“I was prepared to run the report. Honestly, I was. I believe in freedom of the press, freedom of opinion—I’ve said it a hundred times. When the Doctor brought me those pages, I told him: “A signed article is the author’s responsibility.” And I meant that. But then the Mayor speaks. Sat me down. No threats. Just facts.

The Springs are a private corporation, yes. But any major renovation to the water system? That’s municipal infrastructure. And that means municipal loans. Loans paid back with public taxes. I said, “You’re joking. You can’t ask the citizens to foot the bill for a private spa.”
He said, “That’s how it works when public health is involved.” And it hit me. This isn’t just a scandal. It’s a catastrophe. Two years with no tourism. No revenue. Meanwhile, we’re raising taxes on the very people who’ve been holding this town together with bailing wire and blind hope.

And all because of this report.

The Mayor called it a hallucination. A vendetta. A man so obsessed with proving his moral superiority that he’s willing to sink the very town that gave him a job, a title, a name. And I—I started to see it. I mean, he’s always had a streak, hasn’t he? That tone. That gleam in the eye when he’s tearing something down, even when no one asked for it. What if it isn’t about truth? What if this whole thing is just his way of finally beating his brother?

I know, I know. I was just his biggest supporter. But I hadn’t seen the full picture. I didn’t understand what he was risking. And then I find out he’s been bad-mouthing me? Telling people I’m a coward? A sell-out? After all the dinners, the late nights at the press room, the times I printed his articles without question? That’s not just betrayal. That’s hubris. That’s self-destruction masquerading as moral clarity.

I want to be very clear: I no longer support the publication of the report.
I’m not going to sacrifice this paper—the only paper in town—on the altar of one man’s rage.

We are not scientists. We are citizens. And as a citizen, I cannot justify bankrupting this community for the sake of an abstract principle. Democracy is not the will of one man with a microscope. It’s the will of the people. And when the people stand overwhelmingly opposed to something, it’s tyranny to impose your will on them—no matter how “right” you think you are.

So let me say this now, as clearly as I can.

Though I have shared meals with Doctor Stockmann, though I once called him a friend, I now cut myself off from him—entirely. He is not acting in the interest of public health. He is not acting in the interest of truth. He is acting in the interest of destruction.

And the people—decent, hardworking, patriotic people—must declare:
Doctor Stockmann is an enemy of the people.

He has turned his back on this town, and so we must turn our backs on him.”