VERNON'S CIVIL STATUTES 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.