TWO DISTINGUISHED VERMONT ALUMNI
The large work which Dartmouth College continues to do for the country from generation to generation by training men for the public service is illustrated anew by the careers of two of its most eminent graduates, recently deceased, whose deaths were recorded in the August issue of this magazine, Henry Clay Ide of the class of 1866 and Charles Azro Prouty of the class of 1875.
It is significant that although the important offices in which these two men served their country and won high distinction were markedly unlike, their natUral talents, mental and moral characteristics and the preparation which they brought to the discharge of their duties were remarkably alike. Both were Vermonters, prepared for college in St. Johnsbury Academy, pursued the same liberal course of studies in Dartmouth, where each won the valedictory honors of his class, and after entering upon the practice of law in Vermont rapidly , rose to the front rank at its bar and served their native state in like political offices.
The career of Mr. Ide as a civil officer of the United States in foreign lands was unique for it combined the services commonly described as those of a colonial administrator, legislator, and magistrate With those of a diplomat. In 1893 by the joint appointment of the protecting powers, Great Britian, Germany and the United States, Mr. Ide assumed the office of Chief Justice of Samoa which he held until 1897. Upon retiring from that position Lord Salisbury, then Prime Minister of England expressed to Mr. Ide, in a letter, his high appreciation of the way in which he had discharged his important duties under the Protectorate. The Samoan Herald said—"The judical administration of Mr. Ide has been an unqualified success—He has had practically to create as well as control the legal system of which he is the head. Over 1500 appeals, to say nothing of uncontested cases, have been dealt with by him and over 7,000,000 acres of land have been restored to their native owners." King Malietoa upon bidding the Chief Justice farewell paid him the highest tribute which it is possible for a subject people to bestow upon a Colonial administrator and magistrate saying: "We Samoans know that you have been . our strength and rock, and that you have protected the weak against the strong. This is not merely what I, the king, and the chiefs here say, but these are the words that come'from the mouths of the common people all over Samoa. You will be remembered as the good Chief Justice who knew our ways and laws and customs and was kind and just to us."
In 1900 President McKinley appointed Mr. Ide a member of the Philippine Commission of which Mr. Taft was chairman, to organize and administer civil government in the Philippine Islands and he was assigned the duties of Minister of Justice and of Finance. In these offices he reorganized the entire administration of justice including the courts, drafted some three hundred substantive laws and a code of civil procedure, established a new financial administration for the Islands, reformed their currency, banking system, customs and internal revenue laws, and the system of land registration. Having resigned the office of Governor General of the Islands to which he had succeeded in 1906 because of the effects of the climate upon his health, President Roosevelt formally expressed his "high appreciation of the great value of Mr. Ide's earnest and able service for the last six years to the Government of the United States and to the people of the Islands." Upon leaving the Islands, the Manila Chamber of Commerce and the Manila press alike paid him tribute as a great Colonial Administrator whose understanding of the subject people, their institutions and laws, whose patience, justice and tact would cause him long to be remembered.
Mr. Ide's appointment by President Taft in 1909 as Minister to Spain was a marked recognition by the former Chairman of the Philippine Commission of the great service he had rendered to the country and of his eminent qualifications for high diplomatic office. He performed he duties of this diplomatic office with signal ability, efficiency and tact until 1913 when he resigned, worn by his long and arduous public service, and eagerly sought the guerdon of well earned rest. In a letter written since his death, from which we are permitted to quote, Ex-President Taft, than whom no one is better qualified to judge of his character and attainments, says: "Mr. Ide was a rare man, uniting with the rugged characteristics of the honest, straightforward Vermonter, the great ability of a trained lawyer and judge and the softer qualities of diplomatic training'. More than this he was a good fellow who played the game and attached his companions to him with hooks of steel."
Mr. Prouty was known throughout the country as a member of the Interstate' Commerce Commission, 1896-1914, Director of Valuation of Railways, 1914-21 and Director of Public Service and Accounting of the Railroad Administration. 1918-20. The value of his services to his generation hardly can be overestimated, especially by those who are familiar with the nature, importance and urgency of the work which Congress imposed upon the Interstate Commerce Commission in 1887 by the law creating it and its subsequent amendments. This was nothing less than the regulation of the agencies of interstate commerce, primarily of the privately owned railroads throughout the country, the unification of their diverse and competing systems and the protection of the public by the requirement of good service, reasonable rates, and fair treatment of all sections and persons. The vast area of the country, its varied economic conditions and the magnitude of the interests, both public and private, involved, have made the work of this Commission one of the most difficult undertaken in recent times by any government. The personal share of Mr. Prouty in these labors, since 1896 in the great work which this commission has accomplished, his constructive labors upon it and his remarkable foresight which often has hastened the adoption of a progressive railroad policy, can be best judged by those who have been associated with him in this great undertaking and are themselves recognized experts. Among these Professor Frank H. Dixon of Princeton University formerly Professor of Economics at Dartmouth thus writes : "Mr. Prouty was one of the leading members of the commission during his incumbency. His opinions stand out because of their clarity, their cogency, and their keen insight and analysis of conditions. His influence upon the Commission steadily grew until it was wellnigh predominant at the end.
"He took the position of Director of Valuation because he felt that to be one great constructive piece of work essential as a basis for sound railroad regulation. Much had been accomplished at the time of his death in the establishment of the fundamental principles of valuation, and the field work and accounting work was virtually completed. But much of the most important task still remains in which his outstanding ability will be sorely missed—and that is in establishing by means of judicial decision the final answer to the many controverted questions that must be reached,before the valuation becomes a permanent factor in rate regulation. The results are immensely valuable and will not be lost, but someone must be found to take up his task where he dropped it.
"His work as Director of the Division of Public Service and Accounting in the Railroad Administration was all of a piece with his work for the Commission, —constructive and enduring.
"It is difficult to characterize in a few words a man of his unusual talent. If I were to try and express in a word Judge Prouty's most outstanding characteristic, I should call it his far-sightedness. He was always ahead of the country in his thinking. By the time what he had advocated as a radical had become commonplace, he was striding ahead toward a new goal. His advocacy of giving the Commission rate-making power was the first striking example of that, his belief in and development of valuation was the last."
It must suffice to add that the names of Henry Clay Ide and Charles Azro Prouty should be placed high on the roll of honor of those whom the College has contributed to the civil service of the country and that when it conferred upon each of them its highest degree, Doctor of Laws, it did itself honor.
HENRY CLAY IDE '66
CHARLES A. PROUTY '75
Patker Professor of Law and Political Science, Emeritus
