67 Hesta A. MacDonald A group of lawyers in Charlottetown and Summerside persuaded Mr. Alex B. Campbell 23 to run for the Leadership. He was the newest member in the Legislative Assembly , having been elected that spring in a by-election. Mr. Campbell , being a gentleman, came to Dr. Bonnell and told him that he was going to contest the leadership. Dr. Bonnell told him that he could have it if he wanted it, but Mr. Campbell thought it best to go to a convention. All the rest of the Liberal Caucus wanted Dr. Bonnell to stay on as Leader, and thev all promised to support him if he would only contest the convention. Since Dr. Bonnell was a former Cabinet Minister and had experience in how governments operate, he allowed his name to stand. Mr. Alex Campbell , himself a lawyer, had a strong election committee of people from both Charlottetown and Summerside , including several lawyers working for him. Meantime, Dr. Bonnell kept working in his medical office and doing surgery and obstetrics, as well as doing routine political business for the party. The Convention was held in the Confederation Centre, with about 2,400 delegates in attendance. Dr. Bonnell had prepared his first and only written script for this speech, and the secretary in his medical office had typed it for him. He rushed home at noon to shower, shave, and change into the suit his wife had laid out for him, and then off thev went to Charlottetown for the Convention. Dr. Bonnell was only there for about two minutes when he was called to the door to treat a man who had collapsed on the steps. Having drawn straws, Dr. Bonnell became the first speaker, and it was a mere ten minutes later, that the Convention was called to order with Dr. Bonnell being called to the stage. He walked up amid shouts of cheer and some boos. Otherwise, there was very little fanfare. As he got up to speak, he reached into the inside pocket of his coat to get his once-in-a-lifetime prepared speech. Behold, no speech! It was still in the pocket of the suit he had worn in the medical office. One can only imagine his consternation, but he kept his composure and went on to ad lib one of his political type speeches. When Alex Campbell came up, he had banners, placards, and 23 Alex Campbell 's father, Mr. I bane Campbell was Premier from 1935-1947, and was the present Maritime representative on tbe of Canada .