James D. MacDougall
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James Dunlop MacDougall (15 January 1891 – 25 December 1963), also known as James McDougall, was a
Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...
political activist, best known as John Maclean's leading supporter.


Early life

MacDougall was born in
Pollokshaws Pollokshaws () is an area on the South side of the city of Glasgow, Scotland. It is bordered by the residential neighbourhoods of Auldhouse, Glasgow, Auldhouse to the east, Eastwood, Glasgow, Eastwood and Hillpark, Glasgow, Hillpark to the south ...
and was educated at
Shawlands Academy Shawlands Academy is a state secondary school in the Shawlands area of Glasgow, Scotland. Admissions Shawlands Academy was Glasgow's designated International School and one of Scotland's most multicultural schools. It was situated in Shawland ...
. His father, a tailor also named James, served as the
provost Provost may refer to: Officials Ecclesiastic * Provost (religion), a high-ranking church official * Prince-provost, a high-ranking church official Government * Provost (civil), an officer of local government, including the equivalent ...
of Pollokshaws from 1905 until 1911, and held unionist views.''The Plebs'', Vols. 50-51, p.127 However MacDougall was increasingly influenced by his two uncles who lived nearby: John and Daniel, a disabled cobbler, who were active in the Progressive Union, an
anarchist Anarchism is a political philosophy and Political movement, movement that seeks to abolish all institutions that perpetuate authority, coercion, or Social hierarchy, hierarchy, primarily targeting the state (polity), state and capitalism. A ...
group in which John Maclean was involved. McDougall left school at an early age and found work as a clerk at the
Clydesdale Bank Clydesdale Bank () is a trading name used by Clydesdale Bank plc for its retail banking operations in Scotland. In June 2018, it was announced that Clydesdale Bank plc's holding company, CYBG, would acquire Virgin Money for £1.7 billi ...
.Brian John Ripley and J. McHugh, ''John Maclean'', p.28


Social Democratic Federation

In 1906, John Maclean, already a well-known socialist, gave a series of speeches in Pollokshaws, his home town. The speeches inspired the formation of a local branch of the
Social Democratic Federation The Social Democratic Federation (SDF) was established as Britain's first organised socialist political party by H. M. Hyndman, and had its first meeting on 7 June 1881. Those joining the SDF included William Morris, George Lansbury, James ...
(SDF), and MacDougall became its first secretary, aged only sixteen. MacDougall soon became a leading supporter of Maclean, working with him in the
co-operative movement The history of the cooperative movement concerns the origins and history of cooperatives across the world. Although cooperative arrangements, such as mutual insurance, and principles of cooperation existed long before, the cooperative movement bega ...
, in particular campaigning for it to organise classes to teach Marxist economics. He personally taught well-attended classes in locations including Paisley and
Lanarkshire Lanarkshire, also called the County of Lanark (; ), is a Counties of Scotland, historic county, Lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area and registration county in the Central Lowlands and Southern Uplands of Scotland. The county is no l ...
. MacDougall lost his job when a local landlord wrote to the Clydesdale, threatening to withdraw his money unless MacDougall was sacked. MacDougall and Maclean responded by launching a campaign for trade unions to withdraw their money from the bank. The
Falkirk Falkirk ( ; ; ) is a town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow. Falkirk had a resident population of 32,422 at the ...
branch of the Associated Ironmoulders of Scotland did so, and MacDougall later repaid this by working unpaid for the ironmoulders while they were on strike in 1912.


British Socialist Party and the Clyde Workers Committee

The SDF became the
British Socialist Party The British Socialist Party (BSP) was a Marxist political organisation established in United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Great Britain in 1911. Following a protracted period of political faction, factional struggle, in 1916 the party's ...
in 1911, and MacDougall attended its first conference, the following year, at which he was appointed to a committee to investigate grievances in the
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branch. Around this time, he became interested in
syndicalism Syndicalism is a labour movement within society that, through industrial unionism, seeks to unionize workers according to industry and advance their demands through Strike action, strikes and other forms of direct action, with the eventual goa ...
, a position which Maclean did not share, but this did not produce a lasting rift, and MacDougall was soon back to acting as Maclean's chief supporter. In 1914, MacDougall was elected to the Eastwood School Board, joining his comrade James Blair, the SDF's greatest success in the area. The following year, he worked with Maclean to relaunch ''The Vanguard'', newspaper of the Glasgow BSP. They used this to make anti-war propaganda, a position they tried to get the
Clyde Workers' Committee The Clyde Workers Committee was formed to campaign against the Munitions Act. It was originally called the ''Labour Withholding Committee''. The leader of the CWC was Willie Gallacher (politician), Willie Gallacher, who was jailed under the Def ...
to adopt. The Socialist Labour Party held a majority on the committee and disagreed, at one point having MacDougall and
Peter Petroff Peter Petroff (; 21 October 1919 – 27 February 2003
''The New York Times'': Peter D. Petroff Dies at 83. Re ...
removed from a meeting for trying to debate the subject. Opposing the war often led to trouble from the authorities and confrontations with pro-war groups. In 1916, he and Jimmy Maxton spoke at a meeting on
Glasgow Green Glasgow Green is a park in the east end of Glasgow, Scotland, on the north bank of the River Clyde. Established in the 15th century, it is the oldest park in the city. It connects to the south via the St Andrew's Suspension Bridge. History In ...
against the deportation of
David Kirkwood David Kirkwood, 1st Baron Kirkwood, PC (8 July 1872 – 16 April 1955), was a Scottish politician, trade unionist and socialist activist from the East End of Glasgow, who served as a Member of Parliament (MP) for nearly 30 years, and was as a ...
, and the two were arrested and charged with inducing workers to obstruct the war effort. They were advised to plead guilty, and were sentenced to twelve months; around the same time, Maclean, Willie Gallacher and many other leaders of the Clyde Workers' Committee were jailed.William Knox, ''James Maxton'', pp.23-25 Kept in Calton Jail in
Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...
, MacDougall struggled mentally during his time inside. At the 1918 general election, MacDougall stood for the BSP in Glasgow Tradeston. Unlike some BSP candidates, he did not receive the support of the Labour Party, although its local Glasgow committee gave him its support, so he did not face any Labour opposition. He took 19.4% of the votes cast, the best performance of any BSP candidate who did not have official Labour Party backing.


Activities in the 1920s

Unconvinced about the merits of the new
Communist Party of Great Britain The Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) was the largest communist organisation in Britain and was founded in 1920 through a merger of several smaller Marxist groups. Many miners joined the CPGB in the 1926 general strike. In 1930, the CPGB ...
(CPGB), Maclean established the Communist Labour Party in 1920, but was not able to attend the founding conference, so MacDougall led support for Maclean's positions at its founding conference. However, Gallacher convinced a majority of delegates that it should instead seek to join the CPGB, barracking the official speakers and nearly starting fights, and he succeeded in defeating MacDougall in the votes. Maclean left the group, joining the Socialist Labour Party, and MacDougall may have followed him. In 1919, a Scottish Labour College was opened, largely on the initiative of Maclean, MacDougall, Maxton, Gallacher and
Helen Crawfurd Helen Crawfurd ( Jack, later Anderson; 9 November 1877 – 18 April 1954) was a Scottish suffragette, rent strike organiser, Communist activist and politician. Born in Glasgow, she was brought up there and in London. Biography Born Helen Jack ...
. Two years later, the offices of the Scottish Labour College were raided by the police, and MacDougall was sentenced to sixty days in prison for incitement and sedition. This second imprisonment led MacDougall to suffer what was described as a "nervous collapse", and kept him out of political activity for some time. As he recovered, he spent time trying to organise unemployed workers as part of Maclean's Tramp Trust Unlimited and did some work at the Scottish Labour College, but became increasingly disillusioned and gave few speeches. The CPGB unsuccessfully attempted to persuade him to resume political activity for them; however, he wrote a number of articles for ''Communist Review'' in 1925 and 1926 and appears to have briefly held membership of the party. MacDougall visited the
Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
in 1926, on the invitation of the CPGB. However, he was unhappy with his treatment there, as a privileged guest, while conditions for workers and peasants were poor. On his return to Britain, he disassociated himself from the communist movement and began writing for ''
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'' and the ''
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'', and joined the
Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...
. He stood for the Liberals in
Rutherglen Rutherglen (; , ) is a town in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, immediately south-east of the city of Glasgow, from its centre and directly south of the River Clyde. Having previously existed as a separate Lanarkshire burgh, in 1975 Rutherglen lo ...
at the 1929 general election, but took only 8.8% of the vote and was not elected.Gilbert MacAllister, ''James Maxton: The Portrait of a Rebel'', p.69


Later life

MacDougall next joined
Oswald Mosley Sir Oswald Ernald Mosley, 6th Baronet (16 November 1896 – 3 December 1980), was a British aristocrat and politician who rose to fame during the 1920s and 1930s when he, having become disillusioned with mainstream politics, turned to fascism. ...
's New Party,Brian John Ripley and J. McHugh, ''John Maclean'', p.29 becoming one of the party's southern organisers, and wrote a pamphlet entitled "Disillusionment" for the group in 1931."Index of Fascist Literature",
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He resigned from the group when it adopted
fascism Fascism ( ) is a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement. It is characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural social hie ...
, and instead joined the
Scottish Socialist Party The Scottish Socialist Party (SSP) is a Left-wing politics, left-wing political party campaigning for the establishment of an Scottish independence, independent Socialism, socialist Scottish Scottish republicanism, republic. The party was fou ...
, an
Independent Labour Party The Independent Labour Party (ILP) was a British political party of the left, established in 1893 at a conference in Bradford, after local and national dissatisfaction with the Liberal Party (UK), Liberals' apparent reluctance to endorse work ...
split which was close to the Labour Party. During
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, MacDougall was isolated from his former comrades and without work, ultimately finding a job as a clerk at a jam factory. In the 1950s, he became known for
anti-Catholicism Anti-Catholicism is hostility towards Catholics and opposition to the Catholic Church, its clergy, and its adherents. Scholars have identified four categories of anti-Catholicism: constitutional-national, theological, popular and socio-cul ...
, and supported the Conservative Party.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Macdougall, James 1891 births 1963 deaths People from Pollokshaws British Socialist Party members Liberal Party (UK) parliamentary candidates Red Clydeside Social Democratic Federation members People educated at Shawlands Academy