THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



239 



priatcd, or to deny to the citizen or land owner of the 

 State the use of water to irrigate his own and other 

 private lands covered by the so-called amended applica- 

 tion of the Secretary of the Interior, which lands the 

 Secretary of the Interior was ..prohibited from fur- 

 nishing water for irrigation or other purposes by the 

 provisions of the fifth section of the Act of Congress, 

 above referred to, unless the ownership of such lands 

 should be confined to one hundred and sixty (160) 

 acres to each person, actually residing thereon. 



13th. The Board erred in dismissing appellant's 

 application, No. 769, and in giving the so-called ap- 

 plication of the Secretary of the Interior priority over 

 the application of appellant, for the reason that the 

 application of the Secretary of the Interior for leave 

 to construct irrigating ditches and to irrigate lands in 

 the State of Nebraska was not filed until November 25, 

 1904, while the application of appellant was filed Octo- 

 ber 8, 1904, and no showing was made to said State 

 Board of Irrigation that the application of appellant 

 was not made in good faith and that he was not able 

 to construct the canal and maintain the same, nor was 

 any claim made that said application was for speculative 

 or for any purpose except the single honest one of 

 constructing and completing the canal within the time 

 designated in his application, and in all respects in 

 accordance with the laws of the State of Nebraska. 



14th. The Board erred in not giving priority to 

 the application of the appellant over that of the Secre- 

 tary of the Interior, appellant's application to appro- 

 priate water to irrigate lands in the State of Nebraska 

 being dated more than thirty (30) days prior to any 

 application for that purpose filed by the Secretary of 

 the Interior. 



15th. Appellant further says that the powers of 

 the Secretary of the Interior relating to constructing 

 canals and irrigation enterprises, and permitting and 

 operating irrigation projects, are limited by the Act 

 of Congress aforesaid, and the provisions of the fifth 

 section of said Act conflict in many material respects 

 with the provisions of the Statutes of the State of Ne- 

 braska relating to irrigation, and denies to citizens of 

 and owners of land situated in Nebraska many privi- 

 leges awarded them by the laws of said State, unless the 

 provisions of Section 5 of said Act of Congress are 

 governed and controlled by the provisions of Section 

 8 of said Act. 



16th. The Board erred in allowing a water right 

 to the Secretary of the Interior, whose right to build 

 and operate a canal, and to water lands under such 

 canal, in full accordance with the laws of Nebraska, is 

 doubtful, for the reason that the Secretary of the In- 

 terior is limited in any authority he may possess by 

 the Act of Congress aforesaid. And whatever inter- 

 pretation or construction may be given the provisions of 

 said Act of Congress, the said State Board erred in 

 giving to the so-called amended application of the 

 Secretary of the Interior priority preceding the date 

 of its filing, and in dismissing the application of ap- 

 pellant herein. 



Wh&refore appellant prays that the application 

 made by him to the Board of Irrigation be allowed, and 

 that the application made by the Secretary of the In- 

 terior be disallowed. 



(Signed) HEYWARD G. LEAVITT, 



By Isaac E. Congdon, 



His Attorney. 



STATE OF NEBRASKA, 1 



COUNTY OF DOUGLAS.] 



I, Heyward G. Leavitt, having been first duly 

 sworn, on my oath say that I am the appellant in the 

 above entitled appeal; that I have read the foregoing 

 petition for appeal, know the contents thereof, and be- 

 lieve the allegations and averments therein contained 

 to be true. (Signed) HEYWARD G. LEAVITT. 



Subscribed in my presence by the said Heyward G. 

 Leavitt, and by him sworn to before me this 26th day 

 of April, A. D. 1905. (Signed) C. H. MARLEY, 



[SEAL.] Notary Public. 



THE WASHINGTON IRRIGATION AND COLONIZA- 

 TION COMPANY OF IDAHO. 



This Company Will Bring Suit for Damages Sustained by their 



Project Being Killed Through Action of 



the Reclamation Bureau. 



The Washington Irrigation and Colonization Com- 

 pany, of Boise, Idaho, has placed before the secretary 

 of the Interior sc statement covering the history of its 

 application for the segregation of 92,593 acres of public 

 lands which would have been served by a contemplated 

 canal system adjacent to the town of Minidoka on the 

 Snake River, Idaho. 



The organizers of this company, recognizing the 

 value of this land for irrigation purposes, and the feas- 

 ibility of the enterprise for private capital, were the 

 first in the field to form a company for its reclamation 

 and claim that they were the first to make surveys under 

 the Carey Act and the State laws of Idaho. The com- 

 pany also claims that it was the first to file applications 

 for water right and plans for the construction of the 

 necessary dam and system of canals, and that these fil- 

 ings were made fully one year before the Government 

 representative made his recommendation that the Gov- 

 ernment undertake the construction of the same sys- 

 tem upon an enlarged plan. 



It is furthermore stated that there being no doubt 

 as to the commercial value of the enterprise, there 

 must then arise the contention whether this is a proper 

 case under the Reclamation Act for the employment 

 of Government aid, when private capital was and is 

 now prepared to undertake it. 



The Secretary of the Interior is furthermore asked 

 if it is the purpose of the Reclamation Act for the 

 Government to intervene in any irrigation enterprise 

 where private capital is prepared to go ahead under 

 the Carey Act after having complied with the require- 

 ments of State and Federal enactments. 



The original plans of the Government engineer con- 

 templated the reclamation of double the amount of 

 land specified in the documents filed by the Washington 

 Irrigation and Colonization Company. This was to be 

 accomplished by raising the dam to a greater height 

 than proposed by the company and adding pumps to 

 raise the water required for the irrigation of an addi- 

 tional 100,000 acres which lie upon a level much higher 

 and not generally considered good land. 



In view of the fact that this company had expended 

 a considerable amount of money in surveys and for 

 other purposes it is proposed to bring action in the 

 courts which will fully expose the methods of Reclama- 



