VIRGIN ISLANDS Whereas by Executive Order No. 5566, of February 27, 1931, the administration of the government of the Virgin Islands, including expenditures and the appointment of personnel, was placed under the supervision of the Secretary of the Interior; and Whereas certain lands, buildings, and improvements at the Naval Station, St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, as shown on P. W. O. Drawing "D" attached to and made a part of Executive Order No. 5602, of April 20, 1931, and as hereinafter enumerated under Class One, which were acquired by the United States for naval activities are not for the time being needed for such uses and are available for temporary use in the administration of the government of the Virgin Islands, to wit: CLASS ONE ( a ) Water tanks (2) ( b ) Office building (3) ( c ) Small boat dock (5) ( d ) Paint and oil storehouse (9) ( e ) Storehouse (10) ( f ) Latrine (13) ( g ) Building, wooden (empty) (23) ( h ) Barracks and mess room (29) ( i ) Galley (30) ( j ) Storeroom (31) ( k ) Summer house (35) ( l ) Bollards (38) ( m ) Retaining wall (40) ( n ) Fire-engine house (54) ( o ) Carpenter shop (57) ( p ) Quarters, chief petty officer (58) ( q ) Power house (59) ( r ) Loading platform (60) ( s ) Lumber shed (61) ( t ) Pump house ( u ) Boiler, vertical, 60 hp., for marine railway ( v ) Sea wall Whereas certain items of equipment and furnishings hereinafter enumerated under Class Two, which were acquired by the United States for naval activities are not for the time being needed for such uses and are available for use in the administration of the government of the Virgin Islands, to wit: CLASS TWO ( a ) Boat crane and track ( b ) Pool table ( c ) Safe ( d ) Generator set, gas engine driven 25 KW, 125V. ( e ) Machinists' lockers ( f ) 24-ft. motor sailing launch #7833 with engine #8947 Now, Therefore , by virtue of and pursuant to the authority vested in me by the act of March 3, 1917 (ch. 171, 39 Stat. 1132), and as President of the United States, it is hereby ordered that all items above enumerated under Class One be, and they are hereby, transferred temporarily to the control and jurisdiction of the Secretary of the Interior for use in the administration of the government of the Virgin Islands, upon condition that the premises shall be maintained in a state of good repair and returned to the control and jurisdiction of the Secretary of the Navy when required for naval uses. It is further ordered that all items above enumerated under Class Two be, and they are hereby, transferred to the control and jurisdiction of the Secretary for use in the administration of the government of the Virgin Islands. FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT The White House, Oct. 29 1934.
Executive Order 6887 ⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight Constitutional Neutral (+0.02)
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
Executive Order 6887—Placing Certain Government Property Under the Control and Jurisdiction of the Department of the Interior
Executive Brief • At a Glance
⏱️ 3 min read (509 words) •
● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate
All items above enumerated under Class One be, and they are hereby, transferred temporarily to the control and jurisdiction of the Secretary of the Interior for use in the administration of the government of the Virgin Islands, upon condition that the premises shall be maintained in a state of good repair and returned to the control and jurisdiction of the Secretary of the Navy when required for naval uses.
⚖️ 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 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 October 29, 1934, this order concerns Placing Certain Government Property Under the Control and Jurisdiction of the Department of the Interior. All items above enumerated under Class One be, and they are hereby, transferred temporarily to the control and jurisdiction of the Secretary of the Interior for use in the administration of the government of the Virgin Islands, upon condition that the premises shall be maintained in a state of good repair and returned to the control and jurisdiction of the Secretary of the Navy when required for naval uses.
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
▪
All items above enumerated under Class One be, and they are hereby, transferred temporarily to the control and jurisdiction of the Secretary of the Interior for use in the administration of the government of the Virgin Islands, upon condition that the premises shall be maintained in a state of good repair and returned to the control and jurisdiction of the Secretary of the Navy when required for naval uses.
▪
It is further ordered that all items above enumerated under Class Two be, and they are hereby, transferred to the control and jurisdiction of the Secretary for use in the administration of the government of the Virgin Islands.
Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted
🏛️ Armed Forces & Military Establishments
🏛️ Sovereign State Governments & Localities
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
509
2,709 characters
Estimated Read Time
3 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
17.7
Post-Graduate Legal
Text size:
Related Executive Orders
2 orders cited directly in this text, plus related actions from this administration.
EO 5566 Feb 27, 1931
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 5566—Placing the Government of the Virgin Islands Under the Supervision of the Department of the Interior
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
I, Herbert Hoover, President of the United States of America, under the authority conferred upon me by the act of March 3, 1917, entitled "An act to provide a temporary government for the West Indian Islands, acquired by the United States from Denmark by the convention entered…
Herbert Hoover Post-Graduate Legal • 2m
EO 5602 Apr 20, 1931
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 5602—Placing Certain Government Property in the Virgin Islands Under the Control and Jurisdiction of the Department of the Interior
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
Direct that all items above enumerated under Class One be, and the same are hereby transferred permanently to the control and jurisdiction of the Secretary of the Interior for use in the administration of the government of the Virgin Islands.
Herbert Hoover High School • 4m
EO 6889 Oct 29, 1934
🏛️✅ Zone 1 (Maximum Authority) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 6889—Transfer of Lands From the Selway National Forest to Other National Forests in the State of Idaho
📜 10th Amend: Intergovernmental Federalism Cooperation
Lands within the Selway National Forest, in the State of Idaho, be, and they are hereby, transferred as follows: FROM THE SELWAY TO THE LOLO NATIONAL FOREST All lands lying to the north and east of the following-described line: Beginning at a point on the Montana-Idaho State…
Franklin D. Roosevelt Post-Graduate Legal • 8m
EO 6889 Oct 29, 1934
⚖️⚠️ Zone 3 (Lowest Ebb) Friction (-0.19)
Executive Order 6889-A Consolidating the Executive Council and the National Emergency Council
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief / War Prerogative Tension
The Executive Order of July 11, 1933, No. 6202-A, creating the temporary Executive Council; the Executive Order of November 17, 1933, No. 6433-A, creating the National Emergency Council; the Executive Order of December 18, 1933, No. 6513, amending said order; the Executive…
Franklin D. Roosevelt Post-Graduate Legal • 5m
EO 6888 Oct 29, 1934
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 6888—Withdrawal of Public Lands for Classification
📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations
The following-described public lands in South Dakota be, and they are hereby, temporarily withdrawn from settlement, location, sale, or entry for classification and pending determination as to the advisability of including such lands in the Harney National Forest: BLACK HILLS…
Franklin D. Roosevelt Grade 1 • 3m
EO 6892 Oct 30, 1934
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 6892-A—Approving Agreement Between Members of the Division of the Electrical Contracting Division of the Construction Industry and Certain of Their Employees in the Region of Detroit, Michigan and Its Metropolitan District
📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations
The said Agreement is hereby approved. FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT Approval recommended: NATIONAL INDUSTRIAL RECOVERY BOARD By G. A. LYNCH Administrative Officer The White House, Oct 30, 1934.
Franklin D. Roosevelt Post-Graduate Legal • 1m
📜
Scholarly & Legal Citations
Exec. Order No. 6887 (Oct. 29, 1934), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-6887-placing-certain-government-property-under-the-control-and.
