The administration of the National Prohibition Act in those Islands, now known as the Virgin Islands of the United States, is hereby transferred from the Secretary of the Treasury to the Secretary of the Navy.
Early Statesman synthesis distilling legal jargon into practical meaning, statutory anchors, and structural constitutional impacts.
Signed by President Warren G. Harding on June 19, 1923, this order concerns Secretary of Navy to Enforce Prohibition in Virgin Islands. The administration of the National Prohibition Act in those Islands, now known as the Virgin Islands of the United States, is hereby transferred from the Secretary of the Treasury to the Secretary of the Navy.
The administration of the National Prohibition Act in those Islands, now known as the Virgin Islands of the United States, is hereby transferred from the Secretary of the Treasury to the Secretary of the Navy.
Evaluating 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."
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.
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.
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.
An objective audit measuring potential separation-of-powers tension against the United States Constitution and established Supreme Court doctrine.
Operates within delegated statutory execution without modifying legislative appropriations or taxing powers.
Exercises standard supervisory executive authority to faithfully execute existing statutes.
Engages state and local partners in cooperative federalism programs.
Focuses on internal governmental operations with no direct impairment of private rights or property.
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.
Pursuant to the authority conferred in the Act "to provide a temporary Government for the West Indian Islands acquired by the United States from Denmark," etc., approved March 3, 1917, the administration of the National Prohibition Act in those Islands, now known as the Virgin Islands of the United States, is hereby transferred from the Secretary of the Treasury to the Secretary of the Navy. WARREN G. HARDING
June 19, 1923.
Other executive actions signed by Warren G. Harding around this period.
By virtue of the authority vested in me by the Act of Congress approved March 12, 1914, entitled "An Act to authorize the President of the United States to locate, construct and operate railroads in the Territory of Alaska, and for other purposes," I hereby authorize and direct…
Warren G. Harding I hereby make the following orders, rules and regulations: 1. I hereby vest in the Alien Property Custodian all power and authority conferred upon me by the provisions of Section 9 of the Act approved October 6, 1917, known as the "Trading with the Enemy Act," as amended March…
Warren G. Harding The following named persons who were separated from the Bureau of Engraving and Printing are eligible to reenter any part of the classified service in appropriate positions for a period of five years from March 31, 1922, on certificate of the Civil Service Commission: P.J.…
Warren G. Harding There is hereby created the Federal Council of Citizenship Training. The membership of this Council shall consist of one representative and one alternate appointed as designated below from each of the following Federal offices: I. The Department of the Interior, (Bureau of…
Warren G. Harding The following described tract of approximately 13.5 acres within the area withdrawn by Executive Order of November 14, 1901, for Navajo Indians be, and the same is hereby, eliminated from the reservation created by said withdrawal: Beginning at a point in the southern line of…
Warren G. Harding The military reservation known as Fort Apache, situated in Navajo County, State of Arizona, containing an approximate area of 7,579.75 acres, set apart for military purposes by Executive Order dated February 1, 1877, having become useless for military purposes, the same is…
Warren G. Harding Exec. Order No. 3871 (June 19, 1923), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-3871-secretary-navy-enforce-prohibition-virgin-islands.
