Swift & Co. tried something new last week to help give its stockholders peace of mind. The directors abandoned the practice of declaring dividends every quarter, instead voted a full year's dividend at one clip. During 1950, promised the directors, Swift's dividends will total $1.60 a share, payable in 40¢ quarterly installments (the rate for the last six years), plus a special dividend of 75¢ payable March 1.
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Illinois Central Railroad also tried something new. For the first time since 1931, the directors voted to pay a dividend on its 1,357,995 shares of common stock. The dividend...