W. W. Edwards addressed the meeting, and said: You, gentlemen of the convention, are familiar with the causes which have forced us to seek refuge in this hall. You have witnessed the high-handed and outrageous manner in which the high sheriff of our county has not only disturbed the harmony of what bid fair to be one of the most harmonious conventions ever held by Republicans in this county, but assaulted with a chair one of the most quiet and orderly gentlemen of our race in this community – Mr. P. C. Hall. You know, gentlemen, that he had everything cut and dried to run this convention with his money and send a delegation to Greenville which would vote for him or as he said. I can refer you to ten men who said they took money from Mr. Sheriff Beck to-day to aid him in this transaction. I tell you, gentlemen, he had men there this evening who would stop at nothing in the way of lying and rascality. I saw him pay them money and I know what it was for. He claims to be a Republican. I know that he is not, nor was he ever one, only for the sake of getting us negroes to elect him to office. When Mr. Martin Marshall was the Democratic candidate for State senator against Messrs. James Gibson and H. C. Carter, Republicans, Sheriff Beck said in my presence, “I will give four hundred dollars to elect Mr. Marshall.” We had better go over in a body, (I mean every colored voter in the county) to the Democratic party, than allow ourselves to be handled by imposters like these, white Democrats in Republican cloaks.