In January, 1876, the Post Office discontinued the "continuous counting" of sporting messages.[118] It took the Department six years to summon the courage to make this change whereby was effected some diminution of the burden cast upon the general body of taxpayers for the benefit of the sporting element among the voters of the United Kingdom. It would seem, however, that the practice of "continuous counting" had been resumed at some subsequent date. For, in March, 1906, in reply to a question from Mr. Sloan, M. P., the Postmaster General, Mr. Sydney Buxton, said: "Clubs are, under section 16 of the Telegraph Act of 1868, entitled to the benefit of the very low telegraph rates accorded to press messages; and I have no power to discriminate against a legitimate club because it is used for betting purposes. I propose to consider whether the section ought not to be amended in certain respects."[119] On December 31, 1875, the Post Office discontinued entirely the practice--voluntarily assumed--of transmitting sporting messages to so-called hotels, in reality saloons. The waste of the public funds that the Post Office had incurred in response to pressure from the publicans, is illustrated in Mr. Patey's statement that the Post Office had received from a certain Liverpool hotel $0.82 a week for messages which had entailed a weekly expenditure of $2.50 for messenger service alone. FOOTNOTES: [98] _Report from the Select Committee on the Post Office_ (_Telegraph Department_), 1876, J. E. Taylor, Proprietor of the _Manchester Guardian_; q. 3,835 to 3,849, and 1,246; and C. H. B. Patey, Principal Clerk in the Post Office Department; q. 3,452 and following, 3,845, 3,377, and 3,383; and _Report by Mr. Scudamore on the Re-organization of the Telegraph System of the United Kingdom_, 1871, pp. 31 and 32. [99] _Special Report from the Select Committee on the Electric Telegraphs Bill_, 1868; Dr. Cameron, Editor and Manager of the _North British Daily Mail_; q. 1,430 and following. [100] _Report from the Select Committee on the Post Office_ (_Telegraph Department_), 1876, C. H. B. Patey, Principal Clerk in the Post Office Department; q. 4,900 and 4,901. [101] _Special Report from the Select Committee on the Electric Telegraphs Bill_, 1868; J. E. Taylor, Proprietor of the _Manchester Guardian_; Wm. Saunders, Proprietor of the _Western Morning News_; Dr. Cameron, Proprietor of the _North British Daily Mail_; and F. D. Finlay, Proprietor of the _Northern Whig_. [102] _Report from the Select Committee on the Post Office_ (_Telegraph Department_), 1876; J. E. Taylor, Proprietor of the _Manchester Guardian_; q. 3,854 to 3,862. [103] _Report from the Select Committee on the Post Office_ (_Telegraph Department_), 1876; G. Harper, Editor _Huddersfield Chronicle_, and representative of the Provincial Newspaper Society, which embraced about 300 newspapers.