"In this attempt I should, above all things, be delighted to have your aid and counsel, and if you would give me a half-hour of your time whenever and wherever most convenient to yourself, it would give me very great pleasure to bring to your attention, and ask your aid in favor of, the scheme I have now prepared for the relief of the company.
"Believe me, my dear sir,
"Very sincerely yours,
"Franklin B. Gowen.
"Hon. Samuel J. Tilden."
TILDEN TO GOVERNOR HILL
"Greystone, Yonkers, N. Y., April 23, 1886.
"Dear Governor Hill,—In submitting suggestions to you, I should have great delicacy if I did not offer them as mere suggestions which you, who have the public responsibility, must pass upon according to your own judgment, and not according to mine.
"In addition to the objections to the Consent bill, which I mentioned in my letter of night before last, there is another difficulty. That act does not provide any mode by which railroads not now connecting with the Broadway Railroad at Fourteenth Street can make such connections. This would give great advantage to the Seventh Avenue Railroad in competing at auction for the Broadway franchise. If in consequence that company should succeed in getting the franchise at a low price, such a result would be likely to create a reaction against the reform movement.
"I adhere to the opinion that the Repeal bill and the Winding-up bill should be acted upon promptly; that the Consent bill should be retained for fuller consideration and, eventually, be rejected.