1904 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



299 



HON. JAMES H. ECKELS, 



A LEADING FINANCIER AND ONE OF THE STRONGEST ADVOCATES OF NATIONAL IRRIGATION. 



ONE of the first of our public men to take an active interest in the reclamation of the arid 

 lands of the West was Hon. James Herron Eckels. As treasurer of the National Irriga- 

 tion Association, and in many other ways, he has assisted this great cause. Few men 

 of his age have been so long in positions of great responsibility as Mr. Eckels. As a public ser- 

 vant and as a business man he has won general esteem and confidence. He was born in Prince- 

 ton, 111., November 22, 1858. He was educated in city public and high schools, graduating in 

 1876. He graduated from Albany, N. Y., Law School in 1880, practiced law at Ottawa, 111., 

 from i88i-'93, atl( i was appointed, April 3, 1893, Comptroller of Currency. He is a Democrat, 

 and has made many speeches on the currency question, becoming prominent as a gold-standard 

 advocate. In 1896 he affiliated with the National (gold-standard) Democrats. He remained in 

 office until the end of 1897, becoming, January i, 1898, president of the Commercial National 

 Bank of Chicago. 



