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Executive Order 4268 🏛️✅ Zone 1: Maximum Authority Constitutional Neutral (+0.02) 📜 Art. I §8: Delegated Tariff & Commerce Execution

Executive Order 4268—Remission of Further Payments of Installments of the Chinese Indemnity

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Thursday, July 16, 1925
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4 min read (785 words)

Executive Brief • At a Glance

⏱️ 4 min read (785 words) • ● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate

Be it Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the President is hereby authorized, in his discretion, to remit to China as an act of friendship any or all further payments of the annual installments of the Chinese indemnity due under the bond received from China pursuant to the protocol of September 7, 1901, as modified by Executive order on the 28th day of December, 1908, pursuant to the authority of the joint resolution of Congress approved May 25, 1908, for indemnity against losses and expenses incurred by reason of the so-called Boxer disturbances in China during the year 1900, such remission to begin as from October 1, 1917, and to be at such times and in such…

⚖️ Constitutional Footing
🏛️✅ Zone 1: Maximum Authority
Express or Implied Congressional Authorization
📜 Art. I §8: Delegated Tariff & Commerce Execution
🏛️ Scope & Affected Sectors
Sovereign State Governments & Localities Private Citizens & Property Owners Financial Institutions & Monetary Authorities

Plain-English Translation & Framers' Constitutional Analysis

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

Signed by President Calvin Coolidge on July 16, 1925, this order concerns Remission of Further Payments of Installments of the Chinese Indemnity. Be it Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the President is hereby authorized, in his discretion, to remit to China as an act of friendship any or all further payments of the annual installments of the Chinese indemnity due under the bond received from China pursuant to the protocol of September 7, 1901, as modified by Executive order on the…

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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Be it Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the President is hereby authorized, in his discretion, to remit to China as an act of friendship any or all further payments of the annual installments of the Chinese indemnity due under the bond received from China pursuant to the protocol of September 7, 1901, as modified by Executive order on the 28th day of December, 1908, pursuant to the authority of the joint resolution of Congress approved May 25, 1908, for indemnity against losses and expenses incurred by reason of the so-called Boxer disturbances in China during the year 1900, such remission to begin as from October 1, 1917, and to be at such times and in such…

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Sovereign State Governments & Localities 🏛️ Private Citizens & Property Owners 🏛️ Financial Institutions & Monetary Authorities

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)
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"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
35 / 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

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 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
785
4,725 characters
Estimated Read Time
4 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
65.6
Post-Graduate Legal
Language Tone Score
+0.02
Constitutional Neutral
How is this scored?
Text size:

Official Archival Text

View Source Document

Whereas, a Joint Resolution of Congress, entitled a "Joint Resolution to provide for the remission of further payments of the annual installments of the Chinese indemnity," approved May 21, 1924, provides as follows: "Whereas, by authority of a joint resolution of Congress approved May 25, 1908, the President of the United States was authorized to remit unto China the sum of $11,961,121.76 of the Boxer indemnity fund accredited to the United States, which sum the President on December 28, 1908, duly remitted and which, at the request of China, was specified to be used for educational purposes; and Whereas it is deemed proper as a further act of friendship to remit the balance of said indemnity fund amounting to $6,137,552.90 in order further to develop the educational and other cultural activities of China: Now therefore be it Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the President is hereby authorized, in his discretion, to remit to China as an act of friendship any or all further payments of the annual installments of the Chinese indemnity due under the bond received from China pursuant to the protocol of September 7, 1901, as modified by Executive order on the 28th day of December, 1908, pursuant to the authority of the joint resolution of Congress approved May 25, 1908, for indemnity against losses and expenses incurred by reason of the so-called Boxer disturbances in China during the year 1900, such remission to begin as from October 1, 1917, and to be at such times and in such manner as the President shall deem just."; and Whereas, the Minister of the Republic of China at Washington, to whom a copy of the said Joint Resolution was transmitted by the Secretary of State, informed the Secretary of State on June 14, 1924, that his Government proposed to devote the funds thus made available to educational and cultural purposes, paying especial attention to scientific requirements, and to entrust the administration of the funds to a Board which should be composed of Chinese and American citizens as members; and Whereas, the Minister of the Republic of China on September 16, 1924, forwarded to the Secretary of State a copy of the constitution of the Board referred to in his communication of June 14, 1924, above mentioned, which Board, he stated, had been designated "The China Foundation for the Promotion of Education and Culture"; and Whereas, the Minister of the Republic of China on June 6, 1925, informed the Secretary of State (1) that the Board of Trustees of the China Foundation for the Promotion of Education and Culture was a corporate body instituted by a Mandate of the President of the Republic of China on September 17, 1924, for the custody and control of the remitted indemnity funds; (2) that on June 3, 1925, the said Board had unanimously adopted a resolution reading textually as follows: "Resolved that the funds from the,remitted portion of the indemnity due the United States to be intrusted to the China Foundation for the Promotion of Education and Culture be devoted to the development of scientific knowledge and to the application of such knowledge to the conditions in China through the promotion of technical training of scientific research, experimentation, and demonstration, and training in science teaching, and to the advancement of cultural enterprises of a permanent character such as libraries and the like"; and (3) that, in order to carry out the intent of the Joint Resolution of Congress, the Board was ready to receive the remitted funds from the United States Government Now, therefore, I, Calvin Coolidge, President of the United States of America, acting under and by virtue of the authority conferred upon me by the said Joint Resolution of Congress, do hereby make the following determination, order, rule and regulation: The Secretary of the Treasury is hereby authorized and directed to remit to the said Board of Trustees of the China Foundation for the Promotion of Education and Culture, as the agent designated by the Chinese Government to receive the same, all payments of the annual installments of the Chinese indemnity made subsequent to October 1, 1917, under the bond received from China pursuant to the protocol of September 7, 1901, as modified by Executive Order on the 28th day of December, 1908, pursuant to the authority of the Joint Resolution of Congress, approved May 25, 1908, together with such further payments as may be made from time to time under the said bond, the remission of the payments to be for the purpose of further developing the educational and other cultural activities of China. CALVIN COOLIDGE

THE WHITE HOUSE, #signature

July 16, 1925 .

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Scholarly & Legal Citations

Exec. Order No. 4268 (July 16, 1925), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-4268-remission-further-payments-installments-the-chinese-indemnity.