Excerpt from Grover Cleveland’s “Plain Speech Veto” speech
The bid thus accepted by your Honorable Body is more than one hundred thousand dollars higher than that of another perfectly responsible party for the same work; and a worse or more suspicious feature in this transaction is that bid now accepted is fifty thousand dollars more than that made by Mr. Talbot himself within a very few weeks, openly and publicly to your Honorable Body, for performing precisely the same services. This latter circumstance is, to my mind, the manifestation on the part of the contractor of a reliance upon the forbearance and generosity of your Honorable Body, which would be more creditable if it were less expensive to the taxpayers.
. . .
This is a time for plain speech, and my objection to the action of your honorable body now under consideration shall be plainly understood. I withhold my assent from the same because I regard it as the culmination of a most barefaced, impudent, and shameless scheme to betray the interests of the people, and to worse than squander the public money.
. . .
We are fast gaining positions in the grades of public stewardships. There is no middle ground. Those who are not for the people, either in or out of your honorable body, are against them, and should be treated accordingly.
Use the excerpt to answer the question.
Which one of the following Progressive Era goals does Cleveland seek to achieve?
A.
eradicate municipal corruption
B.
admonish harmless government bodies
C.
improve working conditions for taxpayers
D.
allow for greater competition within industries