John Maclean's Speech From the Dock
|
|
John Maclean MA, Scottish Socialist agitator was a prominent activist against World War I. On 8th May 1918 he was tried for his anti-war activities at the High Court in Edinburgh. He used this trial to propogandise for socialism and against war by making a renowned speech.
This speech from the dock has passed into folklore for the Scottish left.
It begins:
- It has been said that they cannot fathom my motive. For the full period of my active life I have been a teacher of economics to the working classes, and my contention has always been that capitalism is rotten to its foundations, and must give place to a new society. I had a lecture, the principal heading of which was "Thou shalt not steal; thou shalt not kill", and I pointed out that as a consequence of the robbery that goes on in all civilised countries today, our respective countries have had to keep armies, and that inevitably our armies must clash together.
- On that and on other grounds, I consider capitalism the most infamous, bloody and evil system that mankind has ever witnessed.
External link
- Text of John Maclean's Speech From the Dock (http://www.marxists.org/archive/maclean/works/1918-dock.htm)