Reviews of Books GENERAL DRAPER'S AUTOBIOGRAPHY Recollections of a Varied Career. By William F. Draper. Little, Brown & 00., Boston. Pp. 399+ index. With nine illustrations. ($3.00 net.)
HE Drapers of Hopedale are one of the families in which Massachusetts takes proper pride, in view of many substantial qualities and useful public services. The great manufactory of textile machinery which has been built up in the model Massa chusetts town testifies to the sagacity and thrift of several generations, and the family has furnished many men of strong and up right character readily responsive to the call of public duty, among them the present Governor of Massachusetts, who is the younger brother of the author of this notable auto biography. The Drapers have had an unusual history, as every one in the direct line for three cen turies back, in New England, has been di
rectly connected with the manufacture of cloth. Several of General Draper's ancestors were also oflicers in the Colonial and Revo lutionary wars. The paternal side of the family may be said to have had for its symbols the loom and the sword. These hereditary influences were mingled on the maternal side with those of a line of forbears who were chiefly farmers and soldiers. The Draper ancestry thus offers a typical example of energetic New England stock. Such ante cedents explain in some measure General Draper's chief characteristics, his industry, practical wisdom, courage and love of sim plicity. One of his grandfathers, Ira Draper, was an inventor of cotton machinery who never succeeded in turning his inventions to pecu niary profit. The other, Benjamin Thwing, was a school-teacher noted in his_profession. The inventive genius of Ira Draper was trans mitted to the second and third generation,
but the grandson fortunately inherited from his father a strong business faculty which enabled him to become more successful in placing his inventions upon the market than either the father or the grandfather, and the result was that by means of close economy in early life, by intense application to business, and by twenty years of concen trated effort he was able to amass a large fortune. This was acquired mainly as a recompense for his own exertions, and as his
father, though he later became well-to-do according to the standards of an earlier time,
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was not in a position to assist him materially, General Draper might in a sense perhaps be called a self-made man. Besides inheriting his father's business ability, he also shared his self-assertive individuality and active interest in public questions. It was but natural, therefore, that the son should dis tinguish himself not only in business but in public service, that he should fight honorably as an officer on the Union side in the Civil War, should be sent to Congress for two terms, and should be selected by President McKinley for Ambassador to Italy, besides holding such offices as that of president of the Home Market Club, which has always actively led the protectionist movement in New England. General Draper: was always a strong pro tectionist. He refers somewhat humorously to his father having been thrown out of em ployment in 1839, owing to the depression in manufacturing caused by the reduction in the tariff, when, after looking vainly for work, he finally had to accept a position as an opera tive at Lowell at five dollars a Week. This experience convinced the elder Draper of the advantage of a protective tariff and he never forgot it. The son found the business of the Hopedale mills much affected by the tariff discussions and the reductions involved in the Wilson bill. The number of employees went down from twelve hundred employed at full time in 1892 to a little more than three hundred at three-quarters time in 1894, and wages had to be reduced. According to his protectionist theories, Republican success in 1896 was to result in a great stimulus to the business, and this proved to be the case, for in 1897 the force had to be increased to seven hundred, and during the next two or three years it had gradually swelled to eighteen hundred. It then became evident that radi cal enlargement must be made, and in the
course of a forty days’ leave of absence from diplomatic service, plans for more than doubling the plant were developed with the result that in short time three thousand operatives were at work. As a policy of rapid expansion was under discussion, General Draper then felt obliged to resign his Am bassadorship in order to retain his leadership of the business. His description of the vicissitudes of the great establishment and of details of the industry is most interesting. It affords a striking example of the practical operation of a high protective tariff. General Draper's reminiscences give an interesting portrayal of business and social
