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Executive Order 6606 🏛️✅ Zone 1: Maximum Authority Constitutional Neutral (+0.02) 📜 10th Amend: Intergovernmental Federalism Cooperation

Executive Order 6606-B—Code of Fair Competition for the Graphic Arts Industries

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Saturday, February 17, 1934
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5 min read (1,032 words)

Executive Brief • At a Glance

⏱️ 5 min read (1,032 words) • ● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate

I, Franklin D. Roosevelt , President of the United States, pursuant to the authority vested in me by Title I of the National Industrial Recovery Act, approved June 16, 1933, and otherwise, do hereby adopt and approve the report, recommendations and findings of the xldministrator and do order that the said Code of Fair Competition be and it is hereby approved subject to the following conditions: 1.

⚖️ 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

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 February 17, 1934, this order concerns Code of Fair Competition for the Graphic Arts Industries. I, Franklin D. Roosevelt , President of the United States, pursuant to the authority vested in me by Title I of the National Industrial Recovery Act, approved June 16, 1933, and otherwise, do hereby adopt and approve the report, recommendations and findings of the xldministrator and do order that the said Code of Fair Competition be and it is hereby approved subject to the following conditions: 1.

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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I, Franklin D. Roosevelt , President of the United States, pursuant to the authority vested in me by Title I of the National Industrial Recovery Act, approved June 16, 1933, and otherwise, do hereby adopt and approve the report, recommendations and findings of the xldministrator and do order that the said Code of Fair Competition be and it is hereby approved subject to the following conditions: 1.

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That the provisions of Section 24 of Part 1 of the Code bo and same arc hereby deleted from the Code; and that all powers and duties delegated in the said section to Labor Boards and/or committees are hereby transferred to the appropriate Code Authorities and Compliance Boards; Provided , however, that the Administrator is authorized to appoint a National Graphic Arts Labor Board to consist of five members truly representative of employers, to be appointed by the Administrator on nomination of the National Graphic Arts Coordinating Committee, if it desires the appointment of such Board and five members truly representative of employees in the industry to be appointed by the Administrator on nomination of the Labor Advisory Board of the…

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The Administrator may appoint alternate members, and the Board may designate such regional boards or temporary Labor Committees as it deems necessary.

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When the dispute arises in any industry or group of industries as determined by the Administrator under the Graphic Arts Code, the employer members shall be nominated from the employers of that industry or group, and the employee members shall be nominated from the employees in that industry or group. 2.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Merchants, Importers & Commercial Enterprises 🏛️ Sovereign State Governments & Localities

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

"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.

🛡️ High Constitutional Concordance
23 / 100 friction index
Dimension 1 • Art. I, §1 & §8

Legislative Encroachment & Purse

Low Friction

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

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

Low Friction

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

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 in close harmony with statutory authority and standard Article II supervisory execution.

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
1,032
6,188 characters
Estimated Read Time
5 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
24.4
Post-Graduate Legal
Language Tone Score
+0.02
Constitutional Neutral
How is this scored?
Text size:

Official Archival Text

View Source Document

An application having been duly made, pursuant to and in full compliance with the provisions of Title I of the National Industrial Recovery Act, approved June 16, 1933, for my approval of a Code of Fair Competition for the Graphic Arts Industries, and healings having been held thereon and the Administrator having rendered his report containing an analysis of the said Code of Fair Competition together with his recommendations and findings with respect thereto, and the Administrator having found that the said Code of Fair Competition complies in all respects with tlie pertinent provisions of Title I of said Act and that the requirements of Clauses (1) and (2) of subsection (a) of Section 3 of the said Act have been met: Now, Therefore, I, Franklin D. Roosevelt , President of the United States, pursuant to the authority vested in me by Title I of the National Industrial Recovery Act, approved June 16, 1933, and otherwise, do hereby adopt and approve the report, recommendations and findings of the xldministrator and do order that the said Code of Fair Competition be and it is hereby approved subject to the following conditions: 1. That the provisions of Section 24 of Part 1 of the Code bo and same arc hereby deleted from the Code; and that all powers and duties delegated in the said section to Labor Boards and/or committees are hereby transferred to the appropriate Code Authorities and Compliance Boards; Provided , however, that the Administrator is authorized to appoint a National Graphic Arts Labor Board to consist of five members truly representative of employers, to be appointed by the Administrator on nomination of the National Graphic Arts Coordinating Committee, if it desires the appointment of such Board and five members truly representative of employees in the industry to be appointed by the Administrator on nomination of the Labor Advisory Board of the National Recovery Administration, if it desires the appointment of such Board; and one disinterested member to act as Chairman. The Administrator may appoint alternate members, and the Board may designate such regional boards or temporary Labor Committees as it deems necessary. Any and all disputes between employer and employees with respect to wages, hours or other conditions of employment may be referred by both parties to this Board. When the dispute arises in any industry or group of industries as determined by the Administrator under the Graphic Arts Code, the employer members shall be nominated from the employers of that industry or group, and the employee members shall be nominated from the employees in that industry or group. 2. That the maximum hours of work specified in sections 21 (d); Clause (c) of paragraph A of Section 22; Clause (b) of paragraph B of Section 22; Clause (d) of paragraph A of Section 23, and/or any other provisions of the Code concerning hours of work, shall not be construed as a minimum work day or work week; Provided , that if at any time in any establishment a majority of the mechanical employees actually employed in any trade, expresses by written request to their employer a desire to share available work with bona fide resident unemployed competent mechanics in their particular trade, the number of hours of work may be adjusted by mutual agreement, and the parties are hereby authorized to proceed in conformity with the principles established in Clause 6 of paragraph 2 of section 21 (d) of the Code and to seek the good offices of any agency established by the Code and/or the National Grapliic Arts Labor Board hereinbefore established by this Order. 3. That the Administrator is hereby authorized to IvMd such further hearings three months after the effective date hereof, as he may proscribe, to determine whether the definitions of any of the industries included in the Code shall be modified or eliminated, and/or whether such industries or any of them shall continue to be included in the Code. 4. That the provisions of the Code relating to hours, wages and employment, as well as full and complete copies of this Order, shall be posted in a prominent place in the workroom of each establishment subject to this Code. 5. That no Trade Association or group shall be entitled to continue to participate in the administration of the Code one month after the effective date unless and until it shall have satisfied the Administrator that it has amended or modified its Constitution and/or By-Laws to conform to the requirements of the National Industrial Recovery Act and of the Code. 6. That pending the formulation of a compact or code between the several states of the United States to insure the sale of prison made products on a fair competitive basis with products not so made the provisions of paragraph (g) of Section 26 of the Code applicable to institutions of states or political subdivisions thereof, be and they are hereby stayed for ninety (90) days, or further at the discretion of the Administrator. Approval Recommended: Hugh S Johnson Administrator . The following statement shall be published with my Executive Order approving ft Code of Fair Competition for the Graphic Arts Industries. I understand that there is some disagreement in the industries on the provisions of Section 2 of my Executive Order. The terms of the aforesaid condition were strenuously contended for by certain members of the industries. They have been inserted. On the other hand these terms were opposed by the Labor Advisory Board and by certain of the groups of employees of the Graphic Arts Industries. In view of the disagreement concerning the application of the condition it appears to me desirable to state here that my aforesaid condition is not to be construed or interpreted in such manner as to conflict with Section 7 (a) of the National Industrial Recovery Act. Nor shall such condition interfere with the right of the employees of any locality to express their desire to share regular work with bona fide resident unemployed competent mechanics in their particular trade or craft and to appeal to all agencies of the government to assist them in the exercise of this right. FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT The White House, Feb. 17, 1934.

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Scholarly & Legal Citations

Exec. Order No. 6606 (Feb. 17, 1934), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-6606-b-code-fair-competition-for-the-graphic-arts-industries.