.1902. 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION. 



lOI 



Washington and on the Peninsula. In 

 October, [S62, he was made colonel of 

 the Fifteenth Vermont, a nine months' 

 regiment, and commanded it at the bat- 

 tle of Getty.sburg, and until its term of 

 service ended. After the war Colonel 

 Proctor formed a law partnership at 

 Rutland, Vermont, with W. G. Veazy, 

 but in 1869 he gave up law practice and 

 accepted the office of manager of the 

 Sutherland Falls Marble Company. In 

 1880, when that company, with another, 

 united as the Vermont Marble Com- 

 pany, one of the largest companies of 

 the kind in the world. Colonel Proctor 

 was chosen president, and in this position 

 displayed rare executive ability. He 

 took a keen interest in the welfare of 

 the 1,000 workmen employed by the 

 company, and presentee! them with a 

 librar}' of 3,000 volumes. 



He began his political career as a se- 

 lectman in Rutland; later became a mem- 

 ber of the Vermont legislature 1867, 

 1868, 1888. He was a member of the 

 state senate and president pro tempore 

 1874-1875. 



Colonel Proctor was elected Lieuten- 

 ant-Governor of Vermont in 1876, and 

 in 1878 was chosen Governor by 20,000 

 majority. His administration of that 

 office resulted in a reduction of state 

 expenses, the passage of a law estab- 

 lishing savings banks, a law compelling 

 every tax-payer in the state to swear to 

 his list, and a revision of the statutes of 

 the state. He was a delegate to the Na- 

 tional Republican Convention of 1884, 

 and in 1888 was chairman of the Ver- 

 mont delegation to the Chicago Na- 

 tional Republican Convention. 



In March, 1889, he was chosen Sec- 

 retary of War by President Harrison, 

 and filled that position until November 

 2, 1S91, when he was appointed U. S. 

 Senator by Governor Page, of Vermont, 

 to succeed Hon. Geo. F. Edmunds, who 

 had resigned. He took his seat Decem- 

 ber 7, at the opening of the Fift3'-second 

 Congress. 



While Secretary of War, he gave 

 special attention to coast and border de- 

 fense, the building of modern guns for 

 fortification and field purposes, the re- 



organization of the army, and the prepa- 

 ration of new tactics to meet modern 

 conditions. He gave unremitting atten- 

 tion to the subjects of bettering the con- 

 dition of enlisted men and raising the 

 standard of recruits. The rations were 

 improved, the rewards for soldierly con- 

 duct raised, and the difficult subject of 

 punishment received close attention. 



Under the lead of Secretary Proctor 

 more wholesome legi.slation was secured 

 for the arnn- than at any previous time 

 in an equal period. The country' has 

 reason for deep satisfaction in the pro- 

 gress made during his administration in 

 the work of national defense. He gave 

 his attention to this vital subject from 

 the moment he entered upon his duties. 

 His personal experience at the time of 

 the St. Albans raid gave the question 

 of border defen.se along the Great Lakes 

 its proper weight in his mind in relation 

 to the great and pressing problems of 

 harbor protection. His work was quiet, 

 but effective. He soon created unusual 

 interest in the connnittees of the Hou.se 

 and Senate in charge of this matter. 

 His plain and practical presentation of 

 the fact that our great cities, both on 

 the sea and lakes, were utterly defense- 

 less soon carried conviction and gained 

 general support for an appropriation as 

 large as could be profitabh' expended 

 within the year for the purchase of sites 

 for fortifications for the construction of 

 batteries and mines, for establishing the 

 great gun factory at Water^-liet, N. Y., 

 and for the manufacture of heavy guns 

 for sea-coa.st defense. 



In 1892 Senator Proctor was elected 

 to fill both the unexpired term of Sen- 

 ator Edmunds and also the succeeding 

 term. He was re-elected in 1898, and 

 his present term will expire in 1905. 

 Earh' in 1898 he visited Cuba, and his 

 .speech in the Senate on the Cuban re- 

 concentrados after his return attracted 

 wide attention. vSenator Proctor, in 

 addition to being chairman of the Sen- 

 ate Committee on Agriculture and For- 

 estry, is also a member of the Commit- 

 tees on Military Affairs, Fisheries, the 

 Philippines, and Industrial Expositions. 

 His home is at Proctor, \"t. 



