STOCK DIVIDENDS 11 TaBLE 7.— Disposition of approximate total distributable surplus for 2,971 corpora tions paying stock dividends FIRST 7-YEAR PERIOD Item Burplus as of date of closing nearest Jan. 1, 1013_____________.______..._._.._.___ Net increase in surplus from date of closing nearest Jan. 1, 1013, to date of closing nearest Jan. 1, 1920_____ a Total undistributed surplus as of date of closing nearest Jan. 1, 1920. _. Cath dividends, 2013-1010 ee rrenwmr enn mene memo eae—~—t omen Stock dividends, 1913=-Y019_- = _______. Co RRA Other dividends, 1913-1919 _ __.___._____ of Total surplus available for distribution, 1913-1919 “mene Amount $1, 107, 174, 332 1, 768, 550. 302 2, 875, 724, 634 1, 674, 414, 382 408, 049, 789 66, 947, 676 5. 025, 136. 481 | Per cent of total surplus available for dis- tribution C23 32 12 -33 100. 00 SECOND 7-YEAR PERIOD svnd—— [tem ® Surplus as of date of closing nearest Jan. 1, 1920. «coc memeom meee eee ns Net increase in surplus from date of closing nearest Jan. 1, 1020, to date of closing nearest Jan. 1. 1927 coco ooo eee eee Total undistributed surplus as of date of closing nearest Jan. 1, 1927. Cash dividends, 1920-1927... «ocean. Btock dividends, 1920-1927... Other dividends, 1920 -1927___. Total surplus available for distribution, 1920-1927 __ Amount $2, 875, 724, 634 317. 844. 107 3,193, 568, 741 2, 896, 285, 432 2, 350, 246, 652 19, 508, 295 8, 459, 609, 120 Per cent of total Sarnia available for dis- tribution 37.75 34. 24 27.78 7 100. 00 The total surplus of these 2,971 corporations which was available for distribution from 1913-1919 aggregated just over $5,000,000,000, of which almost exactly one-third (33.32 per cent) was distributed in the form of cash dividends as compared with over 8 per cent in stock dividends. In the period 1920-1926 the total surplus available for distribution rose nearly 70 percent to approximately $8,500,000,000. While stock dividends paid in the second period aggregated nearly 28 per cent of this surplus, as compared with only 8 per cent in the prior period, the proportion of surplus distributed in cash dividends in the second period was only slightly higher (34.24 per cent) than in the first period (33.32 per cent). At the end of the second period, therefore, these corporations retained undistributed nearly 38 per cent of the total surplus available for distribution, whereas at the end of the first period over 57 per cent of the surplus was undis- tributed. Considering the matter from the standpoint of the surpluses attributable to the operation of these corporations in each period, about $3,900,000,000 were earned or obtained through surplus adjustments in the first seven years as compared with $5,600,000,000. in the second seven years. In the first seven years the equivalent of 42.7 per cent of the surplus attributable to this period was distributed in cash and 10 per cent in stock, while 45 per cent was not distributed