This arrangement was, in view of the rates charged shippers from other points and other consignees at El Paso and Deming, a clear violation of the common law and the Interstate Commerce Act. A Federal injunction was served on the Santa Fe in March, 1902, forbidding departure from the published rates, and the Elkins Bill was passed in February, 1903. The El Paso arrangement was not at the start a defiance of injunction or the law of 1903, but became such by its continuance after their issue. General Traffic Manager Biddle and General Freight Agent Gorman sent out general orders in March, 1902, and February, 1903, that the law was to be obeyed, and that “no departure therefrom will be permitted so far as this company is concerned,” but the law was not obeyed nevertheless. A general order of a railroad manager counter to the financial interests involved does not seem to count any more than a Federal injunction. The El Paso agreement was by no means the only breach of law in the case. Even the discriminations in respect to shipments between New Mexico points were in direct violation of settled principles of the common law. The Commission found that the Santa Fe acted as agent for the Colorado Fuel Company in collecting from its customers the price of the coal itself along with the freight rate;[192] that for over five years (July, 1899, to Nov. 27, 1904) the railroad had paid the Colorado Fuel Company a rebate of $1.10 to $1.25 per ton on shipments to Deming; that the railroad and the Coal Company have “systematically and continuously” violated the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887 and also the Elkins Act of 1903; and that from March 25, 1902, till Nov. 27, 1904 the railway had been in “continuous disregard” of the order of the United States Circuit Court (in a suit begun at the instance of the Interstate Commission) enjoining the railway to observe its published schedules of rates.[193] Commissioner Prouty says: “In all my experiences with railway operations I never saw such barefaced disregard of the law as the Santa Fe railroad and the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company have manifested in this coal case. For years the railroad company has received less than its published rates from the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company while its competitors have paid higher rates.” The counsel, Judson and Harmon, employed by the Government to examine into the “alleged unlawful practices of the Santa Fe in the transportation of coal and mine supplies” reported to the Attorney General, February 28, 1905, as follows: “From August, 1902, until December, 1904, the railway company continuously transported coal for the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company at less than the published rates then in force, from various points in Colorado and elsewhere to El Paso, Tex., Deming, N. M., and other places, to which such transportation was interstate commerce.