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181A
Berlin
4 November 1913
Dear Professor,
I am answering you by return and therefore in haste, without giving your second question sufficient and calm consideration.
Your first question is quickly answered. If you are willing to entrust me with the editing, I would (with Hitschmann's collaboration) undertake it naturally and gladly. Jung's resignation from the editorship is a good thing for us, and one must definitely not leave the Jahrbuch in his hands by your giving up the directorship. I fully approve of the programme as you are planning it. I believe that if all three journals are edited in the same spirit, this can only benefit psychoanalysis. Unfortunately, we know nothing of Jung's real motives. He will certainly not give up his position unless he has some other plan.
The question of the dissolution of the Association is a most delicate one. Our rules do not contain a paragraph dealing with this contingency. On going through them, I even notice that the president is elected for a term of two years. We could not, therefore, elect a different president in the autumn of 1914! This is an uncomfortable state of affairs, but I do not see how it should have changed since Munich. Unfortunately I hear very little here about it all. If nothing has happened since, I wonder whether it is wise to choose precisely this moment to adopt a new policy. The proposal made by three groups can too easily come to nothing. We would then be forced to resign, and I would consider this a great mistake. The existing association, known as such, must remain a truly psychoanalytic one, and you in particular must not leave it. What is of more practical importance is that I cannot be certain of Berlin. Of 18 members, only 9 are in Berlin. How are we to come to a decision? It could not be done in one meeting, as we would then be making our decision over the heads of those who live elsewhere. It would be a precarious move to inform these members by letter. They are either shifty fellows or would o