to a speech supporting lynchings, by printing that many white women were not raped by black men, but willingly slept with them. This provided an opening for Democrats, now referring to themselves as "The "white man's party," as "evidence" supporting their claims of predatory blacks. In a packed Wilmington auditorium, while sharing the stage with 50 of the city's most prominent white men, such as Robert Glenn, Thomas Jarvis, Cameron Morrison and Charles Aycock, Waddell declared that white supremacy was the only issue of importance for white men, and advocated punishment for race-traitors. However, Waddell set himself apart from the other speakers through his rousing ability to incite through propaganda, which he cemented with a blistering closing to his speech when he proclaimed, "We will never surrender to a ragged raffle of Negroes, even if we have to choke the Cape Fear River with carcasses." His closing became a rallying cry. Portions of it were printed, sent around the state, and "quoted by speakers on every stump." Waddell's speech had made Wilmington a cause for all white men. Shortly after delivering it, The Red Shirts began riding through the state, on horseback, terrorizing black citizens and voters. Leader Following Waddell's speech, the "Secret Nine" – nine elite men who were funding the White Supremacist Campaign – tapped Waddell to lead a "Committee of Twenty-Five." The committee was tasked with "directing the execution of the provisions of the resolutions" within "The White Declaration of Independence," a document authored by the Secret Nine which called for the removal of voting rights for blacks, and for the overthrow of the newly elected interracial government. With his new power, Waddell delivered speeches across the state to galvanize white men, such as the one he delivered in Goldsboro to crowd of 8,000. The day before the election, Waddell excited a large crowd at Thalian Hall when he told them: {{blockquote|"You are Anglo-Saxons. You are armed and prepared and you will do your duty ... Go to the polls tomorrow, and if you find the negro out voting, tell him to leave the polls and if he refuses, kill him, shoot him down in his tracks. We shall win tomorrow if we have to do it with guns."<ref>Catherine Bishir, "Landmarks of Power: Building a Southern Past in Raleigh and Wilmington, North Carolina, 1885-1915", in Where These Memories Grow: History, Memory and Southern Identity. 2000</ref>}} Democrats won