OFFICE OF PUBLIC ROAD INQUIRIES. 251 



RECOMMENDATIONS AND ESTIMATES FOR 1902-1903. 



It is proper just here to call attention to a misconception which 

 appears to exist in the minds of some to the effect that increased 

 api^ropriations for this work may lead to National aid. It should be 

 distincth" understood that the work of this Office, like that of many 

 otlier Divisions of the Department, is purely educational. In request- 

 ing an increased appropriation it was not the intention to sliift the 

 burden and responsibility of constructing improved roads from the 

 States and counties to the General Government. Such a plan is not 

 feasible, and even if it were, it would not be desirable, for there could 

 be no surer way of postponing the building of good roads than by 

 making them dependent upon National aid. Under such a system 

 States and counties would wait for National aid and little or nothing 

 would be done. 



In order to meet the constantly increasing demands that are being 

 made upon us from time to time for practical assistance and advice, 

 it would be advisable to organize two or three outfits of road-building 

 machinery, including rcjck crushers, screens, rollers, road graders, etc., 

 and to send them to the various places which have asked for the 

 cooperation of the Department, and where preparations have been 

 made for actual road construction. Each of these outfits should be 

 accom]3anied by one or two practical road builders and a competent 

 road engineer to direct the work. 



Heretofore this Office has been aided generously by the loan of road- 

 making machinery, but the time has now come to abandon this make- 

 shift iwlicy and for the Government to purchase its own equipment 

 for object-lesson work. This item of expense would not be a large 

 part of the total sum needed and recommended. The leading railroads 

 are deeply interested in the improvement of the public highways and 

 have heretofore carried all our machinery free of charge, and it is 

 thought that they can be relied upon in the future to carry it at a 

 comparatively small expense to the Government. 



If an appropriation is made by Congress for carrying out this plan, 

 the only expense to the Department will be the salaries and traveling 

 expenses of the engineers and expert road builders, the cost of the 

 machinery, and the freight on the same from point to point. The 

 local authorities would cheerfully furnish the road materials, which 

 could be selected by our divisional agents and tested in our laboratory. 

 They would also contribute the common labor, teams, and fuel, and 

 attend to the grading down of hills, if that should be required. 



This plan has been operated to a limited extent by the Office for 

 several years, and during the months of April, May, June, and .July 

 almost the same project was carried on by the National Good Roads 

 Association in cooperation with this Office. It is but proper to state 

 hei'e that this object-lesson work could not have been entered into by 

 the Office but for the National association, which paid the expenses, 

 including the salary of our own engineer and a portion of the travel- 

 ing expenses of the Director and assistant. 



The general adoption of this method of experimenting and dissemi- 

 nating practical information establishes a very wide cooperation, 

 comprising tlie Department, the railroads, the various local road 

 authorities, the agricultural colleges and experiment stations, and 

 interested individuals. It makes the expense of building experimen- 

 tal and sample roads very easy to be borne, and would enable the 



