Last week P. (for Pierre) Lorillard Co. moved into a class by itself as the only major industrial concern in the U.S. to resume dividends in 1931. Lorillard shares had not paid since 1926. From 1925 through 1929 when most companies increased earnings, Lorillard showed a steady decline to a low of 29¢ per share, but last year they jumped to $1.48. The dividend resumption was partly made possible by the calling, last fortnight, of $13,758,000 Lorillard 5½% bonds (TIME, Dec. 7).
Nobody was more pleased than Benjamin Lloyd Belt, oldtime, Virginia-born tobaccoman. In...
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