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 Barber Shop Trade, and hearings 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 the 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 adopt and approve the report, recommendations, and findings of the Administrator and do order that the said Code of Fair Competition be and is hereby approved, subject to the following conditions: That this Code, other than as shall be necessary to facilitate the accomplishment of the following requirements, shall not become effective as to any given trade area in the United States unless and until the following requirements shall have been fulfilled for each such trade area: (1) The Code Authority shall have designated the boundaries of such trade area as provided in Article VI, Section S, subsection (i) of the Code and the Administrator shall have approved same; (2) The Code Authority shall have established a local Administrative Board for such trade area as provided in Article VI, Section 8, subsection (j) of the Code; (3) The Local Administrative Board for such trade area shall have determined the uniform service names for barber services, definitions of said services, and the fair and reasonable minimum prices for the several services for such trade area; and shall have secured the approval of the Administrator thereto, as provided in Article VI, Section 8, subsection (1) of the Code. (4) The Code Authority shall have entered into a price stabilization agreement in such trade area with the President of the United States, the Local Administrative Board, and not less than seventy per cent (70%) of the members of the Trade in such trade area. (5) The Administrator shall have approved such agreement or an agreement entered into by a less percentage of members of the Trade than hereinabove provided in the discretion of the Administrator. The Code shall become fully effective in such trade area or subdivisions thereof upon such approval. Prior to the full effectiveness of the Code in any given trade area or subdivisions thereof any member of the Trade within such trade area or subdivisions thereof who has signed such agreement, and who certifies to the local Administrative Board, that he is complying with the requirements of said Code, including proposed prices for said trade area or subdivisions thereof, shall be entitled while so complying to make full use of the appropriate National Recovery Administration Code Insignia. FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT Approval Recommended: Hugh S Johnson Administrator. The White House, April 19, 1934.
Executive Order 6684-F—Code of Fair Competition for the Barber Shop Trade
Executive Brief • At a Glance
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 adopt and approve the report, recommendations, and findings of the Administrator and do order that the said Code of Fair Competition be and is hereby approved, subject to the following conditions: That this Code, other than as shall be necessary to facilitate the accomplishment of the following requirements, shall not become effective as to any given trade area in the United States unless and until the following requirements shall have been fulfilled for each such trade area: (1) The Code Authority shall have designated the boundaries of such trade…
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 April 19, 1934, this order concerns Code of Fair Competition for the Barber Shop Trade. 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 adopt and approve the report, recommendations, and findings of the Administrator and do order that the said Code of Fair Competition be and is hereby approved, subject to the following conditions: That this Code, other than as…
Key Directives & Operative Actions
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 adopt and approve the report, recommendations, and findings of the Administrator and do order that the said Code of Fair Competition be and is hereby approved, subject to the following conditions: That this Code, other than as shall be necessary to facilitate the accomplishment of the following requirements, shall not become effective as to any given trade area in the United States unless and until the following requirements shall have been fulfilled for each such trade area: (1) The Code Authority shall have designated the boundaries of such trade…
The Code Authority shall have entered into a price stabilization agreement in such trade area with the President of the United States, the Local Administrative Board, and not less than seventy per cent (70%) of the members of the Trade in such trade area.
The Administrator shall have approved such agreement or an agreement entered into by a less percentage of members of the Trade than hereinabove provided in the discretion of the Administrator.
The Code shall become fully effective in such trade area or subdivisions thereof upon such approval.
Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted
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.
"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."
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.
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.
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.
Five Measurable "Constitutional Friction" Dimensions
An objective audit measuring potential separation-of-powers tension against the United States Constitution and established Supreme Court doctrine.
Legislative Encroachment & Purse
Operates within delegated statutory execution without modifying legislative appropriations or taxing powers.
Executive Scope & Faithfulness
Exercises standard supervisory executive authority to faithfully execute existing statutes.
Federalism & State Sovereignty
Engages state and local partners in cooperative federalism programs.
Due Process & Individual Rights
Focuses on internal governmental operations with no direct impairment of private rights or property.
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.
This order operates within Justice Jackson’s Zone of Twilight, resting upon concurrent presidential authority or congressional silence.
Referenced By Later Executive Orders (1)
Subsequent presidents who cited, amended, continued, or revoked this directive in later orders.
Scholarly & Legal Citations
Exec. Order No. 6684 (Apr. 19, 1934), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-6684-f-code-fair-competition-for-the-barber-shop-trade.