Page:The collected works of Henrik Ibsen (Volume 6).djvu/384

 Bernick.

Take, for example, a man who is starting a large manufactory. He knows very well—for all experience has taught him—that sooner or later, in the working of that manufactory, human life will be lost.

Rörlund.

Yes, it is only too probable.

Bernick.

Or suppose he is about to open a mine. He takes into his service both fathers of families and young men in the heyday of life. May it not be predicted with certainty that some will perish in the undertaking?

Rörlund.

Unhappily there can be little doubt of that.

Bernick.

Well; such a man, then, knows beforehand that his enterprise will undoubtedly, some time or other, lead to the loss of life. But the undertaking is for the greater good of the greater number; for every life it costs, it will, with equal certainty, promote the welfare of many hundreds.

Rörlund.

Ah, you are thinking of the railway—of all the dangerous tunnellings, and blastings, and that sort of thing

Bernick.

Yes—yes, of course—I am thinking of the railway. And, besides, the railway will bring with it both manufactories and mines. But don't you think that