No Puritanism Sweeps France

Virtue born of War Necessity, Says Maury Maverick.

WASHINGTON, Feb. 21. (AP)—Maury Maverick, foe of gobbledegook and friend of plain talk, rose today to defend France against the allegation of puritanism.

Maverick has nothing against puritanism. He just objects to reports from Paris that France is "heading toward post-war Puritan-like sobriety" when, he says, the damper on Gallic fun is the result of real privation, cold and hunger.

He went on in an interview:

Red wine is scarce because of transportation and high cost, not because De Gaulle is a spoilsport. Red lights have been doused in many areas of prostitution partly because medical inspection and other controls broke down after liberation, partly because the girls roused public ire by consorting with Germans.

"When France gets organized I think you can confidently expect a little sin," the Texan said.

"The only reason for closing Paris night clubs was because they didn't have electricity, coal or heat—I was there at the time. They did it for exactly the same reason that we are putting a midnight curfew on night clubs in this country.

Can't Drink Liberty.

"It is imperative that the allied governments get more food and coal into those French cities that we have liberated and left in worse misery than the Germans brought. A French baby can't drink liberty; it's got to have milk in its bottle.

"The French people are trying to get milk for their babies right now, and letting other things go. They haven't time to worry about cafes and red lights, and it's silly to talk about the French going Puritan as if they thought up the idea voluntarily."

Maverick related how he reached the office of a French cabinet member by walking up five flights of stairs—there was no power for the elevators—and how the functionry removed his mittens before shaking hands.

Even the naughty Folies Bergere—which Maverick said "isn't as immoral as a lot of shows in this country anyway"—doesn't sizzle enough to take the chill off the audience.

"I had to wear my overcoat, and the sergeant next to me wore his stocking cap, mittens and a blanket. The girls on-stage didn't wear very much, though."

The Spokesman-Review, Feb. 22, 1945, p. 2

French Conditions Bad, Maverick Says

WASHINGTON — (AP) — Maury Maverick took sharp issue yesterday with Frederick C. Crawford about conditions in France.

Crawford, president of Thompson Products, Inc., and chairman of the board of the National Association of Manufacturers, came back early this month from a tour of the European battle front, and asserted that "a consumer boom existed in France under German domination."

Maverick, a vice chairman of the war production board, just back from a tour of the battle front, told a news conference that Crawford's statement about conditions in France was:

"Infamous, superficial, cruel, obnoxious, hurtful to the war effort," and, as an afterthought, "low down."

"There isn't a ton of coal in Paris, not much food, no milk," Maverick asserted. "I don't know how the people are living."

St. Petersburg Times, Jan. 20, 1945, p. 11