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Executive Order 1926 🏛️✅ Zone 1: Maximum Authority Constitutional Neutral (+0.02) 📜 Art. I §8: Delegated Tariff & Commerce Execution

Executive Order 1926—Relating to Salaries of Consular Officers

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Thursday, April 30, 1914
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2 min read (426 words)

Executive Brief • At a Glance

⏱️ 2 min read (426 words) • ● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate

Paragraphs 492 and 561 of the Consular Regulations of 1896 are hereby amended to read as follows: Paragraph 492.

⚖️ Constitutional Footing
🏛️✅ Zone 1: Maximum Authority
Express or Implied Congressional Authorization
📜 Art. I §8: Delegated Tariff & Commerce Execution
🏛️ Scope & Affected Sectors
Merchants, Importers & Commercial Enterprises Sovereign State Governments & Localities Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants

Plain-English Translation & Framers' Constitutional Analysis

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

Signed by President Woodrow Wilson on April 30, 1914, this order concerns Relating to Salaries of Consular Officers. Paragraphs 492 and 561 of the Consular Regulations of 1896 are hereby amended to read as follows: Paragraph 492. Salaried officers.--Consuls-general and consuls receiving salaries fixed by law are entitled to compensation at the rate of their respective salaries, as follows: 1.

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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Paragraphs 492 and 561 of the Consular Regulations of 1896 are hereby amended to read as follows: Paragraph 492.

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Beginning not prior to the date of the oath of office, for time occupied in receiving instructions in the United States, or by special direction of the Department of State, at consulates-general or consulates other than those to which they shall have been appointed, not exceeding in all thirty days.--R. S., sec. 1740. 2.

▪

In the event that the appointee is not in the United States at the time of appointment no allowance of salary will be made except for the period actually and necessarily occupied in transit in reaching his post of duty, and the time which he may be especially directed by the Department of State to spend at a consulate-general or consulate other than that to which he shall have been appointed, receiving instructions in the performance of consular duties, not exceeding thirty days. 3.

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This provision extends also to the time, after arrival at their posts, while awaiting the receipt of the exequatur or permission to act.--R. S., sec. 1740.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Merchants, Importers & Commercial Enterprises 🏛️ Sovereign State Governments & Localities 🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants

Policy Areas & Topics

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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

"The direction of war implies the direction of the common strength; and the power of directing and employing the common strength must be under the direction of the single hand of the Executive." — Federalist No. 74 (1788)

Hamilton would forcefully champion executive discretion here. For foreign entanglements, commerce defense, and national security, deliberative assemblies are too slow and faction-ridden. A unified, energetic Executive exercising swift command is precisely what the Philadelphia Convention intended for national preservation.

Hamiltonian Stance: Supportive of Execution
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
31 / 100 friction index
Dimension 1 • Art. I, §1 & §8

Legislative Encroachment & Purse

Moderate Friction

Administers commerce or fiscal programs requiring ongoing statutory delegation and legislative oversight.

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

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 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
426
2,545 characters
Estimated Read Time
2 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
14.5
College Level
Language Tone Score
+0.02
Constitutional Neutral
How is this scored?
Text size:

Official Archival Text

View Source Document

Paragraphs 492 and 561 of the Consular Regulations of 1896 are hereby amended to read as follows: Paragraph 492. Salaried officers.--Consuls-general and consuls receiving salaries fixed by law are entitled to compensation at the rate of their respective salaries, as follows: 1. Beginning not prior to the date of the oath of office, for time occupied in receiving instructions in the United States, or by special direction of the Department of State, at consulates-general or consulates other than those to which they shall have been appointed, not exceeding in all thirty days.--R. S., sec. 1740. 2. For the time actually and necessarily occupied in transit, by the most convenient route, between the places of their residence and their posts, not, however, to exceed the time fixed in paragraph 478. This applies both to transit from the United States and to transit to the United States at the termination of service, unless the officer dies, or is recalled for malfeasance, or resigns in anticipation of such recall. The time during which a consul may be unavoidably detained at his post while waiting for a conveyance to the United States, after delivering up the office, may be included in his home transit so far as not to exceed in all the maximum time fixed in paragraph 478. In the event that the appointee is not in the United States at the time of appointment no allowance of salary will be made except for the period actually and necessarily occupied in transit in reaching his post of duty, and the time which he may be especially directed by the Department of State to spend at a consulate-general or consulate other than that to which he shall have been appointed, receiving instructions in the performance of consular duties, not exceeding thirty days. 3. From the date of entry upon official duty at their posts to the date when they cease to perform the duties of the office. This provision extends also to the time, after arrival at their posts, while awaiting the receipt of the exequatur or permission to act.--R. S., sec. 1740. Paragraph 561. Receiving instructions.--The first salary account will be stated for the time, not exceeding thirty days, during which the consular officer is receiving his instructions. (Form No. 106.) The time cannot begin prior to the date of the oath of office. (Paragraph 492.) This draft therefor is drawn before departure. A certificate (Form No. 107) of the, number of days occupied in receiving instructions should accompany the account. WOODROW WILSON

THE WHITE HOUSE, #signature

April 30, 1914.

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Scholarly & Legal Citations

Exec. Order No. 1926 (Apr. 30, 1914), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-1926-relating-salaries-consular-officers.