Red Clydeside: A history of the labour movement in Glasgow 1910-1932

Literature

The Capitalist Wilderness and the Way Out, 1907

by J. O'Connor Kessack

This pamphlet, written in 1907, calls for the industrial and political organisations of the labour movement, the trade unions and the socialist parties, to present a united front. The author also argues for better relations and greater cooperation between the different trade unions.

The author of this pamphlet, J. O'Connor Kessack, was a member of the Independent Labour Party (ILP) and also leader of the dockers' trade union in Glasgow. Unlike many of his fellow ILP members, Kessack was not a pacifist and was killed in action in the first world war.

The publishers of this pamphlet, the Clarion Scouts, were a socialist propaganda organisation whose activities centred around providing leisure pursuits such as cycling and rambling through which their members could propagate socialism.

Source: Gallacher Memorial Library, Glasgow Caledonian University Special Collections and Archives