CHAPTER IX-DESIGNATIONS OF OFFICIALS PETROLEUM COORDINATOR FOR NATIONAL DEFENSE THE WHITE HOUSE, The Honorable, The Secretary of the MY DEAR MR. SECRETARY: Recent significant developments indicate the need of coordinating existing Federal authority over oil and gas and insuring that the supply of petroleum and its products will be accommodated to the needs of the Nation and the national defense program. Government functions relating to petroleum problems are now divided among numerous officers and agencies of the Federal Government and the principal oil-producing States. The various phases of operation in the petroleum industry itself are numerous and complex. One of the essential requirements of the national defense program, which must be made the basis of our petroleum defense policy in the unlimited national emergency declared on May 27, 1941, is the development and utilization with maximum efficiency of our petroleum resources and our facilities, present and future, for making petroleum and petroleum products available, adequately and continuously, in the proper forms, at the proper places, and at reasonable prices to meet military and civilian needs. Some of the problems with which we are now confronted and which require immediate action are: The proper development, production, and utilization of those reserves of crude oils and natural gas that are of strategic importance both in quality and location; elimination or reduction of cross hauling of petroleum and its products and the development of transportation facilities and of methods by which more efficient use can be made of existing transportation and storage facilities; balancing refining operations to secure the maximum yields of specific products with full consideration for requirements, the most economical use of the raw materials, and efficiency of production and distribution; and the elimination of the drilling of unnecessary wells in proven fields and of other unnecessary activities and equipment. In order to provide the desired coordination, I am hereby designating you as Petroleum Coordinator for National Defense. In that capacity it will be your function and responsibility as my representative: 1. To obtain currently from the States and their agencies, from the petroleum and allied industries, from the officers and agencies of your Department, and from other appropriate Federal departments and agencies information as to (a) the military and civilian needs for petroleum and petroleum products, (b) the factors affecting the continuous, ready availability of petroleum and petroleum products for those needs, and (c) any action proposed which will affect such availability of petroleum and petroleum products. 2. To make specific recommendations to any appropriate department, officer, corporation or other agency of the Federal Government particularly the Office of Production Management and the Office of Price Administration and Civilian Supply, to the appropriate agency representing any State or any combination of States, and to any appropriate industry or part thereof, as to action which is necessary or desirabie, on the basis of your determinations, to insure the maintenance of a ready and adequate supply of petroleum and petroleum products. In carrying out these responsibilities, it is expected that you will consult with the several officers and agencies of the Federal Government, and with the States acting severally or in any joint capacity, to the end that all governmental participation shall consistently further the purposes above outlined. It is also expected that you will consult with the petroleum industry and those industries which affect its functioning, to aid them in shaping their policies and operations in the discovery, development, production, processing, transportation, storage, distribution, marketing, consumption, and import and export of petroleum and petroleum products. In order to facilitate your work and efforts, I am requesting that the several departments and agencies having functions related to the petroleum problem give you antecedent advice of any action proposed which may affect the continuous, ready availability of petroleum or petroleum products for military and civilian needs, so that you may have opportunity to make sperific recommendation concerning such action. I am also requesting that they notify you of all meetings and conferences dealing with these problems, so that your representatives may be in attendance when you deem it advisable. It is suggested that from time to time you call together all or any of the heads of such departments and agencies, or their representatives, as a committee to discuss such problems as may arise and to develop ways and means of effectuating the highest degree of coordination of Federal functions for the furtherance of the policy herein outlined. The heads of the departments and agencies concerned are being informed of this suggestion and of the contents of this letter, and I am sure you will find them ready to cooperate fully in rendering the assistance requested herein or otherwise needed to assure success of the program. Within the limits of such funds as may be made available to you, you may employ necessary personnel, including a Deputy Coordinator whose appointment shall be approved by me and to whom you may make any necessary delegation of functions, and may make provision for necessary supplies, facilities, services and for actual and necessary transportation, subsistence, and other expenses incidental to the performance of their duties. You will, of course, make use of such statistical, informational, fiscal, personnel, and other general services and facilities as you now have available or as may be made available to you through the Office for Emer gency Management or other agencies of the Government. Yours sincerely, FRANKLIN D ROOSEVELT COORDINATOR OF INFORMATION By virtue of the authority vested in me as President of the United States and as Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, it is ordered as follows: 1. There is hereby established the position of Coordinator of Information, with authority to collect and analyze all information and data, which may bear upon national security; to correlate such information and data, and to make such information and data available to the President and to such departments and officials of the Government as the President may determine; and to carry out, when requested by the President, such supplementary activities as may facilitate the securing of information important for national security not now available to the Government. departments and 2. The several agencies of the Government shall make available to the Coordinator of Information all and any such information and data relating to national security as the Coordinator, with the approval of the President, may from time to time request. 3. The Coordinator of Information may appoint such committees, consisting of appropriate representatives of the various departments and agencies of the Government, as he may deem necessary to assist him in the performance of his functions. 4. Nothing in the duties and responsibilities of the Coordinator of Information shall in any way interfere with or impair the duties and responsibilities of the regular military and naval advisers of the President as Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy. 5. Within the limits of such funds as may be allocated to the Coordinator of Information by the President, the Coordinator may employ necessary person nel and make provision for the necessary supplies, facilities, and services. 6. William J. Donovan is hereby designated as Coordinator of Information. FRANKLIN D ROOSEVELT COORDINATOR OF GOVERNMENT FILMS THE WHITE HOUSE, Washington, December 18, 1941. HONORABLE LOWELL MELLETT, Director, Office of Government Reports, Executive Office of the President. MY DEAR MR. MELLETT: The American motion picture is one of our most effective media in informing and entertaining our citizens. The motion picture must remain free insofar as national security will permit. I want no censorship of the motion picture; I want no restrictions placed thereon which will impair the usefulness of the film other than those very necessary restrictions which the dictates of safety make imperative. The motion picture, especially as used by the Federal Government, has a very useful contribution to make during the war emergency. In order that the Federal Government's efforts in the field of motion picture production and distribution may serve most effectively and efficiently, it is desirable that all activities of the Federal Government be coordinated under the direction of one central office. Therefore, as President of the United States and Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces, I direct that you, as Director of the Office of Government Reports, act as Coordinator of Government Films for the duration of the war. The functions you will discharge in this capacity are: 1. Act as the liaison officer of the Federal Government with theatrical, educational and industrial producers and distributors in connection with the preparation, production, and distribution of films. 2. Establish a clearance office through which all of the Government's civilian films must clear whether they are to be distributed through theaters or through non-theatrical organizations. 3. Plan, so far as necessary, such Government motion picture production and distribution as is deemed necessary to inform and instruct the public during the wartime crisis. 4. Consult with all Government depariments in connection with film production and distribution programs and consult with and advise motion picture producers of ways and means in which they can most usefully serve in the national effort. I further direct that you transmit a copy of this letter to the heads of ail Federal agencies. Sincerely yours, FRANKLIN D ROOSEVELT CHAPTER X-GENERAL LICENSES GENERAL LICENSE UNDER SECTION 3 (a) of THE TRADING WITH THE ENEMY ACT By virtue of and pursuant to the authority vested in me by sections 3 and 5 of the Trading with the enemy Act, as amended, and by virtue of all other authority vested in me, I, FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT, PRESIDENT of the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, do prescribe the following: A general license is hereby granted licensing any transaction or act prohibited by section 3 (a) of the Trading with the enemy Act, as amended, provided, however, that such transaction or act is au thorized by the Secretary of the Treasury by means of regulations, rulings, instructions, licenses or otherwise, pursuant to Executive Order No. 8389, as amended.1 FRANKLIN D ROOSEVELT THE WHITE HOUSE December 13, 1941. H. MORGENTHAU, Jr. Secretary of the Treasury FRANCIS BIDDLE Attorney General of the 13 CFR, 1940 Supp., p. 128. |