From Marxist Studies, Vol. 2 No. 1, Winter 1969–70.
Signed ‘JW’ that is, John Walters.
Scanned and prepared for the Marxist Internet Archive by Paul Flewers.
Minor spelling errors have been corrected without indication.
Marked up by Einde O’ Callaghan for the Encyclopaedia of Trotskyism On-Line (ETOL).
Condemned from the Dock:
John Maclean’s Speech to the Court in 1918 [1]
The reprinting of this speech is a step that is very welcome at the present time. John Maclean has long been a neglected figure in British working-class history; both the Labour Party and the Communist Party, each for their own reasons, have tended to bury his memory. However, it is well that workers should be reminded what red-blooded Marxist leaders are like. Having suffered over the last few decades from a surfeit of boneless wonders, Maclean’s words come as a breath of fresh air: ‘I am not here as the accused; I am here as the accuser of capitalism, dripping with blood from head to foot.’ Little wonder that Lenin was happy to have such a man as the first Soviet Consul in Britain. As Nan Milton says in the Foreword: ‘His speech ... was a vivid exposition of international socialism, and should be preserved as a part of the socialist tradition.’
I certainly recommend this pamphlet as a ‘good buy’.
1. Obtainable from Smith, 61 Fergus Drive, Glasgow NW, 2/− post free.
Last updated: 14 October 2014