[illegible — opening of the review on scan page 14 is heavily degraded] held a meeting in the Market Square, at which [illegible] Liebknecht and Luxemburg [illegible]. This was followed by a 250-strong march to one of the areas where immigrants live in [illegible]. [illegible] the young candidate in [illegible] recent Ulster election who declares that his [illegible] was based on the ideas of James Connolly, and part of my father's "Speech from the Dock" spoken by a Scottish T.V. announcer with apparently great feeling and sincerity.
[illegible] combativity, the slogans included: "[illegible] Black and White, Unite and Fight"; "Black Power [illegible] Black People - All Power to the People" and [illegible] against all phoney legislation on [illegible] immigration [illegible] political message that "The Power is not [illegible] Parliament, the Power is in the Streets."
"I am not here as the accused: I am here as the accuser of capitalism, dripping with blood from head to foot." The above quotation is repeated on the front page of a new pamphlet issued by the International Group "Condemned from the Dock", a republication of John Maclean's 75 minute speech [illegible] made at his third trial on 9th May, 1918. This is an excellent contribution to this recent tendency [illegible] to seek reassurance and inspiration from the pioneers of Marxism. The whole speech is an example of scientific socialism as applied to the [illegible] of the [illegible], and a classic expression of that revolutionary internationalism which is the very essence of Marxism.
The speech is introduced by a clever and lively [illegible] to set it in its proper historical perspective, but, however, has been handicapped by the [illegible] introduction written by Tom Bell, a loyal member of the Communist Party till his death, and who previously belonged to the [illegible] Socialist Labour Party which was [illegible] hostile to MacLean's [illegible] Party. It was inevitable therefore that Bell was unable to understand MacLean's outlook during the last few years of his life, when he fought to form a Scottish [illegible] British Communist Party, and after failing to do this, formed the Scottish Workers' [illegible].
[illegible] if, in parts of the preface I seem to hear the voice of Stalinist Tom Bell instead of the voice of Bob Purdie, it is not Bob's fault. It is the fault of the Communist Party in Scotland, which claimed Maclean as its spiritual father, but neglected to publish any of his innumerable speeches, articles, leaflets [illegible].
[illegible] I hope this [illegible] will be filled by the John MacLean [illegible] formed in [illegible] 1968, in order to [illegible] for the workers of [illegible] Maclean in [illegible] and events in his [illegible], to encourage appropriate research, to [illegible] his writings, lectures [illegible] speeches, and to relate his teachings to the circumstances of [illegible]. [illegible] suggest that "Condemned from the Dock" should be read [illegible] the benefit of all [illegible].
[illegible] in conjunction with the recently published book by Walter Kendall, "The [illegible] Movement 1900-21". This is a [illegible] of well-documented facts and logical [illegible]. The [illegible] chapter, "John Maclean and the C.P.S.U." should be [illegible] carefully, for here for the first time, is part of the real story of John Maclean's latter years. The whole story will be told eventually [illegible].
Bob Purdie's quotation from the Transitional Programme of the Fourth International [illegible] of great personal interest to me. I was one of the first supporters of the Fourth International in Scotland, and the Transitional Programme was a great event. I had spent my 1937 summer holiday in the Newspaper Library at Hendon copying out all the articles my father had ever written from all the socialist papers available. This is the kind of work that the Communist Party should have done, but I was afraid these kind of records might be destroyed in the war I knew was coming, so I [illegible] forced to do the job myself. Typewritten copies of most of this material are now in the National Library of Scotland in Edinburgh. I finished up steeped in the MacLean ideas, and was struck even more forcibly than ever before by their similarity to Leon Trotsky's.
* "Condemned from the Dock", John MacLean's speech from the dock, 1918, republished with an introduction by Bob Purdie by International Marxist Group, 2/-, [illegible] from Alan [illegible], c/o Smith, [illegible] Fergus Drive, Glasgow [illegible].