The Office of Public Roads, United States Department of Agriculture, was established in 1893 by an appropriation of $10,000 for the purpose of making inquiries in regard to sys tems of road management, methods of road making and to publish and distribute informa tion on these subjects. This bureau has been steadily increasing in importance. It has a well-equipped laboratory for testing rocks and other road materials and its staff of engineers supervises the construction of experimental and model roads in various parts of the country, and gives advice to local road authorities. Down to date it has directed the construction of some 150 object-lesson roads in 35 States. In 1915 this bureau and others were consolidated under the name of the office of public roads and rural engineering.
Very recently direct Federal aid has been extended. The Secretary of Agriculture an nounces the apportionment of $14,550,000 of Federal funds to be used for the fiscal year ending June 1919 by the several States in the construction and maintenance of rural post roads. This is the third apportionment under the Federal State Aid Act (1916), $4,850,000 having been appropriated for 1917 and $9,700, 000 for 191& The amounts available for the various States range from $749,674 for New York, to $2:1,411 for Delaware. This act has
had a favorable effect on the .increasing amount of expenditure for roads, for it reqwres that before a State can avail itself of the benefits of the act it shall have a State Highway Depart ment, and that the State or subdivisions shall meet the Federal aid dollar for dollar. All the States are now qualified to receive Federal aid, but five States (Georgia, Kansas, Mississippi, North Carolina and South Carolina) have made no expenditures. By lune 1917 there was about one-tenth (11.6 per cent) of the public roads surfaced. Of the total of such (284,047 miles) 69,186 miles had been all-State or State aid roads. Also 16,160 miles of such State roads had been built in 1916 and 75,311 miles had been maintained with State aid in that year. State aid also built 4,490 bridges. The State funds available for 1917 amounted to over $60,000,000. There were thus vast sums available and expended, $40,969,001 of State aid funds; $33,526,553 of local moneys, a total of $74,495,554. Of this $44,469,824 was ex pended for construction of roads, $5,414,331 for bridge building, while maintenance of roads and bridges called for $18,452,861.