there is the press,—that
is the medium for his purpose! The staff of the People's Messenger—Hovstad, Billings, and Aslaksen, are deeply impressed by the Doctor's
discovery. With one eye to good copy and the other to the political
chances, they immediately put the People's Messenger at
the disposal of Thomas Stockmann. Hovstad sees great
possibilities for a thorough radical reform of the whole life
of the community.
Hovstad. To you, as a doctor and a man of
science, this business of the water-works is an isolated affair.
I fancy it hasn't occurred to you that a good many other things
are connected with it. . . . The swamp our whole municipal life
stands and rots in. . . . I think a journalist assumes an immense
responsibility when he neglects an opportunity of aiding the masses,
the poor, the oppressed. I know well enough that the upper classes
will call this stirring up the people, and so forth, but they
can do as they please, if only my conscience is clear.
Aslaksen, printer of the People's Messenger, chairman of the Householders' Association, and agent for the Moderation Society, has, like Hovstad, a keen eye to business. He assures the Doctor of his whole-hearted coöperation, especially emphasizing that, "It might do you no harm to have us middle-class men at your back. We now form a compact majority in the town—when we really make up our minds to. And it's
