John MacLean, who died fifty years ago, was the greatest revolutionary Britain has produced in this century. A superb orator, a clear exponent of Marxism, a fiery agitator, he more than anyone else personified the revolt on the Clyde.
But the latter part of his life - the period during which the British Communist Party was formed is not so well known.
Official CP historians have tended to explain Maclean's opposition to the formation of the Communist Party in psychological terms. Willie Gallacher, in his book Revolt on the Clyde, argues that because of his long imprisonment MacLean became mentally ill While in gaol he thought his food was being doctored. When released he became obsessed with the menace of policy spying and consequently distrusted everyone. This included the representative of the Cominter - Theodore Rothstein - whom he considered to he a Scotland Yard agent.
BRUTALITY It is impossible to say for sure what happened to Maclean in prison, but there is a mass of testimony that thany of those imprisoned for opposing the First World War were treated with extreme brutality, and many bad their health permanently damaged. David Boulton in his book Objection Over-rued names seventythree who died through their ordeal. Even the Labour Party conference protested about MacLean's treatment and Ramsey MacDonald wrote a letter to the Secrelary of State for Scotland, on 5 September 1918, saying that MacLean was being made to suffer worse than other prisoners, including those jailed for their part in the irish Rebellion.
As for MacLean's alleged obsession with police spying let us quote the following: Until Sir Basil Thomson (head of MIS) and his gang are cleared out, we have an enemy in our midst who is a more deadly threat to the community than a foreign invader. Wherever two or three or public meeting, something should be done to prepare for a vigorous light against New Scorland Yard." This quote comes from the Glasgow weekly paper Forward, of 11 June 1921; six similar quotations can be found in one eight. month period. These are not the words of John MacLean, but of Ramsey MacDonald. He was a right-wing social democrut, yet he felt the unkindly gase of the authorities. John MacLean was certain to be subjected to much more rigorous poboo attcotion.
MACLEAN & ROTHSTEIN Let us now consider the third part of the indictment of John MacLean — bis failure to Teach agreement with Theodore Rothstein, the Conuntern representanve, Iberc are two accounts of this contiiet. One is by Gallacher, the other by Harry MeShane, i close political companion of John MacLean. According to Gallacher, MacLean was asked by Rothstein to take a leading part in the formation of the new British party' (Last Memoirs,) p. 141. But MeShane says that the proposal put to MacLean was only that he should become a prominent spokesman for the 'Hands off Russia campaign. This would have meant dropping his other agitational work and his lectures in Marxism, which were attracting large audiences in Scotland. He therefore refused.
Neither account suggests that there was much love lost between MacLean and Rothstein. McShane writes: "He was particularly hoslile to Theodore Rothstein, who had worked as an interpreter for the War Office during the war, To be fair, it should be pointed out that Rothstein, while working for the War Office, continued to write for the BSP (British Socialist Party under the name of John Bryan. (Remembering John MacLean', New Fdinburgh Review, No. 19, 1972). Gallacher's version 15 rather different: When be (MacLean) returned to Glasgow he openly told of this meeting and said that the cunning agent Rothstein had tried to fool him with a lot of talk about representing the Bolsheviks when he, MacLean, knew full well that he was working for the British government. MeShane claims that this is untrue: MacLean never accused Rothstein of being a spy for the British government. PRAISE FOR MENSHEVIKS But serious criticism can be made of Rothstein on political grounds, When, in 1902, left-wingers in the Social Democratic Federation rebelled against the opportunist line of the Hyndman Jeadership, Rothstein aligned himself with the tight-wing. Dunng the Russian Revohition of 1917 be characterised what he considered to be the weakness of the Russian socialists - their "jealousy, quarreisomeness and predilection for theoretical niceties, He went on to praise the Menslievika for Joining the Provisional Government. They had gone "into the governsent in spite of the violent opposition of the Leminites." He regarded the move an a great step torward which marked the official triumph of the revolutionary proletariat.' (Emphasis added).
Jobn MacLean was right to he suspicious of Rothstein, who bad no idea whatsoever how to build a revolutionary party in Britain. In 1919 the Bolsheviks issued a manifesto lo forty organisations asking them to help in the tionaries, mainly in Scotland. TRICKERY Letter to Lenin, tonary phrases. formation of a new international. Of these five came from Britain, With the exception of the delegates British Socialist Party (BSP), Rothstein cannot conference. claim so nave gained a majority of the membership of any of these organisations. That he acquired the allegiance of most of the BSP is significant, Essentially the BS! was a reformist party which contained a scattering of revoluThe Bolsheviks had particularly mentioned the "tendency (of the BSP) represented by MacLean', How did they fare at the unity conferenoe? "1 myself was automatically excluded, writes John MacLean in his journal Vanguard (August 1920), through the trickery of the Cockney, Cant, who refused to recognise the old Tradeston branch of the BSP, of which I became a member on the death of the Pollokshaws brunch." Later. in an Open MacLean explained this bad been secretly engineered by Rothstein. in MacLean's opinion, the British Communist Party had been fonned on an unprincipled basis. The creation of what was tantamount to a con-communist Communist Party was based on an optimistic assumption: they-will-ail-moveto-the left-under-the-pressure-of-events theory. This not cally meant that in the course of the struggle the Communist Party would develop in a more revolutionary direction, but that the left trade union leaders would do likewise. This proved to be quite useful for the TUC bureaucrats in the Anglo Russian Trade Union Committee, who were quite prepared to conceal right-wine practice with a lew revoluADHERENCE TO PRINCIPLES John MacLean realised that it was especially important in a country like Britain, where the roots of refornism were so deeply embedded, for the Corm wust Party to be built on theoretical foundations of grinite firmness: *Lemin, Trotsky and the Bolsheviki were and aro, very rigid Marxians. Because of their faithlul adherence to principles they have won through and are bolding out with tremendous success." (Vanguard, August 1720) For this reason John MacLean sought to create # genuine revolutionary organisation. Initially. he tried to accomplish this around the Socist Labour Parly (SLP), whose members bad been very prominent in the industrial struggles on the Clyde, As Lenin had stated earlier, comparing the SLP with the BSP and the Independent Labour Party: Of the three socialist parties in England, only one the independent Socialist Labour Party, is openly becoming an ally of the Bolsheviks, while the Socialist Labour Party in Scotland declares itself to be an adberent of the Bolsheviks." (Lenin on Britain, Lawrence & Wishart, p. 200). In his efforts to build a unified revolutionary party, MacLean organised a conference, held in the SIP's national headquarters in Glasgow, on 25 December 1920, But Willie Gallacher and a group of his supporters - although not came along and wrecked the TREMENDOUS ODDS Despite such harassment, John MacLean continued his attempis to forin a genuine socials party, primarily in Scotland where there was greater militancy, and he had more influence. But he failed. The tide of militancy had receded. Growing unemployment led to shop stewards being sacked. Union bureaucracy gained control again in the labour movement. The Communist Party, strengthened by large financial assistance. prew and eventually strangled the revolutionary left As for MacLean: his attempts to restore life In the dying revolutionary tores eventually killed him. He fought a bitter battle against tremendous odds. Repeatidiy jailed by the authorities he also had to contend with abuse from Communist Party as well as Labour Party members. Indeed the way in which the CP slandered him, broke up his meetings, spread lies about him, is reminiscent of its behaviour to a number of small revolutionary groups that existed between the nineteen thirties and sixties. In this sense, John MacLean was the first British Trotskyist Just published - The War After The War by John MacLean MA. 20p from Socialist Reproduction, 57d Jamestown Road, London, NWI.
To be published before Xanas Ireland's Tragedy Scotland'r Disgrace by John MacLean MA 12p. Enquiries or orders to Red Books, 24 Boundary Road. NWS.
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