STKVENSON, ADLAI KWINO. 



713 



defeated his Republican opponent, the sitting 

 mi ml', r. (..'II. .lohn C. McNnlta, by 1,282 votes. 

 While in the 44th Congress he served on the Com- 

 mittees of the District of Columbia and Terri- 

 tories. Ho was renominated by acclamation in 

 1876, but was defeated, the district giving a 

 majority of 242 votes for his Republican oppo- 

 nent while Mr. Hayes carried it by a majority of 

 nearly 8,000 for President. In the short session 

 of the 44th Congress he was in his seat during 

 all tuu exciting scenes that accompanied the 



man T. F. Tipton, Republican, and 184 votes for 

 L. M. Bickrnore, Prohibitionist. In the 46th 

 Congress he served as Chairman of the Commit- 

 tee on Mines and Mining. At the end of his 

 term, in 1881, he returned again to his law prac- 

 tice at Bloomington, but retained his political 

 connections and was looked upon as the leader of 

 the Democracy in his section of the State. 



By the Democrats he was chosen as a delegate 

 in 1884 to the National Convention that nomi- 

 nated Qrover Cleveland for President, and after 



MH M EWINO STEVKXSOX. 



counting of the electoral votes in the Tilden- 

 Hayes contest, and was always an earnest and 

 outspoken advocate of a peaceful settlement of 

 I lie ditTerences in the great controversy. On the 

 expiration of his term he resumed his law prac- 

 tice, and he served in 187? as a member 01 the 

 Board of Visitors to West Point. The next year 

 he was nominated for Congress in the Blooming- 

 ton district by the National Greenback-Labor 

 party. He was accepted by the Democrats, and 

 carried every county in the district, receiving 

 13,870 votes, against 12,058 votes for Congress. 



the latter's election Mr. Stevenson was appointed 

 First Assistant Postmaster-General. This ap- 

 pointment was undoubtedly due to Mr. Vilas, 

 Mr. Cleveland's Postmaster-General, who had 

 been Mr. Stevenson's close personal friend for 

 years. In his capacity of First Assistant he 

 had jurisdiction over tne appointments of more 

 than 44,000 third-class postmasters. He was 

 outspoken in his belief that, other things being 

 equal, when reputable and efficient Democratic 

 applicants presented themselves as candidates, it 

 was his duty to remove Republican postmasters 



