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The Gray Wolves were corrupt
The Gray Wolves were corrupt Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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aldermen who held office from the 1890s to the 1930s.
The Gray Wolves were led by First Ward aldermen "Bathhouse" John Coughlin, "Hinky Dink" Mike Kenna, and Johnny Powers of the Nineteenth Ward.
The Chicago City Council
The Chicago City Council is the legislative branch of the government of the City of Chicago in Illinois. It consists of 50 alderpersons elected from 50 wards to serve four-year terms. The council is gaveled into session regularly, usually mon ...
frequently gave franchises to private businesses to maintain public services. Many businesses bribed the aldermen to be awarded such contracts, a practice known as "boodling".
The Ogden Gas Company Scandal
In 1895 the Gray Wolves awarded a franchise to the non-existent Ogden Gas Company to force the existing franchise holder to buy up the rights of Ogden Gas. This and similar schemes resulted in the formation of the Municipal Voters League in 1896 to throw the Gray Wolves aldermen off the council.Lincoln Steffens
Lincoln Austin Steffens (April 6, 1866 – August 9, 1936) was an American investigative journalist and one of the leading muckrakers of the Progressive Era in the early 20th century. He launched a series of articles in ''McClure's'', called "Twee ...
, a muck-raking reporter from ''McClure's Magazine
''McClure's'' or ''McClure's Magazine'' (1893–1929) was an American illustrated monthly periodical popular at the turn of the 20th century. The magazine is credited with having started the tradition of muckraking journalism ( investigative, wa ...
'', was the first to describe these aldermen as gray wolves "for the color of their hair and the rapacious cunning and greed of their natures."{{cite web, url=http://www.themillionsblog.com/2007/02/ghosts-in-chicagos-political-machine.html , title=The Ghosts in Chicago's Political Machine , accessdate=2008-03-22 , author=Emre Peker , date=2007-02-03 , publisher=The Millions , archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080309223425/http://www.themillionsblog.com/2007/02/ghosts-in-chicagos-political-machine.html , archivedate=2008-03-09 , url-status=dead
See also
*Lords of the Levee
''Lords of the Levee'' is a 1943 non-fiction book by longtime ''Chicago Tribune'' reporters Lloyd Wendt and Herman Kogan in one of three collaborations about the city of Chicago, focusing on its politicians "Bathhouse" John Coughlin and "Hinky ...
* Black Horse Cavalry
The Black Horse Cavalry was a corrupt bipartisan group in the New York state legislature. During the last quarter of the 19th century, it preyed particularly on corporations and usually blackmailed by introducing bills against the corporations ( s ...
References