The Councils of the Gray Wolves, 1871–1931

Lincoln Steffens, a reporter for McClure&s;s Magazine, named the Chicago aldermen "&s;the gray wolves&s; for the color of their hair and the rapacious cunning and greed of their natures". In the city council, power was split between powerful committee chairmen, and in the political system, it was split between competing party bosses in the wards. The battle over the street railways and public ownership of utilities was not new to the city council. At the turn of the century, "the unwieldy body of the Chicago City Council offered a vision of political fragmentation and a patchwork of competing fiefdoms. Political corruption was wide-open [at the end of] nineteenth century Chicago, and it merely changed its form as the twentieth century took shape". However, Mayor Edward Dunne never gained control over the fragmented council of Gray Wolves, which was still run by the ward bosses and their allies.