By virtue of the authority vested in me by section 141 of title 2 of the Canal Zone Code, approved June 19, 1934, Rule 120 of Executive Order No. 4314 of September 25, 1925, establishing rules governing navigation of the Panama Canal and adjacent waters and the exclusion of persons from the Canal Zone, as amended by Executive Order No. 5065 of February 28, 1929, is hereby further amended to read as follows: "RULE 120. Classes of persons excluded and deported . All persons of the following-described classes are hereby forbidden to enter, remain upon, or pass over any part of the Canal Zone, and the Governor of The Panama Canal is hereby authorized, in his discretion, to deport such persons when found within the Canal Zone: (a) Insane persons and persons who have had one or more attacks of Insanity at any prior time. (b) Idiots, imbeciles, feeble-minded persons, epileptics, and persons of constitutional psychopathic inferiority. (c) Persons afflicted with a loathsome, or dangerous, contagious disease. (d) Persons who have been convicted of, or admit having committed, a felony or other crime or misdemeanor involving moral turpitude. (e) Professional beggars, paupers, and persons who are likely to become public charges. (f) Anarchists, and persons whose purpose it is to incite insurrection. (g) Persons of notoriously bad character. (h) Persons who engage in any strike in the Canal Zone directed against the Government of the United States or any of its agencies, or who engage in inciting or attempting to incite other persons to engage in any such strike. (i) Persons who engage in, or incite or attempt to incite other persons to engage in, any strike in the Canal Zone which, although not directed against the Government of the United States or any of its agencies, will result in obstructing, impeding, delaying, or interfering with the operation, maintenance, sanitation, government, or protection of the Panama Canal and the Canal Zone or the observance, safeguarding, and enforcement in the Canal Zone of the neutrality of the United States or the strengthening within the Canal Zone of the national defense. (j) Any other persons whose presence, in the judgment of the Governor, would be a menace to the public health or welfare of the Canal Zone, or would tend to create public disorder or obstruct the operation, maintenance, sanitation, government, or protection of the Panama Canal or Canal Zone: Provided, however , that the provisions of this Rule shall be subject (1) to the provisions of section 142 of title 2 of the Canal Zone Code, as amended by section 7 of the act of June 24, 1936, 49 Stat. 1905, (2) to the provisions of Rule 127 of the said Executive Order No. 4314 of September 25, 1925, relative to passage through the Canal Zone by excluded or deported persons, and (3) to the pertinent provisions of the General Treaty proclaimed July 27, 1939, between the United States and the Republic of Panama." FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT The White House, May 22, 1940.
Executive Order 8417—Amendment of Rule 120 of Executive Order No. 4314 of September 25, 1925, Establishing Rules Governing Navigation of the Panama Canal and Adjacent Waters and the Exclusion of Persons From the Canal Zone, as Amended by Executive Order No. 5065 of February 28, 1929
Executive Brief • At a Glance
Rule 120 of Executive Order No. 4314 of September 25, 1925, establishing rules governing navigation of the Panama Canal and adjacent waters and the exclusion of persons from the Canal Zone, as amended by Executive Order No. 5065 of February 28, 1929, is hereby further amended to read as follows: "RULE 120.
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 May 22, 1940, this order concerns Amendment of Rule 120 of Executive Order No. 4314 of September 25, 1925, Establishing Rules Governing Navigation of the Panama Canal and Adjacent Waters and the Exclusion of Persons From the Canal Zone, as Amended by Executive Order No. 5065 of February 28, 1929. Rule 120 of Executive Order No. 4314 of September 25, 1925, establishing rules governing navigation of the Panama Canal and adjacent waters and the exclusion of persons from the Canal Zone, as amended by Executive Order No. 5065 of February 28, 1929, is hereby further amended to read as follows: "RULE 120. Classes of persons excluded and deported .
Key Directives & Operative Actions
Rule 120 of Executive Order No. 4314 of September 25, 1925, establishing rules governing navigation of the Panama Canal and adjacent waters and the exclusion of persons from the Canal Zone, as amended by Executive Order No. 5065 of February 28, 1929, is hereby further amended to read as follows: "RULE 120.
All persons of the following-described classes are hereby forbidden to enter, remain upon, or pass over any part of the Canal Zone, and the Governor of The Panama Canal is hereby authorized, in his discretion, to deport such persons when found within the Canal Zone: (a) Insane persons and persons who have had one or more attacks of Insanity at any prior time.
Any other persons whose presence, in the judgment of the Governor, would be a menace to the public health or welfare of the Canal Zone, or would tend to create public disorder or obstruct the operation, maintenance, sanitation, government, or protection of the Panama Canal or Canal Zone: Provided, however , that the provisions of this Rule shall be subject (1) to the provisions of section 142 of title 2 of the Canal Zone Code, as amended by section 7 of the act of June 24, 1936, 49 Stat. 1905, (2) to the provisions of Rule 127 of the said Executive Order No. 4314 of September 25, 1925, relative to passage through the Canal Zone by excluded or deported persons, and (3) to the pertinent provisions of the General Treaty proclaimed July 27…
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
"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.
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
Administers commerce or fiscal programs requiring ongoing statutory delegation and legislative oversight.
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.
Scholarly & Legal Citations
Exec. Order No. 8417 (May 22, 1940), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-8417-amendment-rule-120-executive-order-no-4314-september-25-1925.