ABSTRACT
The Franklin D. Roosevelt administration sought legislation to impose federal regulation over the commodity exchanges, which were receiving much blame for low commodity markets. The legislation sought by President Roosevelt was considered by the agricultural committees in Congress. Relief was provided to the farmers by the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1929, which created the Federal Farm Board. The Federal Farm Board tried to restrict speculation in commodities and to limit crop surpluses. More startling, in July of 1931, President Hoover warned the public that speculators were engaging in bear raids in the wheat futures market for “one purpose, and that is to depress prices”. The Farm Board began buying futures contracts on the Chicago Board of Trade in an effort to support commodity prices. The Commodity Exchange Act of 1936, like its predecessor, the Grain Futures Act, required commodity exchanges to register with the federal government as contract markets.
