22 



in accordance with the tabulation. If there are contests, the board 

 ojoes more into tlie testimony before renderinji; its decision. 



Any one dissatisfied with an order of the board may appeal to the 

 courts or may, within one year, apply for a rehearing before the board. 

 Tlie lar2;e number of errors in land descriptions has been mentioned. 

 Originally there was no provision for rehearing, and there was no 

 method of correcting manifest errors after they had once been passed 

 by the board of control. The provision for rehearing was largely for 

 the purpose of correcting these errors. The board now has express 

 authority to "permit, upon good cause shown, the correction of the 

 testimony of any party or witness if it shall appear that a mistake has 

 occurred therein." (Rev. Stat. 1S99, sec. 884.) There has been a 

 number of rehearings, especially on Green River and tributaries, in 

 the adjudication of which many mistakes were made. There has also 

 been a number of appeals, yet very few considering the large number 

 of rights defined. Speaking of appeals taken in 1892, when five 

 appeals were taken from 327 certificates issued, the State engineer 

 said: 



These appeals were occasioned, in almost every instance, by insufficient testimony given by 

 the appropriators themselves. * * * Most of these are really not appealing from the 

 decrees as rendered by the board, but for the purpose of getting the matter before the courts 

 so that additional testimony could be taken in relation to their claims, which testimony they 

 had neglected to present before the superintendent. (First Rpt. State Engin., p. 81 .) 



Two of the recent decrees — the Laramie River and Blacks Fork 

 decrees — have been appealed from on the same question. In both 

 these cases the board held that the certificates should be issued to 

 individual farmers under certain canals rather than to the companies 

 owning the canals. The canal companies appealed, and the appeals 

 are still in the courts. The usual practice under company ditches is 

 to have the individual farmers submit proof and receive the certificates, 

 but they must show as a part of their proof permanent agreements to 

 take water from the companies building the ditches. 



While an appeal is pending the order of the board is enforced unless 

 the appellant files a stay bond in a sum fixed by the court, conditioned 

 that he will pay all damages that may accrue to the appellee or 

 appellees l)y reason of the order not being enforced. 



Certificates are issued as soon as practicable after the issumg of an 

 order and are by the secretary of the board transmitted, with the filing 

 fees, to the county clerks of the counties in which the appropriations 

 were made and by them filed. 



A separate certificate is given for each enlargement. 



The total number of certificates of appro])nation issued from the 

 organization of the office to November 30, 1904, about twelve years, 

 and the acreage covered by these certificates, are shown in the table fol- 

 lowing. This includes certificates issued after construction under 



