and political associations. In congress he urged moderate action in reference to the Chinese Exclusion bill and his speech on the question of the annexation of the Hawaiian Islands was adopted as a part of the senate report and was reprinted repeatedly and largely circulated. During his second term he took a conservative position in regard to the three great questions that came before the committee on Foreign Affairs, the Venezuelan, the censure of Ambassador Bayard, and the position of the Government toward the inhabitants of Cuba. He was the only Republican on the committee to oppose the resolution censuring Ambassador Bayard; and his speech in the house in which he gave his reasons for opposing his party on the question was widely copied and distributed by the conservatives of both parties. On the Cuban question he counselled moderation and conformity with international law, rather than appeals to sympathy. In the deliberations of the committee on Patents and before the house he carried through the revision of the patent laws which became a law on the last day of the session and received the signature of President Cleveland on the morning of March 4, 1897. He was also successful in passing the bill affecting dramatic copyright and bills regarding injunctions and the price of copies of patents. He was the permanent chairman of the Republican state convention of October, 1896, and his speech before the convention was used as a campaign document by the Republican national committee. In September, 1862, he was married to Lydia W. Joy, adopted daughter of the Honorable David Joy of Nantucket, Massachusetts. There were five children; and two sons, William F. Jr., and George Otis, became members of the firm of George Draper and Sons. Mrs. Draper died in 1884, and on May 22, 1890, General Draper married Susan, daughter of Major-General William Preston of Kentucky, United States Minister to Spain under President Buchanan, and a major-general in the Confederate army. His church affiliation was with the Unitarian denomination. General Draper received the honorary degree of LL.D. from Washington and Lee university; and the King of Italy decorated him with the Grand Cordon of the Order of Saints Maurice et Leagare.
