Pursuant to the authority vested in me by section 91 of the act of Congress approved April 30, 1900 (31 Stat. 159), entitled "An act to provide a government for the Territory of Hawaii", as amended by section 7 of the act of Congress approved May 27, 1910 (36 Stat. 447), it is hereby ordered that the tract of land known as the Upolu Airplane Landing Field, Island of Hawaii, Territory of Hawaii, set aside for military purposes by Executive Order No. 4718, dated September 12, 1927, be, and the same is hereby, restored to the use of the Territory of Hawaii for aeronautical purposes, and for no other purpose: Provided, however , that the following described tract of land within the boundaries of the land withdrawn by said Executive Order No. 4718 is excepted from said restoration and is hereby retained and set aside for military purposes: Beginning at a point marked by a pipe, on the fourth course of the boundaries of the land withdrawn by Executive Order No. 4718, dated September 12, 1927, 72° 16' 326 feet from the initial point of said fourth course, and 285° 13' 46" 1488.67 feet from a cross on rock on the sea pali, the coordinates of said cross on rock being 23,683.1 feet north and 6,397.7 feet west from Government survey triangulation station "Puu O Naie," and running by true azimuths and distances as follows: 1. 162° 16' 110.00 feet; 2. 252° 16' 337.54 feet; 3. 264° 15' 61.55 feet; 4. 354° 15' 110.00 feet to a point on the third course of the boundaries of the land withdrawn by Executive Order No. 4718, 84° 15' 923.2 feet from the initial point of said course; 5. 84° 15' 50.00 feet along said third course to the pipe at the end thereof; 6. 72° 16' 326.00 feet along the fourth course of the boundaries of the land withdrawn by Executive Order No. 4718, to the point of beginning, and containing 0.979 acres more or less. And provided that the land so restored to the Territory of Hawaii shall be at all times subject to the following reservation, to wit: That said tract of land shall be available for the taking off and landing of airplanes or airships belonging to the United States without charge, such reserved privilege to include such temporary occupation for operation and maintenance of Government airplanes or airships as may from time to time be deemed necessary by competent military authority. HERBERT HOOVER The White House, July 25, 1930.
Executive Order 5406 ⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight Constitutional Neutral (+0.02)
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
Executive Order 5406—Restoring Portion of Upolu Point Military Reservation to the Territory of Hawaii
Executive Brief • At a Glance
⏱️ 2 min read (421 words) •
● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate
The tract of land known as the Upolu Airplane Landing Field, Island of Hawaii, Territory of Hawaii, set aside for military purposes by Executive Order No. 4718, dated September 12, 1927, be, and the same is hereby, restored to the use of the Territory of Hawaii for aeronautical purposes, and for no other purpose: Provided, however , that the following described tract of land within the boundaries of the land withdrawn by said Executive Order No. 4718 is excepted from said restoration and is hereby retained and set aside for military purposes: Beginning at a point marked by a pipe, on the fourth course of the boundaries of the land withdrawn by Executive Order No. 4718, dated September 12, 1927, 72° 16' 326 feet from the initial point of…
⚖️ Constitutional Footing
⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight
Concurrent Authority / Congressional Silence
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
🏛️ Scope & Affected Sectors
Armed Forces & Military Establishments
Plain-English Translation & Framers' Constitutional Analysis
Early Statesman synthesis distilling legal jargon into practical meaning, statutory anchors, and structural constitutional impacts.
Signed by President Herbert Hoover on July 25, 1930, this order concerns Restoring Portion of Upolu Point Military Reservation to the Territory of Hawaii. The tract of land known as the Upolu Airplane Landing Field, Island of Hawaii, Territory of Hawaii, set aside for military purposes by Executive Order No. 4718, dated September 12, 1927, be, and the same is hereby, restored to the use of the Territory of Hawaii for aeronautical purposes, and for no other purpose: Provided, however , that the following described tract of land within the boundaries of the land…
Constitutional Assessment: Scrutinized through Article II, Section 2, this action exercises the President's constitutional role as Commander in Chief. Early Framers recognized broad executive discretion in commanding military forces during conflict, provided it remains bounded by congressional declarations and respects civilian domestic courts.
Key Directives & Operative Actions
▪
The tract of land known as the Upolu Airplane Landing Field, Island of Hawaii, Territory of Hawaii, set aside for military purposes by Executive Order No. 4718, dated September 12, 1927, be, and the same is hereby, restored to the use of the Territory of Hawaii for aeronautical purposes, and for no other purpose: Provided, however , that the following described tract of land within the boundaries of the land withdrawn by said Executive Order No. 4718 is excepted from said restoration and is hereby retained and set aside for military purposes: Beginning at a point marked by a pipe, on the fourth course of the boundaries of the land withdrawn by Executive Order No. 4718, dated September 12, 1927, 72° 16' 326 feet from the initial point of…
▪
And provided that the land so restored to the Territory of Hawaii shall be at all times subject to the following reservation, to wit: That said tract of land shall be available for the taking off and landing of airplanes or airships belonging to the United States without charge, such reserved privilege to include such temporary occupation for operation and maintenance of Government airplanes or airships as may from time to time be deemed necessary by competent military authority.
Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted
🏛️ Armed Forces & Military Establishments
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.
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight)
§
"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."
— Justice Robert H. Jackson, Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer (1952) Concurrent Authority / Congressional Silence
JM
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.
Madisonian Stance: Vigilant / Cautionary
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: Strong Prerogative Support
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
📐
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
30 / 100 friction index
Dimension 1 • Art. I, §1 & §8
Low Friction
Legislative Encroachment & Purse
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
Low Friction
Executive Scope & Faithfulness
Exercises standard supervisory executive authority to faithfully execute existing statutes.
Benchmark: Faithfully execute laws enacted by Congress vs. unilateral decree.
Dimension 3 • 10th Amendment
Moderate Friction
Federalism & State Sovereignty
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
Low Friction
Due Process & Individual Rights
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
Moderate Friction
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.
Benchmark: Concurrent Authority / Congressional Silence
⚖️
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%).
ℹ️
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
421
2,382 characters
Estimated Read Time
2 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
8.1
Grade 8
Text size:
Related Executive Orders
Other executive actions signed by Herbert Hoover around this period.
EO 5408 Jul 25, 1930
🏛️✅ Zone 1 (Maximum Authority) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 5408—Withdrawal of Public Lands for Classification, California
📜 10th Amend: Intergovernmental Federalism Cooperation
The unreserved public lands within the following listed townships, as now surveyed or as they probably will be when surveyed, in the State of California, be, and the same are hereby, temporarily withdrawn for classification and pending determination as to the advisability of…
Herbert Hoover Grade 4 • 2m
EO 5407 Jul 25, 1930
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 5407—Public Water Reserve No. 132, Oregon and Wyoming
📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations
The land hereinafter listed be, and the same is hereby, withdrawn from settlement, location, sale, or entry, and reserved for public use in accordance with the provisions of section 10 of the act of December 29, 1916 (39 Stat. 865): Oregon WILLAMETTE MERIDIAN T. 25 S., Pt. 23…
Herbert Hoover Grade 5 • 1m
EO 5405 Jul 25, 1930
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 5405—Restoring Portion of Puolo Point Military Reservation to the Territory of Hawaii
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
The tract of land situated near Puolo Point, Hanapepe, Island of Kauai, Territory of Hawaii, set aside for military purposes by Executive Order No. 4760, dated November 15, 1927, be, and the same is hereby, restored to the use of the Territory of Hawaii for aeronautical…
Herbert Hoover High School • 2m
EO 5404 Jul 25, 1930
🏛️✅ Zone 1 (Maximum Authority) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 5404—Exclusion of Public Lands from the Crook National Forest and Withdrawal for Townsite Purposes, Arizona
📜 10th Amend: Intergovernmental Federalism Cooperation
The boundaries of the Crook National Forest be modified by excluding therefrom the following described lands in the State of Arizona: Gila and Salt River Meridian In T. 1 S., R. 12 E., lot 11, sec. 35.
Herbert Hoover High School • 1m
EO 5403 Jul 25, 1930
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 5403—Power-Site Restoration No. 443, Pit River, California
📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations
So much of the order of November 19, 1912, creating Power-Site Reserve No. 316, as affects the lands hereinafter described, is hereby revoked: Mount Diablo Meridian T. 37 N., R. 7 E., sec. 34, NW. ¼ of SE. ¼.
Herbert Hoover Grade 6 • 1m
EO 5402 Jul 24, 1930
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 5402—Chugach National Forest
📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations
The tract of land in Alaska lying within the following described boundaries, heretofore occupied for fish cannery purposes, be, and the same is hereby, excluded from the Chugach National Forest and restored to entry under the applicable public land laws: Beginning at Corner No.…
Herbert Hoover Grade 5 • 3m
📜
Scholarly & Legal Citations
Exec. Order No. 5406 (July 25, 1930), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-5406-restoring-portion-upolu-point-military-reservation-the-territory.
