Nothing short of the complete domination of these few hundred English-speaking people over the French Canadians would have satisfied them. The spirit of rebellion grew no faster in the older British colonies than among the few of English extraction in Canada, and the mutual distrust between these people and the government hampered the work of the post office a few years later. In 1767 Finlay was called upon to remove a certain friction which had arisen between the _maitres de poste_ and the travelling public. The regulations, which confined travelling by post to persons having special permits from the governor, were no longer insisted upon. Any person desiring to do so was at liberty to hire horses and carriages at any of the post houses for travel to the next post house. The easing of restrictions enlarged the business of the _maitres de poste_. But it evidently did not give unmixed satisfaction, as complaints were made that many persons riding post imposed upon the postmen, "threatening and abusing them contrary at all law." Finlay had no actual warrant for interfering on behalf of the _maitres de poste_, but as postmaster of the province, he had a strong motive for picking up the reins of authority where he found them lying in slack hands. He required the services of the _maitres de poste_ to help him with the conveyance of the mails, and as those services were rendered for half the charge which was made to the travelling public, he kept the _maitres de poste_ under his influence by constituting himself their champion. Finlay pointed to the fact that in England the postmaster general was also general master of the post houses, and declared that as deputy of the postmaster general he would take the same position in Canada. There was the essential difference between the situation in England and in Canada that the postmaster general had statutory authority for exercising control over the post houses in England, whereas there was no such authority for control over the post houses in Canada. However, Finlay was a member of the legislative council, and he assumed, without opposition or question, the charge of the _maitres de poste_, and in 1767 issued public notice that the post house system was to be under the same regulations as were in force in England.[76] The _maitres de poste_ were confirmed in their monopoly, and protected against imposition on the part of the public. Finlay's energetic management of the affairs of the Canadian post office attracted the attention of his superiors, and as Franklin had resided continuously in England since 1764 as agent for Pennsylvania and other of the American colonies, the expanding scope of the American post office demanded a greater degree of supervision than Franklin's associate, Foxcroft, was able to give.