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Executive Orders Historical Archive
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Executive Order 6910 🏛️✅ Zone 1: Maximum Authority Constitutional Fidelity (+0.33) 📜 Art. II §3: Faithful Execution of Statutory Law

Executive Order 6910-B—Allocating Funds From the Appropriation to Meet the Emergency and Necessity for Relief in Stricken Agricultural Areas

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin D. Roosevelt
•
Saturday, December 1, 1934
•
1 min read (209 words)

Executive Brief • At a Glance

⏱️ 1 min read (209 words) • ● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate

There is hereby allocated from the said appropriation to the Federal Emergency Relief Administration the sum of $5,000,000, for the purpose of affording relief through the purchase of submarginal lands in the stricken agricultural areas including the necessary costs of administration of such lands as may be acquired for such purpose, and to the Emergency Conservation Fund the sum of $10,000,000, for the establishment and maintenance of Civilian Conservation Corps camps pursuant to the Act of March 31, 1933 (Public No. 5, 73rd Congress).

View all 3 directives ↓
⚖️ Constitutional Footing
🏛️✅ Zone 1: Maximum Authority
Express or Implied Congressional Authorization
📜 Art. II §3: Faithful Execution of Statutory Law
Framers' constitutional debate ↓
🏛️ Scope & Affected Sectors
Private Citizens & Property Owners Public Health & Medical Institutions
Inspect unabridged text ↓

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 December 1, 1934, this order concerns Allocating Funds From the Appropriation to Meet the Emergency and Necessity for Relief in Stricken Agricultural Areas. There is hereby allocated from the said appropriation to the Federal Emergency Relief Administration the sum of $5,000,000, for the purpose of affording relief through the purchase of submarginal lands in the stricken agricultural areas including the necessary costs of administration of such lands as may be acquired for such purpose, and to the Emergency Conservation Fund the sum of $10,000,000, for the…

Constitutional Assessment: An early statesman would view this measure favorably under Article II, Section 3 (the Take Care Clause). The President operates strictly within the ambit of executing established laws and supervising departmental subordinates, respecting the supremacy of the legislative branch without fabricating novel statutory obligations.

Key Directives & Operative Actions

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There is hereby allocated from the said appropriation to the Federal Emergency Relief Administration the sum of $5,000,000, for the purpose of affording relief through the purchase of submarginal lands in the stricken agricultural areas including the necessary costs of administration of such lands as may be acquired for such purpose, and to the Emergency Conservation Fund the sum of $10,000,000, for the establishment and maintenance of Civilian Conservation Corps camps pursuant to the Act of March 31, 1933 (Public No. 5, 73rd Congress).

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In carrying out the provisions of this Order and other allocations made under the Appropriation here involved, there are hereby authorized such expenditures for personal services and rent in the District of Columbia and elsewhere, and for printing and binding, as necessary to accomplish the purposes of the particular allocation, and purchases may be made without regard to Section 3709, Revised Statutes, only in granting direct relief.

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The Executive Order of July 11, 1934 (No. 6793) is hereby revoked.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Private Citizens & Property Owners 🏛️ Public Health & Medical Institutions

Policy Areas & Topics

🏷️ Agriculture 🏷️ Energy & Environment
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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 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
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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
26 / 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

Low Friction

Confined strictly to internal federal jurisdiction, federal property, or direct military command.

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
209
1,346 characters
Estimated Read Time
1 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
19.1
Post-Graduate Legal
Language Tone Score
+0.33
Constitutional Fidelity
How is this scored?
Text size:

Official Archival Text

View Source Document

By virtue of, and pursuant to, the authority vested in me by the Emergency Appropriation Act, fiscal year 1935, approved June 19, 1934, appropriating $525,000,000 to meet the emergency and necessity of relief in stricken agricultural areas, there is hereby allocated from the said appropriation to the Federal Emergency Relief Administration the sum of $5,000,000, for the purpose of affording relief through the purchase of submarginal lands in the stricken agricultural areas including the necessary costs of administration of such lands as may be acquired for such purpose, and to the Emergency Conservation Fund the sum of $10,000,000, for the establishment and maintenance of Civilian Conservation Corps camps pursuant to the Act of March 31, 1933 (Public No. 5, 73rd Congress). In carrying out the provisions of this Order and other allocations made under the Appropriation here involved, there are hereby authorized such expenditures for personal services and rent in the District of Columbia and elsewhere, and for printing and binding, as necessary to accomplish the purposes of the particular allocation, and purchases may be made without regard to Section 3709, Revised Statutes, only in granting direct relief. The Executive Order of July 11, 1934 (No. 6793) is hereby revoked. FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT The White House, December 1, 1934.

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Referenced By Later Executive Orders (6)

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

Revokes Executive Order 9143—Withdrawing Public Lands for Use of the War Department for Holding, Reconsignment, and Quartermaster Depots
Franklin D. Roosevelt • 1942-04-21
Supersedes Executive Order 9115—Withdrawing Public Lands for the Use of the Department of State
Franklin D. Roosevelt • 1942-03-28
Supersedes Executive Order 9101—Withdrawing Public Lands in Aid of Legislation
Franklin D. Roosevelt • 1942-03-18
Revokes Executive Order 9081—Withdrawing Public Lands for Use of the War Department for Aviation Purposes
Franklin D. Roosevelt • 1942-02-27
Revokes Executive Order 9042—Withdrawing Public Lands for Use of the War Department for Aviation Purposes
Franklin D. Roosevelt • 1942-01-26
Amends Executive Order 9028—Withdrawal of Public Lands for Lookout Station for Use in Cooperative Forest Protection
Franklin D. Roosevelt • 1942-01-20
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Scholarly & Legal Citations 

Exec. Order No. 6910 (Dec. 1, 1934), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-6910-b-allocating-funds-from-the-appropriation-meet-the-emergency-and.