Of course, if the law is put on the statutes in accordance with the wording of the bill now pending, the Vienna Psychoanalytical Institute, for example, would no longer be permitted to accept students, unless they belonged to the medical profession. All these endeavors to restrict the application of psychoanalysis hark back, more or less, to obsolete legislature, dealing with quackery as such. This seems anachronistic, inasmuch as at the time of the enactment of these anti-quackery laws, the particular nature of neurotic disturbances had not yet been discovered and psychoanalysis did not yet exist. I am now approaching the question which appears most essential to me: Is the practice of psychoanalysis of such a nature as to lend itself to the interference of legislative authorities, or would it not be much better to leave psychoanalysis to its natural development? Of course, I shall not decide this question, but I am taking the liberty of submitting it to you. It appears that in Austria, not unlike other countries, by the way, there prevails a real _furor prohibendi_, a veritable mania for prohibition and general interference, a trend which usually, as is only too well known, makes for unsatisfactory results. According to my own personal view, a superabundance of ordinances and prohibitions will only serve to injure the dignity of the law. It may usually be observed that wherever there are just a few laws, these laws are strictly adhered to, whereas where laws exist in great numbers, the temptation arises to break them. Furthermore, a man cannot be considered an anarchist, simply because he believes that legislative statutes—in the view of their very origin—cannot very well be regarded as something holy that must never be touched. Legislative measures sometimes are insufficient, or gradually become that, at the same time outraging our innate sense for justice and common sense. Then the time is on hand, where there is no other means of correcting such unbearable conditions than to simply trespass against such laws. It seems advisable, for the purpose of maintaining respect for laws and ordinances, not to enact any which may be difficult to enforce. Much of what has been said here about the application of psychoanalysis by physicians would have to be repeated with regard to lay-analyses proper, which the legislatures of some countries are now prepared to prohibit. In view of the fact that the application of the analysis is a very simple procedure, consisting merely of conversation without resorting to instruments or prescriptions, it would be rather difficult to prove that a layman actually employed psychoanalysis, if he stoutly maintained that he had merely benefited a person by administering a good “talking to.” Such assistance, to a person in need of it, could not very well be prohibited simply because a physician may once in a while resort to the identical thing!