & Legal Citations 

Exec. Order No. 1113 (July 20, 1909), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-1113-amending-paragraphs-114-115-120-and-129-consular-regulations-1896.