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Executive Order 9693 ⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight Constitutional Neutral (+0.02) 📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority

Executive Order 9693—Possession, Control, and Operation of the Transportation Systems, Plants, and Facilities of Certain Towing and Transportation Companies Operating in New York Harbor and Contiguous Waters

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Tuesday, February 5, 1946
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9 min read (1,829 words)

Executive Brief • At a Glance

⏱️ 9 min read (1,829 words) • ● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate

The Director of the Office of Defense Transportation is authorized and directed , through or with the aid of any public officers, Federal agencies, or other governmental instrumentalities that he may designate, to take possession and assume control of the said transportation systems, plants, and facilities owned or operated by companies conducting towing or transportation operations in New York Harbor and contiguous waters (including but not limited to the transportation systems, plants, and facilities of the companies named in the list attached hereto and made a part hereof), including all real and personal property and other assets used or useful in connection with the operation of such transportation systems, plants, and facilities in…

⚖️ 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 Merchants, Importers & Commercial Enterprises Sovereign State Governments & Localities Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants

Plain-English Translation & Framers' Constitutional Analysis

Early Statesman synthesis distilling legal jargon into practical meaning, statutory anchors, and structural constitutional impacts.

Signed by President Harry S Truman on February 5, 1946, this order concerns Possession, Control, and Operation of the Transportation Systems, Plants, and Facilities of Certain Towing and Transportation Companies Operating in New York Harbor and Contiguous Waters. The Director of the Office of Defense Transportation is authorized and directed , through or with the aid of any public officers, Federal agencies, or other governmental instrumentalities that he may designate, to take possession and assume control of the said transportation systems, plants, and facilities owned or operated by companies conducting towing or transportation operations in New York Harbor and…

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

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The Director of the Office of Defense Transportation is authorized and directed , through or with the aid of any public officers, Federal agencies, or other governmental instrumentalities that he may designate, to take possession and assume control of the said transportation systems, plants, and facilities owned or operated by companies conducting towing or transportation operations in New York Harbor and contiguous waters (including but not limited to the transportation systems, plants, and facilities of the companies named in the list attached hereto and made a part hereof), including all real and personal property and other assets used or useful in connection with the operation of such transportation systems, plants, and facilities in…

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Subject to applicable provisions of existing law, including the orders of the Office of Defense Transportation issued pursuant to Executive Order 8989, as amended, the said transportation systems, plants, and facilities shall be managed and operated under the terms and conditions of employment in effect at the time possession is taken under this order. 3.

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Except with the prior written consent of the Director, no attachment by mesne process, garnishment, execution, or otherwise shall be levied on or against any of the real or personal property or other assets, tangible or intangible, in the possession of the Director hereunder. 4.

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Possession, control, and operation of any plant or facility, or of any transportation system, or any part thereof, or of any real or personal property taken under this order shall be terminated by the Director when he determines that such possession, control, and operation are no longer necessary to carry out the provisions, and to accomplish the purposes, of this order. 5.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Armed Forces & Military Establishments 🏛️ Merchants, Importers & Commercial Enterprises 🏛️ Sovereign State Governments & Localities 🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants 🏛️ Private Citizens & Property Owners
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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)
§

"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
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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
50 / 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

High Friction

Creates friction with the Tenth Amendment by conditioning state grants, mandating local compliance, or preempting state police powers.

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
1,829
10,790 characters
Estimated Read Time
9 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
6.6
Grade 7
Language Tone Score
+0.02
Constitutional Neutral
How is this scored?
Text size:

Official Archival Text

View Source Document

WHEREAS after investigation I find and proclaim that as a result of a labor disturbance there are existing interruptions of the operations of transportation systems, plants, and facilities owned or operated by companies conducting towing and transportation operations in New York Harbor and contiguous waters (including but not limited to the transportation systems, plants, and facilities of the companies named in the list attached hereto and made a part hereof); that the war effort will be unduly impeded and delayed by such interruptions ; that it has become necessary to take possession and assume control of said transportation systems, plants, and facilities for purposes that are needful or desirable in connection with the present wartime emergency; and that the exercise, as hereinafter specified, of the powers vested in me is necessary to insure in the national interest the operation of the said transportation systems, plants, and facilities.

NOW, THEREFORE, #now-therefore

by virtue of the power and authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, including section 9 of the Selective Training and Service Act of 1940 as amended by section 3 of the War Labor Disputes Act (57 Stat. 164), the act of August 29, 1916, 39 Stat. 619, 645, and the First War Powers Act, 1941 (55 Stat. 838), as President of the United States and Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy, it is hereby ordered as follows: 1. The Director of the Office of Defense Transportation is authorized and directed , through or with the aid of any public officers, Federal agencies, or other governmental instrumentalities that he may designate, to take possession and assume control of the said transportation systems, plants, and facilities owned or operated by companies conducting towing or transportation operations in New York Harbor and contiguous waters (including but not limited to the transportation systems, plants, and facilities of the companies named in the list attached hereto and made a part hereof), including all real and personal property and other assets used or useful in connection with the operation of such transportation systems, plants, and facilities in such manner as he may deem necessary to carry out the provisions and to accomplish the purposes of this order. 2. Subject to applicable provisions of existing law, including the orders of the Office of Defense Transportation issued pursuant to Executive Order 8989, as amended, the said transportation systems, plants, and facilities shall be managed and operated under the terms and conditions of employment in effect at the time possession is taken under this order. 3. Except with the prior written consent of the Director, no attachment by mesne process, garnishment, execution, or otherwise shall be levied on or against any of the real or personal property or other assets, tangible or intangible, in the possession of the Director hereunder. 4. Possession, control, and operation of any plant or facility, or of any transportation system, or any part thereof, or of any real or personal property taken under this order shall be terminated by the Director when he determines that such possession, control, and operation are no longer necessary to carry out the provisions, and to accomplish the purposes, of this order. 5. For the purposes of paragraphs 1 to 4, inclusive, of this order, there are hereby transferred to the Director the functions, powers, and duties vested in the Secretary of War by that part of section 1 of the said act of August 29, 1916, reading as follows: "The President, in time of war, is empowered, through the Secretary of War, to take possession and assume control of any system or systems of transportation, or any part thereof, and to utilize the same, to the exclusion as far as may be necessary of all other traffic thereon, for the transfer of transportation of troops, war material and equipment, or for such other purposes in connection with the emergency as may be needful or desirable." 6. The Director of the Office of Defense Transportation may request the Secretary of War and the Secretary of the Navy to furnish protection for persons employed or seeking employment in the plants, facilities, or transportation systems of which possession is taken, to furnish protection for such plants, facilities, and transportation systems, and to furnish equipment, manpower, and other facilities or services deemed necessary by the Director to carry out the provisions, and to accomplish the purposes, of this order. The Secretary of War and the Secretary of the Navy are authorized and directed, upon such requests, to take such action as they deem necessary to furnish such protection, equipment, manpower, or other facilities or services. LIST 1. Amboy Towboats, Inc., Tottenville, Staten Island, New York 2. Anderson Water & Towing Co., 59 Pearl Street, New York, New York 3. The Arundel Corp., Ft. Fulton Street, Brooklyn, New York 4. E. E. Barrett & Co., 90 West Street, New York, New York 5. Bay Ridge Water & Lighterage Co., Inc., 90 Broad Street, New York, New York 6. Berwind White Coal Co., 1 Broadway, New York, New York 7. Bouchard Transportation Co., 17 Battery Place, New York, New York 8. Bridgeport Towing Line, 2 Stratford Avenue, Bridgeport, Conn. 9. Bronx Towing Line, Inc., 152nd St., Harlem River, New York, New York 10. Ira S. Bushey & Sons, 764 Court Street, Brooklyn, New York 11. Canal Lakes Towing Corp., 17 State Street, New York, New York 12. Card Towing Line, 17 State Street, New York, New York 13. Carroll Towing Co., Inc., 17 Battery Place, New York, New York 14. Clearly Brothers, 67 Wall Street, New York, New York 15. Cornell Steamboat Co., Ft. W. 53rd Street, New York, New York 16. Croton Water Company, 15 Moore Street, New York, New York 17. Cullen Transportation Co., 80 Broad Street, New York, New York 18. Dalzell Towing Co., Inc., 21 State Street, New York, New York 19. Dauntless Towing Line, Inc., 70 Pine Street, New York, New York 20. Delaware Towing Co., #3 North Pier Street, Brooklyn, New York 21. Dillon Towing Line, 26 Court Street, Brooklyn, New York 22. Downer Towing Corp., Pier 56, North River, New York, New York 23. Henry DuBois Sons Co., 17 State Street, New York, New York 24. Essex Transportation Co., 15 Exchange Place, Jersey City, New Jersey 25. Gallagher Brothers Sand & Gravel Corp., 39 Broadway, New York, New York 26. Henry Gillam's Sons Lighterage, Inc., 15 Moore Street, New York, New York 27. Gowanus Towing Co., Ft. Smith Street, Brooklyn, New York 28. Grace Line, Pier 57, North River, New York, New York 29. Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Co., 17 Battery Place, New York, New York 30. Harbor Towboat Bo., 4 Coenties Slip, New York, New York 31. James Healing Co., 76 Montgomery St., Jersey City, New Jersey 32. W. E. Hedger Transportation Co., 120 Wall Street, New York, New York 33. Henjes Marine Corp., 24 State Street, New York, New York 34. Hills Towing Trans., 67 Wall Street, New York, New York 35. Hudson Towboat Co., Ft. 6th Street, Hoboken, New Jersey 36. International Elevating Co., #2 Broadway, New York, New York 37. Jamaica Bay Towing, Beach 77 Rockaway Blvd., Long Island, New York, New York 38. Jersey City Stockyards, Ft. of 6th Street, Jersey City, New Jersey 39. John & Frederick Barge Corp., 17 Battery Place, New York, New York 40. Lee & Simmons, Inc., 44 Whitehall Street, New York, New York 41. Lee Transit Corp., 17 State Street, New York, New York 42. Manhattan Lighterage Co., 17 Battery Place, New York, New York 43. Mathiasen Shipping Co., 70 Pine Street, New York, New York 44. Matton Towing Co., Waterford, New York 45. McAllister Lighterage Line, Inc., 17 State Street, New York, New York 46. McCarren Towing Line, Inc., 15 Exchange Place, New York, New York 47. McWilliams Blue Line, 1 Broadway, New York, New York 48. Merritt, Chapman & Scott Corp., 17 Battery Place, New York, New York 49. Meseck Towing Lines, Inc., 1 Broadway, New York, New York 50. Metropolitan Sand & Gravel Corp., 551 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York 51. Moran Towing & Trans. Co., 17 Battery Place, New York, New York 52. Mutual Towing Co., 24 State Street, New York, New York 53. Nelson & Ellingsen, 1149 77th Street, Brooklyn, New York 54. New Haven Towing Line, Wyatt's Dock, New Haven, Conn. 55. Newark Terminal & Transportation Co., Ft. of Madison Street, Newark, New Jersey 56. Newtown Creek Towing Co., 51 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 57. Anthony O'Boyle, Inc., 15 Moore Street, New York, New York 58. O'Brien Bros. Towing Co., 233 Broadway, New York, New York 59. O'Donnell Trans. Co., 44 Whitehall Street, New York, New York 60. Oil Transfer Corp., 17 Battery Place, New York, New York 61. Olsen & Kron, 365 E. 35th Street, Brooklyn, New York 62. Olsen Water & Towing Co., 17 State Street, New York, New York 63. Petterson Lighterage & Towing Corp., 44 Whitehall Street, New York, New York 64. Pfeifer Oil Transportation Co., Buffalo, New York 65. Chester A. Poling, Inc., 99 Wall Street, New York, New York 66. Russell Poling, Inc., 51 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 67. Pontin Lighterage & Trans. Corp., 90 West Street, New York, New York 68. Red Star Towing & Trans. Co., 17 Battery Place, New York, New York 69. Reichert Towing Line, Inc., 80 Broad Street, New York, New York 70. Reinauer Transportation Companies, 1983 Richmond Terrace, Staten Island, New York, New York 71. Rockland Oil Transport Co., 4 Coenties Slip, New York, New York 72. Rudolph Coal Co., 8 Sackett Street, Brooklyn, New York 73. Russell Bros. Towing Co., 51 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 74. Seaboard Shipping Corp., 17 Battery Place, New York, New York 75. Sears Navigation Co., Inc., Rome, New York 76. Shamrock Towing Co., Pier 93, North River, New York, New York 77. Socony-Vacuum Oil Co., 26 Broadway, New York, New York 78. Sound & Harbor, Inc., 15 Exchange Place, Jersey City, New Jersey 79. William Spencer & Son Corp., 40 Rector Street, New York, New York 80. Spentonbush Fuel Transport Service, Inc., 500 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York 81. Standard Towing Corp., 21 West Street, New York, New York 82. Steel Barge Corp., 21 West Street, New York, New York 83. Steers Sand & Gravel Corp., 17 Battery Place, New York, New York 84. Steers Towing Corps., 17 Battery Place, New York, New York 85. Tice Towing Line, 17 Battery Place, New York, New York 86. M. & J. Tracy, Inc., 1 Broadway, New York, New York 87. Tracy Towing Line, Inc., 1 Broadway, New York, New York 88. B. Torecamo Towing Corp., Ft. 24th Ave., Brooklyn, New York 89. Ulster Oil Transport Co., 4 Coenties Slip, New York, New York 90. Valoil Transportation Corp., 220 East 42nd Street, New York, New York 91. Westervelt Towing Line, Pier 43, North River, New York, New York HARRY S. TRUMAN

THE WHITE HOUSE, #signature

February 5, 1946

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Scholarly & Legal Citations

Exec. Order No. 9693 (Feb. 5, 1946), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-9693-possession-control-and-operation-the-transportation-systems-plants.