Nov. 16th 1922

Eitingon is expected in London tonight and I hope to see him tomorrow. I  
am a day late in writing because the Society meeting was last night (dis-  
cussion by Rickman of various papers on sadism, e.g. Federn’s). In the  
meantime the Vienna letter has arrived.

I was very interested to hear the news of the Verlag moving to Berlin and  
wish it every success there. I suppose the matter was so urgent that there was no 
time to consult the other Directors. It is doubtless a sound decision at the moment, 
though I cannot suppress the thought that the economic situation may very well be 
worse in Germany in two years’ time than in Austria: after all, the Allies are much 
more unsympathetic with Germany than with Austria.

Abraham and I had to notify all the Group Secretaries of the future arrange-
ments for regulating and co-ordinating the Society Reports and other work in connection 
with the *Korrespondenzblatt*, but before doing that we followed the usual Committee 
plan of first submitting our proposals to the rest of you for criticism. Judge of my 
astonishment when I learned that before our question could be answered and before we 
could take any action ourselves Rank and Hiller had taken it on themselves to make all 
the arrangements and issue orders to the Group Secretaries behind our back.  It is 
now too late for us to do anything but accept the fait accompli as usual; but I must 
express my opinion that the plan was deficient in some important technical respects, 
that the manner of carrying it out was decidedly disregardful of Abraham and myself.
 

and that, since we hope to keep the Central Executive for some years in the hands  
of our Committee, it is detrimental to our own interests to impair its authority in the  
eyes of the Branch Societies. As it stands, the Societies expect orders from the Central  
Executive in a matter that is its direct function, while the latter is powerless to act.  

The matter of the Press concerns me even more personally, for until this month  
when Rickman joined me I have had to bear the sole responsibility for it before the outer  
world, also legally and financially. I have always regarded it internally as a concern  
run by Vienna and London, essentially by Rank and myself, and such concerns can only be  
run by honest cooperation. Yet I now hear that without consulting my opinion in any way  
Rank is taking an extremely important decision which involves the whole future of the  
Press at a crisis in its fate. Whether the particular plan of moving it to Germany is a  
good one is quite beside the point – personally it strikes me as highly doubtful, but I  
could form no sound opinion on this without discussing it and knowing more about the  
details – but this mode of conduct makes the wished-for cooperation increasingly diffi-  
cult.  

These are only current examples of a series in which Rank’s custom of treating his  
colleagues as puppets demands an open word as the only means of rectifying the situation.  
In addition in the last few years I in particular have had to submit to a number of re-  
proofs couched in a hectoring tone that I would not accept from anyone else, to serious mis-  
representations and to fictitious accusations (my last letter dealt with the latest in-  
stance). One is enabled to do this by three motives: personal fondness for Rank, respect for his  
valuable qualities, and regard for Professor, but I must at last raise the question whether  
this schoolmaster’s attitude is really a necessary one towards people who in private life  
are the best of friends and whose main interests in life are identical. I have several  
times in private letters appealed to Rank to modify his attitude – these letters are on  
record to witness the extreme degree of friendliness and kindliness with which I approached  
him – and he has always answered with assurances which, however, usually only last
 

until the next Rundbrief.  

Budapest. In answer to your question, my dear Sándor, I would strongly  
advise you to have no connection with Jelliffe and his neurological journal.  
In the first place, he does more harm in America to Psa. than anyone else, by  
mixing up Freud, Adler, Jung and Kempf in one thin soup. In the next place,  
on account of his highly incorrect and unprofessional behaviour he was forced  
to resign from the Academy of Medicine, and all the neurological societies  
in America withdrew from his neurological journal, which had previously been  
their official organ, and founded a first-class one of their own. He is now,  
like Tannenbaum, in the position of a discredited American who seeks round  
Europe for support.  

Vienna. I now hear definitely from Hiller that he will not work in  
Vienna on any conditions, so that the remarks in my last letter are out-of-  
date. This week-end I will discuss the situation with Rickman and Eitingon  
and write to you, my dear Otto, at once. Rickman will go to Vienna to discuss  
the situation with you, and perhaps I will come at Xmas too.  

Many thanks for the chemist’s article which I find excellent. He must  
be a queer person to write “Swansea, England” (instead of “Wales”), which to us is  
what “Budapest, Austria,” would mean to you. Incidentally I do not come from  
Swansea. I am afraid my wife would not be able to translate my Adolescence  
article in time, and I shall be very grateful if you can find a translator  
for it (? Frl. Anna or Fr. Klein); I am posting a copy to you.  

Yours cordially,  

Ernest Jones