CHAPTER 5. COMMODITY EXCHANGES
VERNON'S CIVIL STATUTES
TITLE 132. OCCUPATIONAL AND BUSINESS REGULATION
CHAPTER 5. COMMODITY EXCHANGES
Art. 8651. DEFINITIONS. That for the purpose of this Act, the
term "Contract of Sale" shall be held to include sales,
purchases, agreements of sale, agreements to sell, and agreements
to purchase; that the word "person" wherever used in this Act
shall be construed to import the plural or singular as the case
demands, and shall include individuals, associations,
partnerships, and corporations.
Acts 1925, 39th Leg., p. 38, ch. 15, Sec. 1.
Art. 8652. FUTURE CONTRACTS VALID. All contracts of sale for
future delivery of cotton, grain, stocks, or other commodities,
(1) made in accordance with the rules of any board of trade,
exchange, or similar institution, and (2) actually executed on
the floor of such board of trade, exchange, or similar
institution, and performed or discharged according to the rules
thereof, and (3) when such contracts of sale are placed with or
through a regular member in good standing of a cotton exchange,
grain exchange, board of trade, or similar institution, organized
under the laws of the State of Texas or any other State, shall be
and they hereby are declared to be valid and enforceable in the
courts of this State, according to their terms; provided, that
contracts of sale for future delivery of cotton in order to be
valid and enforceable as provided herein, must not only conform
to the requirements of clauses 1 and 2 of this section, but must
also be made subject to the provisions of the United States
Cotton Futures Act, approved August 11, 1916, and any amendments
thereto; provided, further, that if this clause should for any
reason be held inoperative, then contracts for the future
delivery of cotton shall be valid and enforceable if they conform
to the requirements of clauses 1 and 2 of this section; provided
further, that all contracts as defined in Section 1 hereof where
it is not contemplated by the parties thereto that there shall be
an actual delivery of the commodities sold or bought shall be
unlawful.
Acts 1925, 39th Leg., p. 38, ch. 15, Sec. 2.
Art. 8653. FUTURE CONTRACTS INVALID. Any contract of sale for
future delivery of cotton, grain, stocks, or other commodities
where it is not the bona fide intention of parties that the
things mentioned therein are to be delivered but which is to be
settled according to or upon the basis of the public market
quotations or prices made on any board of trade, exchange, or
other similar institution, without any actual bona fide execution
and the carrying out of such contract upon the floor of such
exchange, board of trade or similar institution, in accordance
with the rules thereof, shall be null and void and unenforceable
in any court of this State, and no action shall be maintainable
thereon at the suit of any party.
Acts 1925, 39th Leg., p. 38, ch. 15, Sec. 3.
Art. 8654. BUCKET SHOP DEFINED AND PROHIBITED. A bucket shop is
hereby defined to be and mean any place of business wherein are
made contracts of the sort or character denounced by the
preceding Section 3 of this Act, and the maintenance or operation
of a bucket shop at any point in this State is prohibited.
Acts 1925, 39th Leg., p. 38, ch. 15, Sec. 4.
Art. 8655. SHALL FURNISH COPY OF CONTRACT. Every person shall
furnish upon demand to any principal for whom such person has
executed any contract for the future delivery of any cotton,
grain, stocks, or other commodities, a written instrument setting
forth the name and location of the exchange, board of trade, or
similar institution, upon which such contract has been executed,
the date of the execution, of the contract, and the name and
address of the person with whom such contract was executed, and
if such person shall refuse or neglect to furnish such statement
upon reasonable demand, such refusal or neglect shall be prima
facie evidence that such contract was an illegal contract within
the provisions of Art. 658, and that the person who executed it
was engaged in the maintenance and operation of a bucket shop,
within the provisions of Article 661 hereof.
Acts 1925, 39th Leg., p. 38, ch. 15, Sec. 5.
Art. 8656. PENALTY. Any person, either as agent or principal,
who enters into or assists in making any contracts of sale of the
sort or character denounced in the preceding Art. 658 for the
future delivery of cotton, grain, stocks, or other commodities,
or who maintain a bucket shop, as that term is defined in Art.
659, shall be guilty of a felony, and upon conviction, shall be
imprisoned in the penitentiary not exceeding two years.
Acts 1925, 39th Leg., p. 38, ch. 15, Sec. 6.
Art. 8657. PERMITTING EXCHANGES. There may be organized in any
city, town, or municipality in the State of Texas, voluntary
associations to be known as cotton exchanges, grain exchanges,
boards of trade, or similar institutions, to receive and post
quotations on cotton, grain, stocks, or other commodities, for
the benefit of its members and other persons engaged in the
production of cotton, grain, or other commodities. Such
associations shall be composed of members and shall adopt a
uniform set of rules and regulations not incompatible with the
laws of Texas and of the United States. They shall open their
books to inspection of all proper courts and officers when
required so to do.
Acts 1925, 39th Leg., p. 38, ch. 15, Sec. 7.
Art. 8658. REPEALER. Articles 536 and 537 of Chapter 2, Title
11, and Articles 538 to 547 inclusive of Chapter 3, Title 11, of
the Revised Penal Code of the State of Texas, of 1911, and all
laws and parts of laws regulating or prohibiting dealings in
future contracts, or in conflict or inconsistent herewith, be and
the same are hereby repealed.
Acts 1925, 39th Leg., p. 38, ch. 15, Sec. 8.
Art. 8659. SEVERABILITY. If any clause, sentence, paragraph, or
part of this Act shall for any reason be adjudged by any court of
competent jurisdiction to be invalid, such judgment shall not
effect, impair, or invalidate the remainder thereof, but shall be
confined in its operation to the clause, sentence, or paragraph
or part thereof directly involved in the controversy in which
such judgment shall have been rendered; and any contract valid
under and satisfying the remaining clauses, sentences,
paragraphs, or parts of this Act shall be valid and enforceable
in the courts of this State.
Acts 1925, 39th Leg., p. 38, ch. 15, Sec. 9.