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Executive Order 6284 🏛️✅ Zone 1: Maximum Authority Constitutional Neutral (+0.02) 📜 10th Amend: Intergovernmental Federalism Cooperation

Executive Order 6284-A—Modifications of Code of Fair Competition for the Petroleum Industry

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Wednesday, September 13, 1933
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11 min read (2,145 words)

Executive Brief • At a Glance

⏱️ 11 min read (2,145 words) • ● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate

In order to clarify and complete the Code of Fair Competition for the Petroleum Industry approved by me August 19, 1933, the following modifications of said Code are hereby approved in accordance with my letter signed simultaneously with the approval of said Code, and in accordance with the provisions of said Code, the National Industrial Recovery Act (Public 67—73d Congress), and the application and recommendations of the Planning and Coordination Committee of the petroleum industry: To Article I add a new section as follows: Section 4 (a).

⚖️ Constitutional Footing
🏛️✅ Zone 1: Maximum Authority
Express or Implied Congressional Authorization
📜 10th Amend: Intergovernmental Federalism Cooperation
🏛️ Scope & Affected Sectors
Merchants, Importers & Commercial Enterprises Sovereign State Governments & Localities Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants Private Citizens & Property Owners

Plain-English Translation & Framers' Constitutional Analysis

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

Signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on September 13, 1933, this order concerns Modifications of Code of Fair Competition for the Petroleum Industry. In order to clarify and complete the Code of Fair Competition for the Petroleum Industry approved by me August 19, 1933, the following modifications of said Code are hereby approved in accordance with my letter signed simultaneously with the approval of said Code, and in accordance with the provisions of said Code, the National Industrial Recovery Act (Public 67—73d Congress), and the application and…

Constitutional Assessment: Reviewed under the Tenth Amendment and the principle of dual federalism, this order touches upon domains traditionally reserved to the sovereign States. The Framers would caution against any attempt to commandeer state officers or displace local police powers through federal executive fiat.

Key Directives & Operative Actions

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In order to clarify and complete the Code of Fair Competition for the Petroleum Industry approved by me August 19, 1933, the following modifications of said Code are hereby approved in accordance with my letter signed simultaneously with the approval of said Code, and in accordance with the provisions of said Code, the National Industrial Recovery Act (Public 67—73d Congress), and the application and recommendations of the Planning and Coordination Committee of the petroleum industry: To Article I add a new section as follows: Section 4 (a).

▪

The President may impose such conditions (including requirements for the making of reports and the keeping of accounts) for the protection of consumers, competitors, employees and others, and in furtherance of the public interest, and may provide such exceptions from the provisions of this Code as the President in his discretion deems necessary to effectuate the policy of the National Industrial Recovery Act; provided that all such matters shall first be considered and recommendations made in regard thereto by the Planning and Coordination Committee.

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ARTICLE II, Section 1, is amended to read as follows: Section 1.

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In drilling, production, refinery and pipe-line operations, the maximum hours for clerical employees shall not exceed 48 hours in any one week nor more than 80 hours in any two weeks and the rate of pay for each geographic division shall not be less than the minimum stated in Section 2.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

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

"A feeble Executive implies a feeble execution of the government; and a government ill executed, whatever it may be in theory, must be, in practice, a bad government." — Federalist No. 70 (1788)

Hamilton would view this directive as the natural and indispensable functioning of administrative leadership. Without the power to coordinate agencies, manage personnel, and resolve operational ambiguities, the modern presidency would be reduced to an impotent figurehead.

Hamiltonian Stance: Supportive of Execution
GM

George Mason

Bill of Rights, Due Process & 10th Amendment

"The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people." — 10th Amendment to the US Constitution (1791)

Mason would scrutinize whether this federal directive intrudes into police powers, land stewardship, or municipal domains historically reserved to local citizens. The Anti-Federalist demand is that federal administration must never supplant state self-governance.

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
41 / 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

High Friction

Creates friction with the Tenth Amendment by conditioning state grants, mandating local compliance, or preempting state police powers.

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
2,145
13,045 characters
Estimated Read Time
11 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
20.4
Post-Graduate Legal
Language Tone Score
+0.02
Constitutional Neutral
How is this scored?
Text size:

Official Archival Text

View Source Document

In order to clarify and complete the Code of Fair Competition for the Petroleum Industry approved by me August 19, 1933, the following modifications of said Code are hereby approved in accordance with my letter signed simultaneously with the approval of said Code, and in accordance with the provisions of said Code, the National Industrial Recovery Act (Public 67—73d Congress), and the application and recommendations of the Planning and Coordination Committee of the petroleum industry: To Article I add a new section as follows: Section 4 (a). The President may impose such conditions (including requirements for the making of reports and the keeping of accounts) for the protection of consumers, competitors, employees and others, and in furtherance of the public interest, and may provide such exceptions from the provisions of this Code as the President in his discretion deems necessary to effectuate the policy of the National Industrial Recovery Act; provided that all such matters shall first be considered and recommendations made in regard thereto by the Planning and Coordination Committee. ARTICLE II, Section 1, is amended to read as follows:

Section 1. #sec-1

In drilling, production, refinery and pipe-line operations, the maximum hours for clerical employees shall not exceed 48 hours in any one week nor more than 80 hours in any two weeks and the rate of pay for each geographic division shall not be less than the minimum stated in

Section 2. #sec-2

All other employees in these operations, except executives, supervisors and their immediate staffs, and pumpers on "stripper" wells and employees on isolated properties, shall work not more than 40 hours in any one week nor more than 72 hours in any two weeks nor more than 16 hours in any two days. Definition of "stripper wells" shall be made in various fields and areas by the Regional Committees, subject to the revision and approval of the Planning and Coordination Committee. ARTICLE II, Section 1, in the table of Minimum Rates Per Hour, is amended by inserting an asterisk before Oklahoma in the WEST SOUTH CENTRAL division. ARTICLE II, Section 2, is amended to read as follows:

Section 2. #sec-2-2

In market operations all employees (other than those employed in filling or service stations, garages or other institutions which sell petroleum products as enumerated in Rule 2 of Article V of this Code to the public), including clerical, but excluding executives, supervisors and their immediate staffs, and outside salesmen shall work not more than 40 hours per week. ARTICLE II, Section 2, in the table of Minimum Rates Per Hour, is amended by inserting an asterisk before the following states: In SOUTH ATLANTIC division: Virginia; In EAST SOUTH CENTRAL division: Kentucky and Tennessee; in WEST SOUTH CENTRAL division: Oklahoma. ARTICLE II, Section 3, is amended to read as follows:

Section 3. #sec-3

No filling or service station employee, nor any employee of any garage or other institution selling petroleum products, as enumerated in Rule 2 of Article V of this Code, to the public shall work more than 48 hours per week. Nor shall any such employee receive less than $15.00 per week in any city of over 500,000 population or in the immediate trade area of such city; nor less than $14.50 per week in any city between 250,000 and 500,000 population, or in the immediate trade area of such city; nor less than $14.00 per week in any city of between 2,500 and 250,000 population, or in the immediate trade area of such city; and in towns of less than 2,500 population or in the immediate trade area of such towns not less than $12.00 per week, and provided further that no employee shall receive a smaller weekly wage for the shorter work week than was his weekly wage on July 20, 1933. ARTICLE II, Section 4 is stricken out and the following inserted in lieu thereof: "There shall be an equitable adjustment of the differentials between the rates for skilled jobs and minimums established in this Code for common labor as determined by tho Regional Committees from time to time in each area subject to the revision and approval of the Planning and Coordination Committee," and subject to final determination of the President. ARTICLE III, Section 3, is amended to read as follows:

Section 3. #sec-3-2

Required production of crude oil to balance consumer demand for petroleum products shall be estimated at intervals by a Federal Agency designated by the President. In estimating such required production, due account shall be taken of probable withdrawals from storage and of anticipated imports. The required production shall be equitably allocated among the several States by the Federal Agency. The estimates of required production and the allocations among the States shall be submitted to the President for approval, and, when approved by him, shall be deemed to be the net reasonable market demand, and may be so certified by the Federal Agency. The allocations when approved by the President shall be recommended as the operating schedule for the producing States and for the industry and thereupon Section 4 of this Article shall apply. In any States where oil is produced on account of back allowables, total current allowables shall be reduced accordingly. ARTICLE III, Section 4, is amended to read as follows:

Section 4. #sec-4

The subdivision into pool and/or lease and or well quotas of the production allocated to each State is to be made within the State. Should quotas allocated in conformity with the provisions of this Section and/or Section 3 of ARTICLE III of this Code not be made within the State or if the production of petroleum within any State exceeds the quota allocated to said State, the President may regulate the shipment of petroleum or petroleum products in or affecting interstate commerce out of said State to the extent necessary to effectuate the purposes of the National Industrial Recovery Act and/or he may compile such quotas and recommend them to the State Regulatory Body in such State, in which event it is hereby greed that such quotas shall become operating schedules for that State. Article III, Section 6 (a) is amended to read as follows: Section 6 (a). For a test period of not to exceed 90 days pending the determination of the cost of crude petroleum and/or the products thereof, as hereinafter provided, the President may establish price schedules for petroleum and such products thereof as he may designate and for any or all modes of delivery thereof; it shall be an act of unfair competition to sell or otherwise dispose of or to buy or otherwise acquire petroleum or the products thereof at a lower price than the applicable price established by the President for the test period. Thereafter, in order to prevent the premature abandonment of wells of settled production, the growth of monopoly, the obstruction of interstate commerce, and otherwise to effectuate the purposes of the National Industrial Recovery Act, it shall be an act of unfair competition to sell or otherwise dispose of or to buy or otherwise acquire petroleum at a price below the recovery costs of such petroleum as determined by the Federal Agency and approved by the President. In determining such recovery costs, the Federal Agency shall ascertain the average cost of production of crude petroleum and shall determine the fair economic limit of the cost of production in stripper well areas which must be met to prevent premature abandonment of such stripper wells as may be found to be economically practicable of operation. And in order to carry out the purposes of this provision, the Federal Agency shall also determine the average costs of economically refining, transporting, and distributing petroleum and any of its products for different areas and for different methods of marketing, and it shall be an act of unfair competition to sell or otherwise dispose of, or to buy or otherwise acquire, petroleum or the products thereof below the total costs as found by the Federal Agency and approved by the President. Prices for crude petroleum established hereunder for different localities and different grades shall bear such relations as may be fair and equitable. And in order to effectuate the purposes of section 3-A of the National Industrial Recovery Act, the President may prescribe maximum prices for petroleum or any of the products thereof. Article III, Section 7, is amended to read as follows:

Section 7. #sec-7

Wild-catting shall not be prohibited because the future maintenance of the petroleum supply depends on new discoveries and new pools, but the shipment of petroleum or the products thereof in or affecting interstate commerce which was produced in a new field or pool which is not developed in accordance with a plan approved by the President is unfair competition and in violation of this Code. For the purposes of this Code a new field or pool is one discovered after January 1, 1933, and/or in which not more than ten producing wells have been completed as of the effective date of this Code. Article V, Rule 2, is amended to read as follows: Rule 2. Whenever any merchant or vendor of any and all types of merchandise offers for sale at wholesale or retail motor fuels, motor lubricants, motor gasoline, heating oils or naphtha of a petroleum nature he shall, in so far as his business pertains to those products, be bound by the regulations of this Code. Article V, Rule 7, is amended to read as follows: The equipment of the kind, type or description hereinbefore mentioned, furnished, loaned or leased before September 2, 1933, by any refiner, distributor, jobber or wholesaler to or installed with any retailer or consumer shall, at the expiration of any contractual relation, and on the request of such retailer or consumer, be sold by such refiner, distributor, jobber or wholesaler to such retailer or consumer, or, in the absence of a sale to such retailer or consumer as herein provided, shall be sold by the refiner, distributor, jobber or wholesaler, who has made the loan, to any other refiner, distributor, jobber or wholesaler who is about to begin supplying petroleum products to such retailer or consumer, on the request of such other refiner, distributes, jabbar or wholesaler, at the original invoice price, plus actual cost of installation, less a depreciation of 15% per annum, but in no event at a price lower than that fixed in the schedule hereto attached, marked Appendix "A". In the event of a purchase as herein provided by such other refiner, distributor, jobber or wholesaler, such equipment may be loaned, leased or licensed to the retailer or consumer at such location by any new supplier subsequently acquiring title thereto. This rule does not apply to the sale of equipment by the manufacturer thereof where such sale is not conditioned upon the purchase of use of petroleum products. Article V, Rule 31, is amended by adding thereto the following: The rules contained in this article shall not apply to the sale and distribution of propane, butane and other liquefied petroleum gases. Article VII, Section 4, is amended to read as follows:

Section 4. #sec-4-2

The Planning and Coordination Committee shall elect a Chairman and Vice Chairman from its own membership. It is also empowered to elect a Secretary and a Treasurer which offices may be held by one person and which officers may not be members of the Committee. It shall also select the following subcommittees: (a) Statistical Committee (b) Production Committee (c) Refinery Committee (d) Marketing Committee (e) Accounting Committee (f) Labor Committee (g) Adjustment and Interpretation Committee (h) Transportation Committee (i) Finance Committee Article VII is amended by adding a new Section 7 as follows:

Section 7. #sec-7-2

The Planning and Coordination Committee shall divide the country into such number of regional districts as it shall determine and appoint such subcommittees as in its judgment may be necessary to carry out the intent and purposes of this Code, the members of such subcommittees to serve during the pleasure of the Planning and Coordination Committee. The Chairman and Vice Chairmen of the regional subcommittees shall be appointed by the Planning and Coordination Committee subject to confirmation by the President. Article VII is amended by adding a new Section 8 as follows:

Section 8. #sec-8

The Planning and Coordination Committee shall have authority to provide such offices and employ such assistants and clerical help and purchase such supplies, and shall provide for raising such funds from the industry, as may be necessary to finance its activities and effectuate the purposes of this Code. APPENDIX B, CREDIT TERMS, Section (1), Gasoline and Kerosene Sales, third paragraph, is amended as follows: Service station deliveries-------Cash or coupons or payments net 15th proximo. APPENDIX B, CREDIT TERMS, Section (3) Lubricating Oil and Grease Sales, final paragraph, is amended as follows: Service station deliveries.------Cash or coupons or payments net 15th proximo. Approved: FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT The White House, September, 13 1933.

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Scholarly & Legal Citations

Exec. Order No. 6284 (Sept. 13, 1933), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-6284-modifications-code-fair-competition-for-the-petroleum-industry.