"There is hereby created in the Department of the Interior and under the general supervision of the Secretary thereof a body corporate of perpetual duration to be known as the United States Housing Authority, which shall be an agency and instrumentality of the United States." The act contains no definition of the term "general supervision" or of its extent and scope. Insofar as your supervision pertains to any annual contribution, grant, or loan, or any contract therefor, it expressly is subordinated by section 6 (d) to the approval of the President. Any action by you in respect of those matters, therefore, necessarily must be in the nature of intermediate general supervision. The situation thus differs from that discussed in the case of Knight v. U. S. Land Association, 142 U. S. 161, in which the Court held that the Secretary of the Interior had full power to superintend and control the sale and disposal of public lands. There the Secretary's supervisory power over proceedings affecting titles to lands was made final by statute; whereas here should the Authority or the Secretary undertake any of the activities enumerated in section 6 (d) the power of neither would be final. Here Congress has placed the President in complete control by making him the final arbiter to determine in what manner the funds and credit, as provided in the act, best may be employed to assist the several States and their political subdivisions in carrying out the purposes of the act. While the President may not delegate to the Secretary the power of final approval so expressly conferred upon the President, the act is sufficiently broad to enable him to determine the extent and scope of the Secretary's duties in respect to the functions mentioned in section 6 (d). In respect to the extent of your supervisory authority over activities of the United States Housing Authority other than those heretofore considered, the words "general supervision" in section 3 (a) must be taken to have been used by the Congress in their commonly accepted sense, there being nothing in the statute to indicate a contrary intention. "To supervise" is defined in Webster's New International Dic tionary as "to oversee for direction; to superintend; to inspect with authority; as to supervise the printing of a book," and the word is defined in the Standard Dictionary as meaning "to have general oversight of, especially as an officer vested with authority; superintend; inspect." The decisions of the courts substantially adopt the above definitions, holding that "general supervision" implies more than a mere power to advise and suggest and that it includes power to superintend and oversee the acts and proceedings of those subject to such general supervision. Snyder v. Sickles, 98 U. S. 203; Knight v. U. S. Land Association, supra; Hawley v. Diller, 178 U. S. 476, 495; Vantongeren v. Heffernan, 5. Dak 180; State v. F., E. & M. V. R. R. Co., 22 Neb. 313, 328; Great Northern R. Co. v. Snohomish County, 48 Wash. 478, 485. Originally, the Housing Authority was planned as an independent agency, but during consideration of the bill in the Senate, section 3 (a) was amended by placing the Authority in the Department of the Interior and under the general supervision of the Secretary thereof. This action was deemed advisable in order that the Authority should have the full benefit of the housing experience of the Public Works Administration, and should conform to the organization recommendations of the President by being placed within one of the permanent departments (H. Rept. 1545, 75th Cong., 1st sess.). Only a few Senators took part in the discussion of the scope and effect of the proposed amendment, and their views were strongly divergent. Some were of the opinion that the amendment would give to the Secretary of the Interior control and authority over the activities of the Housing Authority. The sponsor of the amendment, on the other hand, stated that the term "general supervision" meant the general direction, not the specific control, of the Authority and that in his judgment the amendment meant "in an advisory capacity" (Cong. Rec. vol. 81, pp. 8354-8357, 8368). The majority of the Senators voting gave no expression of their understanding of the significance of the words “general supervision." The debate upon the amendment, there fore, discloses no intention of the Congress to use the words in other than their ordinary meaning. Accordingly, it is my opinion that, subject to the requirement that no annual contribution, grant, or loan, and no contract for any annual contribution, grant, or loan may be undertaken by the United States Housing Authority either directly or under you supervision except with the approval of the President, you are empowered to superintend and oversee the activities of the Housing Authority. Respectfully, HOMER CUMMINGS. INDEX-DIGEST AGRICULTURE, SECRETARY OF. Appointing power. *Farm Credit Administration. 403. Discretion in awarding contract. In a competition for new-design aircraft under sec. 10 Sec. 10 (c) authorizes the Secretary of War to contract with Sec. 10 (t) authorizes the Secretary to select the airplane best Substantial compliance with statute. Administrative failure to comply with certain provisions Air transportation. *Civil Aeronautics Act. 442. Registration. *Selective Training and Service Act. 504. ALTON CEMETERY. Voluntary grant to United States. *Lands. 373. NOTE. The asterisk (*) means See, indicating where the opinion is digested, e. g.— Appointing power. *Farm Credit Administration. 403. This means that the opinion is digested herein under "Farm Credit Administration" and 575 |