Federal Aid.
—The real road building age in the United States was ushered in by the enactment of the law providing that “the Secretary of Agriculture shall on behalf of the United States in certain cases aid the States in the construction and maintenance of rural post roads.” From the time Representative Brownlow startled the country in 1904 by introducing a bill to appropriate $24,000,000 for road building, not a session of Congress passed without several such bills being introduced. Most of these took the form of creating a commission to administer any fund for national aid that might be appropriated, and many feared such large appropriations would result in “pork barrels” all over the country. In 1915 one such bill passed the House but did not become a law. However, the leaven continued to work. The influence of the automobile was making thousands of new road enthusiasts every day. Many petitions were being rained upon Congress and scores of bills introduced for national aid both for specific roads and of a general nature. During the 63d Congress, forty-nine bills were introduced, 10 in the Senate and 39 in the House. A report had been submitted by a joint congressional committee on January 21, 1915[155] embodying data from foreign countries showing systems in effect, the mileage and cost of roads constructed; similar data from the several states; extracts from state constitutions showing limitations of state debts; statistics on tonnage transported over rural roads; statistics on length, character and condition of rural routes; transportation rates on road materials by rail; comparative statistics embodying possible factors in apportionment of Federal aid; statistics of wealth, debt, and highway expenditures; comparative statistics on the cost of road construction, historical sketches of national roads, work of the Office of Public Roads; and a synopsis on congressional action on Federal aid to road improvement.
The report speaks of the economic importance of good roads, the constitutionality of Federal aid and gives data to show the public sentiment in favor of Federal aid. Of 10,000 replies to inquiries received from every state in the Union, 97 per cent favored Federal aid and 3 per cent opposed.
On January 6, 1916, Representative Shackleford of Missouri, chairman of the committee on roads, introduced the bill which later became a law. The bill ran the usual course and created a great deal of interest and was freely debated in both House and Senate. The discussion on it comprises more than 300 pages of the Congressional Record[156] and cover practically every reason for and objection to the betterment of highways and the use thereon of national money. The bill finally passed the house January 25, 1916, by a vote of 283 Yeas, 81 Nays and 70 not voting; and the Senate as amended, May 8, 1916, by a unanimous vote. The bill went to conference, the Senate agreed to the conference report June 27, and the House June 28, 1916. President Wilson approved the bill July 11, 1916, and it became Public Law, No. 156, 64th Congress.
The title of the bill as amended is “An Act to provide that the United States shall aid the States in the Construction of rural post roads, and for other purposes.” In brief it authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture to coöperate with the states through their respective highway departments in the construction of rural post roads. In order to keep state sovereignty intact no money apportioned under the act could be expended in any state until the legislature of that state shall have assented to the provisions of the Act. The Secretary of Agriculture and the State Highway department agree upon the roads to be constructed therein and the character and method of construction. By providing that all roads constructed under the provisions of the act shall be free from tolls of all kinds Congress avoided the objection raised by President Monroe in his veto of the National Road bill in 1822. A most liberal definition of Post Roads is also given in the bill, namely, “the term ‘rural post road’ shall be construed to mean any public road over which the United States mails now are or may hereafter be transported, excluding every street and road in a place having a population, as shown by the latest available federal census, of two thousand five hundred or more, except that portion of any such street or road along which the houses average more than two hundred feet apart.”
For the purpose of carrying out the provisions of the act there was appropriated for the fiscal years ending June 30, 1917, the sum of $5,000,000; 1918, $10,000,000; 1919, $15,000,000; 1920, $20,000,000; 1921, $25,000,000. After deducting the amount necessary for administration not exceeding 3 per cent, the remaining amount available was to be distributed as follows: “One-third in the ratio which the area of each State bears to the total area of all the States; one-third in the ratio which the population of each State bears to the total population of all the States as shown by the latest available Federal census; one-third in the ratio which the mileage of rural delivery routes and star routes in each State bears to the total mileage of rural delivery routes and star routes in all the states.” The Secretary of Agriculture is to approve only projects which are substantial in character. Items of engineering, inspection and unforeseen contingencies may not exceed 10 per cent of the estimated cost. The share paid by the Government shall not exceed 50 per cent of the total cost.
The same act appropriated $10,000,000 for the survey, construction and maintenance of roads and trails within the national forests when necessary to develop the resources upon which communities within and adjacent to the national forests are dependent.
The Secretary of Agriculture issued September 1, 1916, a set of rules and regulations for carrying out the Federal-Aid Road Act.[157] These are quite detailed and require a close supervision by the Office of Public Roads and Rural Engineering, the Director of which or other officers and employees designated by him, was officially appointed to represent the Secretary of Agriculture in its administration. These rules explain and relate specifically to definitions of terms; information to be furnished the Secretary; project statements; surveys, plans, specifications and estimates; project agreements; contracts; construction work and labor; records and cost keeping; payments; submission of documents to the Office of Public Roads.
A State, County or District making application for aid must present a Project Statement “to enable the Secretary to ascertain (a) whether the project conforms to the requirements of the act; (b) whether adequate funds, or their equivalent, are or will be available by or on behalf of the State for construction; (c) what purpose the project will serve and how it correlates with other highway work of the State; (d) the administrative control of, and responsibility for, the project; (e) the practicability and economy of the project from an engineering and construction standpoint; (f) the adequacy of the plans and provisions for proper maintenance of roads; and (g) the approximate amount of Federal aid desired.” Also there must be submitted for approval forms of contract, with documents referred to in them, and the contractor’s bond. Likewise maps of surveys, plans, specifications and estimates, showing quantity and cost shall have the approval of the Secretary. The state shall provide the rights of way and railroad grade crossings shall be avoided where practicable. A project agreement between the State Highway Department and the Secretary is executed. It must also be shown that adequate means either by advertising or other devices were employed, prior to the beginning of construction, to insure economical and practical expenditures, and rules for submitting and tabulating bids are given. Samples of the materials to be used must be submitted for approval whenever requested, and all materials, unless otherwise stipulated, must be tested prior to use by the standard methods of the Office of Public Roads. Supervision shall include adequate inspection. Reports of progress, records and cost accounts must be kept in approved manner.
Many states in order to take advantage of the Federal aid within the time stipulated by the Act have, as has been shown, issued long-time bonds. Others have relied on increased taxation, and many require abutting property to pay a special tax for improvements.
The success of the Act was extremely marked. So much so that the Post Office Appropriation act of February 28, 1919,[158] carried an amendment to the original Federal Aid Act providing an additional appropriation of $200,000,000 for post roads and $9,000,000 for forest roads. Fifty million dollars of the post road fund was made immediately available and $75,000,000 was made available for each of the fiscal years of 1920 and 1921. Of the forest road fund $3,000,000 was made available for each of the fiscal years 1919, 1920 and 1921. This bill transferred to the Secretary of Agriculture all available war material and equipment suitable for use in the improvement of highways for distribution to the several states on a value basis the same as provided in the Federal Aid Act of 1916. Under this provision trucks, road equipment, and road materials having when new a value of over $100,000,000 had been distributed by November 1, 1919.