Evening star., 1916-08-27
FEDERAL HIGHWAY
SYSTEM ASSURED
Motorists Sanguine of Results
of Cooperation Between
Nation and States.
ROAD ACT ENTIRELY FREE
FROM PORK BARREL TAINT
Automatic Check Placed on Useless
Expenditure of $85. 5.ooo,oo of
Government Money.

Motorists generally are sanguine that
roads cooperation just established be-
tween the national government and the
several states will accomplish a big
step toward the evolution of federal
system of highways which will connect
the different sections of the country as
effectively as the French plan of ma
tional routes.
The most refreshing feature of the
federal aid road act is it's freedom from
the taint of pork barrel comments
Chairman George C. Diehl of the good
roads board of the American Automo-
bile Association, which worked SO per-
sistently for the measure along with
the American Association of State High
way Officials.
Check on Useless Expenditures.
AN automatic check is placed upon
any raid on the United States Treas
ury," continues the road authority. in
requiring that the state must match
each federal dollar with at least an
equal amount. OF course, this means
that the state will not squander its
money for makeshift construction or
repair. The law further guards against
pork barrel by requiring all of the CO.
operation to be between the state high
way departments and the Secretary of
Agriculture. No political official has
any power over the work at all, and il
is a credit to the members of Congress
that they have worded the act as to
make the state the smallest unit of CO.
operation rather than the congressional
district or the county, The federal aid
road law is fundamentally as sound a s
he. md
its only weakness, other than those of
minor character. is in it's failure to re-
Quire ironclad assurance from the states
that the roads will be properly main
tained. Abundant and benefcent re-
suits should flow from this legislation
during the next few years"
Putting this great new policy into
operation involving an outlay of ss5.-
100000 OF government money has made
of the United States office of public
roads and rural engineering about the
busiest bureau here in the government
service While the federal aid law
designates the Secretary of Agriculture
as the executive office for carrying out
the act. he will very largely meet this
requirement through the agency of the
public roads office. of which Logan
Waller Page is the director.
Rules Tentatively Drawn
The first step in getting the work
under way was the issuance by the Sec
retary of Agriculture of formal GER
tincate to the Secretary of the Treas
ury, the state highway departments and
the governors of states, showing the
(. exact amount which each state will re-
ceive for the first year of the laws
operation. Rules and regulations for
the administration of the act have
been completed in tentative form.
Expanding the organization to inspect
and safeguard the tremendous expend-
fture of federal funds is a task of no
small magnitude. for while the fed
eral aid act leaves to the states the max
ing of surveys and plans, and the act
ual supervision of the work. yet it re-
quires of the federal government very
thorough inspection and approval at
every stage of the work.
This means that a relatively large force
Of engineers must be employed, and their
distribution so arranged as to take care
Of projects in all parts of the country
with the greatest possible economy Of
time and money. consistent with efficiency.
Many appointments will be made from
an examination for the position of senior
highway engineer that closed August s.
Multitude Of Details.
"As examples Of the multitude of details
that must be worked out" says Mr.. Page
Il might mention that we are called upon
TO answer hundreds Of inquiries covering
every phase of the operation of the new
road law. We must establish adequate
accounting organization for handling the
federal expenditures and to keep track of
the joint state and federal outIays; we
must expand our filing system see that
all doubtful points Of law are construed
by the law officers of the government and
we must work out all Of the forms and
procedure to expedite the cooperation
between the state highway departments
and the Department of Agriculture. In
spite Of these many vexing details and the
magnitude of the undertaking a whole
we expect to have actual road work under
way in at least a few Of the states before
winter sets in