e lives," had little contact with the people of the
community and as a consequence were slow in changing their southern
standards. This lack of contact was registered in the slight
attendance in the colored churches, which are by far the most common
medium of personal contact among negroes. The leading pastors and
two others who have made unsuccessful attempts to establish churches
complained that the newcomers, although accustomed to going to church
in their old homes, "strayed from the fold" in the large city. There
was also a certain unmistakable reticence on the part of the newcomers
with respect to the negroes of longer residence. The new arrivals
were at times suspicious of the motives of the older residents, and
resented being advised how to conduct themselves. They were for the
most part not in touch with any civic agency. The migrants, therefore,
came into contact with the lower element. The recreations and
amusements of the newcomers were those which the social outcasts
furnished them.[120]

Another anomaly was to be observed in the motives behind the
migration. The most recent European immigrants, unfamiliar with the
character of the plants, having strong bodies and a disposition to
work, are engaged as unskilled laborers. They do not, of course,
remain at this level, but are continually pushed forward by later
comers. The men who filled these lower positions were not the best
type of foreigners. When the war began and this influx from Europe
was stopped, it was for these positions that the plants were forced
to seek men. Negroes were sought in the South, but, unfortunately, the
emphasis was placed on quantity and not quality. Those who were able
to move on shortest notice, those with few responsibilities and few
interests at home, were snapped up by the labor agents. This blunder
has also registered itself in the records of the city and the
character of the negro migrants. This was probably due to the fact
that little is known of Milwaukee in the South. Unlike Chicago,
Detroit, New York and other northern cities, it was not a popular
destination for voluntary migration. Agents who scoured the South for
men testified that in a large number of cases the first question asked
was whether or not Milwaukee was a wet town, for the southern States
have prohibited the sale of liquor. While Chicago got advertisement
in the South through its great mail order business, most of what was
known of Milwaukee related to its