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Executive Order 6840 ⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight Constitutional Neutral (+0.02) 📜 5th Amend: Regulatory Execution with Due Process

Executive Order 6840—Creation of the Board of Inquiry for the Cotton Textile Industry, Etc.

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Wednesday, September 5, 1934
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2 min read (462 words)

Executive Brief • At a Glance

⏱️ 2 min read (462 words) • ● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate

There in hereby created in connection with the Department of Labor a board to be known as the Board of Inquiry for the Cotton Textile Industry (hereinafter referred to as the Board), which shall be composed of Honorable John G. Winant of New Hampshire, Chairman, Mr. Marion Smith of Georgia, and Hon.

⚖️ Constitutional Footing
⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight
Concurrent Authority / Congressional Silence
📜 5th Amend: Regulatory Execution with Due Process
🏛️ 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 5, 1934, this order concerns Creation of the Board of Inquiry for the Cotton Textile Industry, Etc. There in hereby created in connection with the Department of Labor a board to be known as the Board of Inquiry for the Cotton Textile Industry (hereinafter referred to as the Board), which shall be composed of Honorable John G. Winant of New Hampshire, Chairman, Mr. Marion Smith of Georgia, and Hon. Raymond V. Ingersoll of New York.

Constitutional Assessment: Evaluated against the Fifth Amendment, this action touches upon property or economic rights. An early statesman would insist upon strict adherence to due process of law and the constitutional guarantee that private holdings shall not be encumbered or taken for public purposes without just compensation and lawful process.

Key Directives & Operative Actions

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There in hereby created in connection with the Department of Labor a board to be known as the Board of Inquiry for the Cotton Textile Industry (hereinafter referred to as the Board), which shall be composed of Honorable John G. Winant of New Hampshire, Chairman, Mr. Marion Smith of Georgia, and Hon.

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Each member of the Board shall receive necessary traveling and subsistence expenses and (unless he holds another federal or state office that makes him ineligible for compensation) $25.00 per diem in addition thereto.

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Sec. 2 The Board is hereby authorized and directed to - (a) Inquire into the general character and extent of the complaints of the workers in the cotton textile, wool, rayon, silk, and allied industries; and (b) Inquire into the problems confronting the employers in said industries; and (c) Consider ways and means of meeting said problems and complaints; and (d) Exercise in connection with said industries the powers that are authorized to be conferred by the first section of Public Resolution 44, 73d Congress; and (e) Upon the request of the parties to a labor dispute, act as a board of voluntary arbitration or select a person or agency for voluntary arbitration.

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Sec. 3 The Board shall make, through the Secretary of Labor to the President, a report no later than October 1, 1934, of its activities, findings and recommendations.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

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

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 2 (Zone of Twilight)
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"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

"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: Defends Vigor & Dispatch
GM

George Mason

Bill of Rights, Due Process & 10th Amendment

"The purse and the sword ought never to be in the same hands... nor the liberties of the citizen placed at the pleasure of a single magistrate." — Virginia Ratifying Convention (1788)

George Mason and the Anti-Federalists would sound a fierce warning. They feared that Article II would inevitably evolve into an elective monarchy. When an executive order impacts private rights, property, or civil liberties without individualized judicial process, Mason would see their darkest predictions verified.

Anti-Federalist Stance: High Bill of Rights Scrutiny
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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
43 / 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

Moderate Friction

Directs internal executive branch machinery, agency workflows, and federal personnel.

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

Moderate Friction

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%).
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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
462
2,756 characters
Estimated Read Time
2 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
12.8
High School
Language Tone Score
+0.02
Constitutional Neutral
How is this scored?
Text size:

Official Archival Text

View Source Document

By virtue of and pursuant to the authority vested in me under Title I of the National Industrial Recovery Act (ch. 90, 48 Stat. 195, Tit. 15, U.S.C., sec. 701) and under Joint Resolution approved June 19, 1934 (Public Res. 44, 73d Congress), and in order to effectuate the policy of said Title and the purposes of the said Joint Resolution, it is hereby ordered as follows: Sec. 1 There in hereby created in connection with the Department of Labor a board to be known as the Board of Inquiry for the Cotton Textile Industry (hereinafter referred to as the Board), which shall be composed of Honorable John G. Winant of New Hampshire, Chairman, Mr. Marion Smith of Georgia, and Hon. Raymond V. Ingersoll of New York. Each member of the Board shall receive necessary traveling and subsistence expenses and (unless he holds another federal or state office that makes him ineligible for compensation) $25.00 per diem in addition thereto. Sec. 2 The Board is hereby authorized and directed to - (a) Inquire into the general character and extent of the complaints of the workers in the cotton textile, wool, rayon, silk, and allied industries; and (b) Inquire into the problems confronting the employers in said industries; and (c) Consider ways and means of meeting said problems and complaints; and (d) Exercise in connection with said industries the powers that are authorized to be conferred by the first section of Public Resolution 44, 73d Congress; and (e) Upon the request of the parties to a labor dispute, act as a board of voluntary arbitration or select a person or agency for voluntary arbitration. Sec. 3 The Board shall make, through the Secretary of Labor to the President, a report no later than October 1, 1934, of its activities, findings and recommendations. The Board shall be exempted from making the reports or submitting to the review contemplated by the Executive Order providing for the creation of the National Labor Relations Board, etc. (Executive Order No. 6763, June 29, 1934.) Sec. 4 The Board is hereby authorized to request existing governmental agencies to render services, furnish information, and otherwise aid the performance of the Board in its duties. The Board is further authorized, whenever necessary, to appoint additional employees without regard to the Civil Service laws and the Classification Act of 1923, as amended. The funds necessary for the payment of the salaries and expenses of the Board shall, until other provision is made, be transferred to the Board by the National Labor Relations Board from its own funds. Sec. 5 The Board shall cease to exist when, in the opinion of the President, it has completed the duties it in authorized to perform. FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT Hyde Park, New York September 5, 1934.

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Referenced By Later Executive Orders (4)

Subsequent presidents who cited, amended, continued, or revoked this directive in later orders.

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Scholarly & Legal Citations

Exec. Order No. 6840 (Sept. 5, 1934), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-6840-creation-the-board-inquiry-for-the-cotton-textile-industry-etc.