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 Retail Meat Trade, and bearings having been held thereon and The National Industrial Recovery Board having rendered its report containing an analysis of the said Code of Fair Competition together with its recommendations and findings with respect thereto, and The National Industrial Recovery Board 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 National Industrial Recovery Board and do order that the said Code of Fair Competition be and it is hereby approved; subject, however, to the following conditions: 1. That Article II, Section 1 (a) be and the same is hereby amended to read: "The term 'Retail Meat Trade' as used herein means the selling of meats to the consumer and not for the purpose of resale, but shall not include the sale of meats in establishments for consumption on the premises, and shall not include the sale of meats by anyone, more than fifty (50) percent of whose dollar volume of retail sales is not meats." 2. That Article II, Section 1 (m), be and the same hereby is amended to read: "The term 'establishment' as used herein means any store or shop or stand where retail meat sales amount to fifty percent (50%) or more of the entire retail sales." 3. That Article VI, Section 1, be and the same hereby is amended to read: "A Code Authority is hereby established consisting of eleven (11) persons to be selected in the following manner: ( a ) Seven (7) persons to be selected by the Board of Directors of the National Association of Retail Meat Dealers, Inc. ( b ) One (1) person to be selected by the Federation of Kosher Butchers of Greater New York, Inc. ( c ) One (1) person to be selected by the National Association of Meat, Poultry and Game Purveyors. ( d ) Two (2) persons to be appointed by The National Industrial Recovery Board from members of the trade who are not members of any of the foregoing Associations, and who are retailers of food products other than meats. If, within thirty (30) days after the effective date of this Code, any of the members provided for in this Section shall not be named, then and in that event, The National Industrial Recovery Board shall appoint the representative otherwise provided for." 4. The provisions of Article VII, Sections 1 (b), (c) and (d); Article VII, Section 2; Article VII, Section 9; Article VII, Section 10; be and the same hereby are stayed, pending incorporation of suitable parallel provisions in the code applicable to all retail selling of meat not governed by this Code, or pending our further order. FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT Approval recommended: NATIONAL INDUSTRIAL RECOVERY BOARD By W. A. HARRIMAN Administrative Officer The White House, Dec 21, 1934.
Executive Order 6927-A—Code of Fair Competition for the Retail Meat 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 National Industrial Recovery Board and do order that the said Code of Fair Competition be and it is hereby approved; subject, however, to the following conditions: 1.
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 21, 1934, this order concerns Code of Fair Competition for the Retail Meat 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 National Industrial Recovery Board and do order that the said Code of Fair Competition be and it is hereby approved; subject, however, to the following…
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 National Industrial Recovery Board and do order that the said Code of Fair Competition be and it is hereby approved; subject, however, to the following conditions: 1.
That Article II, Section 1 (a) be and the same is hereby amended to read: "The term 'Retail Meat Trade' as used herein means the selling of meats to the consumer and not for the purpose of resale, but shall not include the sale of meats in establishments for consumption on the premises, and shall not include the sale of meats by anyone, more than fifty (50) percent of whose dollar volume of retail sales is not meats." 2.
That Article II, Section 1 (m), be and the same hereby is amended to read: "The term 'establishment' as used herein means any store or shop or stand where retail meat sales amount to fifty percent (50%) or more of the entire retail sales." 3.
That Article VI, Section 1, be and the same hereby is amended to read: "A Code Authority is hereby established consisting of eleven (11) persons to be selected in the following manner: ( a ) Seven (7) persons to be selected by the Board of Directors of the National Association of Retail Meat Dealers, Inc. ( b ) One (1) person to be selected by the Federation of Kosher Butchers of Greater New York, Inc. ( c ) One (1) person to be selected by the National Association of Meat, Poultry and Game Purveyors.
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 (4)
Subsequent presidents who cited, amended, continued, or revoked this directive in later orders.
Scholarly & Legal Citations
Exec. Order No. 6927 (Dec. 21, 1934), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-6927-code-fair-competition-for-the-retail-meat-trade.