Field theory of massive and massless vector particles is considered in the
first-order formalism. The Hamiltonian form of equations is obtained after the
exclusion of non-dynamical components. We obtain the canonical and symmetrical
Belinfante energy-momentum tensors and their nonzero traces. We note that the
dilatation symmetry is broken in the massive case but in the massless case the
modified dilatation current is conserved. The canonical quantization is
performed and the propagator of the massive fields is found in the Duffin -
Kemmer - Petiau formalism.Comment: 20 pages, typos corrected, a reference added, journal version,
accepted in Int.J.Mod.Phys.