[HOVSTAD _sits on sofa; the_ DOCTOR _in an easy-chair on the other side of the table._ DR. STOCKMANN. Well, so you think——? HOVSTAD. You said yesterday that the water is polluted by impurities in the soil. DR. STOCKMANN. Yes, undoubtedly; the mischief comes from that poisonous swamp up in the Mill Dale. HOVSTAD. Excuse me, Doctor, but I think it comes from a very different swamp. DR. STOCKMANN. What swamp may that be? HOVSTAD. The swamp in which our whole municipal life is rotting. DR. STOCKMANN. The devil, Mr. Hovstad! What notion is this you’ve got hold of? HOVSTAD. All the affairs of the town have gradually drifted into the hands of a pack of bureaucrats—— DR. STOCKMANN. Come now, they’re not all bureaucrats. HOVSTAD. No; but those who are not are the friends and adherents of those who are. We are entirely under the thumb of a ring of wealthy men, men of old family and position in the town. DR. STOCKMANN. Yes, but they are also men of ability and insight. HOVSTAD. Did they show ability and insight when they laid the water-pipes where they are? DR. STOCKMANN. No; that, of course, was a piece of stupidity. But that will be set right now. HOVSTAD. Do you think it will go so smoothly? DR. STOCKMANN. Well, smoothly or not, it will have to be done. HOVSTAD. Yes, if the press exerts its influence. DR. STOCKMANN. Not at all necessary, my dear fellow; I am sure my brother—— HOVSTAD. Excuse me, Doctor, but I must tell you that I think of taking the matter up. DR. STOCKMANN. In the paper? HOVSTAD. Yes. When I took over the _People’s Messenger_, I was determined to break up the ring of obstinate old blockheads who held everything in their hands. DR. STOCKMANN. But you told me yourself what came of it. You nearly ruined the paper. HOVSTAD. Yes, at that time we had to draw in our horns, that’s true enough. The whole Bath scheme might have fallen through if these men had been sent about their business. But now the Baths are an accomplished fact, and we can get on without these august personages. DR. STOCKMANN. Get on without them, yes; but still we owe them a great deal. HOVSTAD.