Anne Landman's Collection
Number 47 1957 Annual Report Liggett & Myers Tobacco Co., Inc.
Abstract
Annual report of the Liggett & Myers tobacco company quotes "eminent men in medical science" denying a link between smoking and illness. Quotes Sir Ronald Fisher, the "father of modern statistics," as saying the evidence linking cigarete smoking with lung cancer is decidedly "inconclusive." Reports that Fisher was quoted in the NY Herald Tribune as having stated that warnings cigarettes may cause cancer are "terrorist propaganda." Signed by Benjamin Few, President of L&M.
Fields
- Quotes
TO THE STOCKHOLDERS: This Forty-Seventh Annual Report of your Company's operations for 1957 gives you a general over-all picture of its activities, as well as its audited financial statements...
It is significant that during the year a number of the most eminent men in medical science and research made important statements about cigarette smoking and lung cancer. The author of the introduction to Eric Northrup's book "Science Looks at Smoking" made the following statement: "The evidence from both approaches, statistical and experimental, does not appear sufficiently significant to me to warrant forsaking the pleasure of smoking."
--HARRY S. N. GREENE, M.C., C.M. Professor, Chairman, Department of Pathology, Yale University School of Medicine
At a later date, Dr. Greene further stated in his testimony before a Congressional Committee: "My feeling in this business is that there isn't anything in tobacco that is carcinogenic, that is going to do the individual any harm..." Other statements on this subject also made before the Congressional Committee, include those of the following outstanding and impartial medical authorities: "I would finally state then that the total evidence I have tried to review fails to establish any sound basis on which a causative influence can be assigned to cigarette smoking in the production of cancer of the lung."
--IAN G. MACDONALD, M.D. Cancer specialist, Professor of Surgery, Radiologist, University of Southern California Medical School; National Director, American Cancer So- ciety; Chairman on Cancer, American Medical Association. "I find no reason to modify my previous opinion that the evidence, taken as a whole, does not establish, on any reasonable scientific basis, that cigarette smoking causes lung cancer. On the contrary, I have found more and stronger reasons to doubt this conclusion." --JOSEPH BERKSON, M.D. Head of Biometry and Medical Statistics, Mayo Clinic As recently as December 27, 1957, Sir Ronald Fisher, internationally known as the "father of modern statistics" and professor of genetics at Cambridge University, England, in an address at Indianapolis, before the American Association for the Advancement of Science said that evidence linking cigarette smoking with lung cancer is decidedly "inconclusive." He was quoted in the New York Herald Tribune on December 28, 1957, as having further stated that warnings that cigarettes may cause cancer are "terrorist" propaganda. Meanwhile, in the laboratories of our great medical centers and universities, the search goes on for the all-important unknown of medical science -- the cure for all forms of cancer. If the past history of medical research repeats itself, the answer will be found. The Board of Directors joins me in expressing appreciation for the cooperation and loyal support of stockholders and employees. Respectfully, February 3, 1958
B.J. Few
- Company
- Liggett & Myers
- Author
- Liggett & Myers Tobacco Company 1
- Recipient
- Shareholders of Liggett & Myers
Annotations
- 1. Liggett & Myers Tobacco Company Author
- Affiliation:
Liggett Myers
- Affiliation:
Document Images
1957
ANNUAL
REPORT
LIGGETT & MYERS
CO., INC.
TIMN 446241
TO THE STOCKHOLDERS:
This Forty-Seventh Annual Report of your Company's operations for 1957 gives you a general over-all
picture of its activities, as well as its audited financial statements. Following the trend of the
times,
there were unavoidable increases in manufacturing costs, including leaf tobacco and other mate-
rials, together with increases in selling and promotional expenses, which this year included the
heavy
initial costs of introducing our new OASIS brand. The results for the year, however, reflect
progress.
The comparable results of operations for the years ended December 31, 1957 and 1956 indicate
net sales for the year 1957 amounted to $570,384,860 the highest reported since 1953. Net income
applicable to common stock amounted to $26,812,420, equal to $6.85 per share, compared to $6.39
per share in 1956. The ratio of such income to net sales increased from 4.42% in 1956 to 4.70%
in 1957. Notes payable to banks at the end of the year were $53,310,000, representing a reduction of
$24,690,000 from the end of the previous year. As compared with the results for 1956, however,
interest on bank loans showed an increase of about $1,349,000, reflecting to a considerable extent
the much higher interest rates in effect during 1957.
It is significant that during the year a number of the most eminent men in medical science and
research made important statements about cigarette smoking and lung cancer. The author of the intro-
duction to Eric Northrup's book "Science Looks at Smoking" made the following statement:
"The evidence/rom both approaches, statistical and experimental, does not ap-
pear sufficiently significant to me to wa/~ant forsaking the pleasure o/smoking."
HARRY S. N. GREENE, M.C., C.M.
Professor, Chairman, Department of Pathology,
Yale University School of Medicine
TIMN 446242
At a later date, Dr. Greene further stated in his testimony before a Congressional Committee:
"My /eeling in this business is that there isn't anything in tobacco that is
carcinogenic, that is going to do the individaal any harm..."
Other statements on this subject also made before the Congressional Committee, include those of the
following outstanding and impartial medical authorities:
"I would l~nally state then that the total evidence I have tried to review )tails
to establish any sound basis on which a causative in[tuence can be assigned to
cigarette smoking in the production o/cancer o/ the hmg."
IAN G. MACDONALD, M.D.
Cancer specialist, Professor of Surgery, Radiolo-
gist, University of Southern California Medical
School; National Director, American Cancer So-
ciety; Chairman on Cancer, American Medical
Association.
"I find no reason to modi/y my previous opinion that the evidence, taken as a
whole, does not establish, on any reasonable scientific basis, that cigarette
smoking causes lung cancer. On the contrary, I have )tound more and stronger
reasons to doubt this conchtsion."
JOSEPH BERKSON, M.D.
Head of Biometry and Medical Statistics,
Mayo Clinic
As recently as December 27, 1957, Sir Ronald Fisher, internationally known as the "father of modern
statistics" and professor of genetics at Cambridge University, England, in an address at
Indianapolis,
before the American Association for the Advancement of Science said that evidence linking cigarette
smoking with lung cancer is decidedly "inconclusive." He was quoted in the New York HeraM Tribune
on December 28, 1957, as having further stated that warnings that cigarettes may cause cancer are
"terrorist" propaganda.
Meanwhile, in the laboratories of our great medical centers and universities, the search goes
on for
the all-important unknown of medical science -- the cure for all forms of cancer. If the past
history of
medical research repeats itself, the answer will be found.
The Board of Directors joins me in expressing appreciation for the cooperation and loyal
support
of stockholders and employees.
Respectfully,
February 3, 1958
TIMN 446243
---
The significance to the national economy of a modern corporation like
Liggett & Myers is greater today than ever before in history.
Your Company is owned by thousands of individuals, and hundreds of
institutions representing many more thousands of people.
Directly, your Company is influential in the economic well-being of thou-
sands of employees; indirectly, it provides economic opportunity for addi-
tional thousands of people at home and abroad.
The smokers and others who rely on your Company's products number
in the millions. In profits earned, in taxes paid, it contributes significantly
to an ever-expanding national economy.
In 1957 again, Liggett & Myers has met these responsibilities by con-
tinuing to pursue an aggressive policy in all areas of research, manufacture
and sales; by employing modern management methods; and by turning out
what your Company believes to be the very best products of their kind.
Ownership
There are now approximately 46,600 Common and Preferred stockholders
of Liggett & Myers. This is an increase of 1,200 stockholders (about 2.6 per
cent) over 1956.
The stock of your Company is widely held, ranging from a few shares
in the hands of thousands of individual stockholders to many hundreds of
shares owned by hospitals, educational institutions, profit-sharing trusts,
insurance companies, estates, banks and investment groups.
Approximately 76 per cent of the total stock of your Company, both
Common and Preferred, was voted either by person or proxy, at the last
annual stockholders' meeting of Liggett & Myers on March 11, 1957.
Employees
Liggett & Myers is justly proud of its excellent relations with its 9,000
employees, whose average length of service is well over ten years.
Working conditions are unsurpassed. The factories and offices are the
most modern in the industry, air-conditioned, superbly lighted, and equipped
with every known device to insure safety and guard health. Available to all
employees is a complete progressive benefits plan, a medical staff in atten-
dance at all times, and cafeterias serving excellent meals at cost.
A bout nine thousand employees work in modern,
efficient, pleasant surroundings, turning out
your Company's products.
In 1911, when Liggett & Myers was founded,
thenumber oJ the Company's stockholders was
limited. Today, your Company is owned by well
over 46,000 individuals and institutions repre-
senting a complete cross-section of A merica.
TIMN 446245
3
Liggett & Myers plants are strategically
located near the big tobacco markets Facto~'igs
and are considered the most
modern in the industry. To date, more than a half million people
have toured Liggett & Myers fac-
tories. Many of these visitors are
stockholders in the Company, and have seen
for themselves the infinite care used in
the manufacture and packaging of
the Company's products. The modern,
up-to-date machinery used in all
departments is the finest equipment money
can buy. Your Company extends
a cordial invitation to you and your
friends to visit the Liggett & Myers
cigarette factories whenever you are in the
vicinity. Our cigarette factories
are located at Durham, North Carolina and
Richmond, Virginia.
In St. Louis, Missouri, a third main
factory makes chewing tobacco and
many brands of pipe tobacco. In the bright
and burley tobacco-growing
states are located conditioning and storage
facilities covering hundreds of
acres. The Company also has plaints in the
Near East where Turkish tobaccos
"Gunsmoke" star ]ames Arness, comedian grown there are processed for ou~ cigarette
blends. These plants are at Izmir
Edgar Bergen, Ben Alexander o] "Dragnet" and Samsun in Turkey, and Cavalla and
Xanthi in Greece.
and singer Edye Gorme were among the 60
thousand visitors who toured your Company's
plants in 1957. Visitors are always welcome. I~esc£ll"Ch
Nearly forty years ago your Company recognized that through continuous
research, the quality of our tobacco products could not only be
controlled,
but raised to a point of unmatched excellence.
Today, such quality in Liggett & Myers products is an accomplished
fact.
Through study of our own and competitive products, through analyses of
thousands of pounds of tobacco, your Company's products enjoy the benefits
TIMN 446246
TI~IN 446247
Liggett & Myers products and copnpetitive
brands are submitted constantly to exacting
research in laboratories which are
considered the finest in the industry.
5
of the many improvements which have been made in the growing, processing
and packaging of tobacco.
Working closely with our modern factories, these laboratories make
constant quality tests to make sure that all Liggett & Myers tobacco products
measure up to the most exacting standards. In addition, they constantly seek
ways in which your Company's products can be improved.
One recent example is the "Miracle Tip" which Was developed in our
research laboratories and is now used on L&M and Oasis cigarettes. Your
Company was the first to announce in September 1957 the granting of a
U. S. Government patent for a modern cigarette filter... The pure white
"Miracle Tip."
Another example is the new Accu-Ray quality control system, developed
at the Company's request by the Industrial Nucleonics Corporation and now
widely used in other industries as well. Accu-Ray is one of the greatest ad-
vances in the manufacture of cigarettes in the last thirty years. Each and
every cigarette made by the Company is perfectly packed . . . 14 per cent
more so than cigarettes made without Accu-Ray. As a result, all Liggett &
Myers cigarettes now burn more evenly, have no "hot spots" or "hard draw,"
and, therefore, give more smoking pleasure.
The Liggett & Myers Research Program is centered in Durham, North
Carolina. The laboratories are considered the finest and most advanced in
the industry.
The program is further implemented by grants to universities for tobacco
research, and for major research programs, by the use of scientific organiza-
tions including Arthur D. Little, Inc., of Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Tobacco TIIIVIN 446248
Liggett & Myers tobacco buyers today cover every important tobacco market,
selecting only the choicest tobaccos to meet the exacting standards set for
Liggett & Myers products.
Liggett & Myers Accu-Ray quality control
is a nuclear gauge which passes a continuous
stream o/electrons through the cigarette
and analyzes it while it is actually being made.
TIMN 446249
Liggett & Myers looks to
young people in increasing
numbers not only as new
customers/or your
Company's products, but
as valued employees who
will assume tomorrow's
management
responsibilities.
Hundreds of acres of land in the United States
are now producing Turkish tobacco, an
agricultural development which your
Company helped pioneer.
Your Company's cigarettes are available
to our Armed Forces all over the ~vorld.
Continual international promotion has tnade
your Cdmpany's products known and enjoyed
in practically every corner of the world.
These buyers have grown up in the tobacco business and their average
length of service is greater than the Company average. Through long years
of experience they have gained what every Liggett & Myers tobacco buyer
must have -- an instinctive eye for good tobacco and a thorough knowledge
of how to buy it.
For years, Liggett & Myers research scientists have contributed important
research toward continuing tobacco improvement programs with the U. S.
Department of Agriculture and State Agricultural Departments.
Your Company helped play an important part in the pioneering of the
growth of Turkish tobacco in this country. Ten years ago, Turkish tobacco
was raised by only a handful of farmers mostly on an experimental basis.
Today, many farmers are raising Turkish-type tobaccos as a profitable crop.
In addition to providing a new use for previously unproductive land, growing
Turkish tobacco has opened new economic opportunities in this country.
In time, the tobacco industry may be assured of a continuing domestic supply
of this crop which is so essential in the seasoning of cigarettes.
Non-filter cigarettes
Despite the rapid growth of filtered and mentholated brands, most people
still prefer a non-filtered cigarette. Today, more than half of all cigarette
business is still concentrated in non-filter brands, and Chesterfield continues
to be one of the most popular in both King and Regular sizes. Its attractive,
clean white pack is well known to millions of its friends around the globe.
In addition to Chesterfield, the Company continues to produce other non-
filter brands that have a loyal following in many areas the world over. Among
these are Coupon, Fatima, Home Run, Picayune, Piedmont, Spur and others.
Filter cigarettes
The continuing success of the L&M Filter brand has advanced it to a posi-
tion among the top-selling brands of all types, and the second largest-selling
filter brand.
The importance to the Com~ny of this continued growth is readily
apparent from the gains of the filter segment of the market. From a 30 per
cent share of total market in 1956, filters rose above the 40 per cent level
before the end of 1957.
The demand for the L&M brand was assured of further gains early in
1957 when the national distribution of the L&M crushproof box -- com-
panion to the L&M King and Regular packs - was completed. In fact, L&M
is the only filter cigarette which is now offered for sale in these three sizes
in the United States.
TIMN 446250
