The White House, June 26, 1920. I, Woodrow Wilson, President of the United States of America, pursuant to an Act of Congress entitled "An Act to provide further for the National Security and Defense by encouraging the production, conserving the supply and controlling the distribution of food products and fuel," approved August 10, 1917, and an Act of Congress entitled "An Act to enable the President to carry out the price guarantees made to producers of wheat of the crops of 1918 and 1919 and to protect the United States against undue enhancement of its liabilities thereunder," approved March 4, 1919, and by virtue of authority vested in me by said Acts of Congress and each of them, as well as by virtue of any and all other Acts of Congress conferring authority upon me in the premises, do hereby authorize, order and direct: That the United States Grain Corporation reduce its outstanding capital stock from Five Hundred Million Dollars to One Hundred and Fifty Million Dollars, and decrease its authorized capital stock accordingly, and that Julius H. Barnes, United States Wheat Director, be and he hereby is authorized, ordered and directed (1) to cause said reduction and decrease of capital stock to be made, and to vote or cause to be voted all shares of stock of said corporation held by or in the name of the United States of America in favor thereof, and (2) to surrender to said corporation for cancellation Three Million Five Hundred Thousand shares of stock of said corporation, of the par value of One Hundred Dollars ($100) each, held by the United States, upon receiving from said corporation the sum of Three Hundred and Fifty Million Dollars, for account of the United States, in full payment and liquidation of said stock so surrendered for cancellation, and (3) to pay and cover, or cause to be paid and covered, into the Treasury of the United States, as miscellaneous receipts, said Three Hundred and Fifty Million Dollars, and (4) to do any and all other things necessary or appropriate in the premises. WOODROW WILSON
Executive Order 3292—Reduction of Capital Stock of United States Grain Corporation
Executive Brief • At a Glance
I, Woodrow Wilson, President of the United States of America, pursuant to an Act of Congress entitled "An Act to provide further for the National Security and Defense by encouraging the production, conserving the supply and controlling the distribution of food products and fuel," approved August 10, 1917, and an Act of Congress entitled "An Act to enable the President to carry out the price guarantees made to producers of wheat of the crops of 1918 and 1919 and to protect the United States against undue enhancement of its liabilities thereunder," approved March 4, 1919, and by virtue of authority vested in me by said Acts of Congress and each of them, as well as by virtue of any and all other Acts of Congress conferring authority upon me…
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 June 26, 1920, this order concerns Reduction of Capital Stock of United States Grain Corporation. The White House, June 26, 1920. I, Woodrow Wilson, President of the United States of America, pursuant to an Act of Congress entitled "An Act to provide further for the National Security and Defense by encouraging the production, conserving the supply and controlling the distribution of food products and fuel," approved August 10, 1917, and an Act of Congress entitled "An Act to enable the President to carry out…
Key Directives & Operative Actions
I, Woodrow Wilson, President of the United States of America, pursuant to an Act of Congress entitled "An Act to provide further for the National Security and Defense by encouraging the production, conserving the supply and controlling the distribution of food products and fuel," approved August 10, 1917, and an Act of Congress entitled "An Act to enable the President to carry out the price guarantees made to producers of wheat of the crops of 1918 and 1919 and to protect the United States against undue enhancement of its liabilities thereunder," approved March 4, 1919, and by virtue of authority vested in me by said Acts of Congress and each of them, as well as by virtue of any and all other Acts of Congress conferring authority upon me…
Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted
Policy Areas & Topics
The Framers' Constitutional Council
1787 PrismEvaluating this order against the constitutional debates of 1787 and the limits of Article II executive power.
"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."
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.
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.
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.
Five Measurable "Constitutional Friction" Dimensions
An objective audit measuring potential separation-of-powers tension against the United States Constitution and established Supreme Court doctrine.
Legislative Encroachment & Purse
Operates within delegated statutory execution without modifying legislative appropriations or taxing powers.
Executive Scope & Faithfulness
Exercises standard supervisory executive authority to faithfully execute existing statutes.
Federalism & State Sovereignty
Engages state and local partners in cooperative federalism programs.
Due Process & Individual Rights
Focuses on internal governmental operations with no direct impairment of private rights or property.
Youngstown Jacksonian Tier
The order relies on inherent Article II executive discretion, civil service management, or foreign diplomacy where Congress has neither expressly approved nor prohibited action.
This order operates within Justice Jackson’s Zone of Twilight, resting upon concurrent presidential authority or congressional silence.
Scholarly & Legal Citations
Exec. Order No. 3292 (June 26, 1920), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-3292-reduction-capital-stock-united-states-grain-corporation.