"Earlier in the preceding 10 or 12 months almost every month dividends exceeded the year-earlier level," Mr. Kaufman said.

The Act was the first navigation act to include a clause which limited dividends, insisting that tolls should be reduced if the dividend exceeded ten per cent.

Under the terms of the Act of Parliament, tolls were reduced when the dividend exceeded 10 per cent, and the first such reduction occurred in 1791.

Preferred-share dividends exceeded net in latest quarter.

In 1856, its dividends did not exceed 22%; in 1857 they were only 5%.

But when dividends exceed earnings of the operating companies, they can weaken the companies' capital base.

The dividends distributed by the company had exceeded the surplus it garnered in Europe in every decade but one (1710-1720) from 1690 to 1760.

The average national dividend per person would probably exceed $12,000 per year under today's economic conditions.

To complete Schedule B, the questions on foreign accounts and trusts (Lines 7 and 8) must be answered if either interest or dividends exceeds $400.

Last month the board halved the dividend to 10 cents a share from 20 cents, a move Mr. Baum said was necessary because the dividends had exceeded earnings.