Early Statesman synthesis distilling legal jargon into practical meaning, statutory anchors, and structural constitutional impacts.
This executive order, signed by President William McKinley on 1899-05-06, establishes federal administrative policy concerning "Executive Order." It is a direct, concise executive instruction delivering focused administrative or military commands to department leadership.
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
▪There is hereby created and shall be maintained the office of Treasurer of the Islands which shall be filled by the appointment thereto of an officer of the regular army of the United States.
▪The Treasurer of the Islands shall receive and keep all moneys arising from the revenues of the Islands and shall disburse or transfer the same only upon warrants issued by the Auditor of the Islands and countersigned by the Governor-General.
▪All rules and instructions necessary to carry into effect the provisions of Executive Orders relating to said Islands shall be issued by the Secretary of War.
Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted
🏛️ Armed Forces & Military Establishments
🏛️ Merchants, Importers & Commercial Enterprises
🏛️ Sovereign State Governments & Localities
🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants
Total Words
221
1,298 characters
Estimated Read Time
1 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
25.3
Post-Grad reading level
Constitutional Polarity
+0.02
Framers' Alignment index
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Scholarly & Legal Citations
Exec. Order, "Executive Order," William McKinley (May 6, 1899). Available at https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-162.
Official Document Text
Source: The American Presidency Project (UCSB Archive)
By virtue of the authority vested in me as Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, I hereby order and direct that during the maintenance of Military Government of the United States in the Island of Cuba and all Islands in the West Indies, west of the 74th degree west longitude, evacuated by Spain, there are hereby created and shall be maintained the offices of the Auditor of the Islands, one Assistant Auditor for auditing the accounts for the Department of Customs, and one Assistant Auditor for auditing the accounts of the Department of Postoffices who shall be appointed by the Secretary of War and whose duties shall be to audit all accounts of the Islands. There is hereby created and shall be maintained the office of Treasurer of the Islands which shall be filled by the appointment thereto of an officer of the regular army of the United States. The Treasurer of the Islands shall receive and keep all moneys arising from the revenues of the Islands and shall disburse or transfer the same only upon warrants issued by the Auditor of the Islands and countersigned by the Governor-General. All rules and instructions necessary to carry into effect the provisions of Executive Orders relating to said Islands shall be issued by the Secretary of War. WILLIAM MCKINLEY
