REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE. 35 



GOOD ROADS. 



Good roads are essential to the prosperity and well-being of urban 

 and rural communities alike. They are prerequisite for the 

 orderly and systematic marketing of farm products, for the estab- 

 lishment of satisfactory rural schools, and for the development of a 

 richer and more attractive rural life. Recognizing these facts, the 

 Federal Government, through the passage of the Federal aid road 

 act in 1916, inaugurated a policy of direct financial participation 

 in road-building operations in the various States. This act appro- 

 priated $75,000,000, to be matched by an equal amount from the 

 States, for the construction of rural post roads over a period of five 

 years, and $10,000,000 $1,000,000 a year for 10 years for roads 

 within or partly within the National Forests. It required each 

 State to have a responsible central highway department with the 

 requisite powers and funds. All the States have complied with the 

 terms of the act, although it was necessary for them to enact addi- 

 tional legislation, or to amend their constitutions ; to provide sufficient 

 funds to match the Federal apportionment; and to strengthen exist- 

 ing central highway bodies or to create new agencies. 



When these preliminary steps had been practically completed and 

 the department and the States were about ready to proceed vigor- 

 ously with the actual construction of roads, the United States entered 

 the war. It soon became necessary greatly to curtail highway 

 building because of the difficulty of securing transportation, con- 

 struction materials, and the requisite services. After the armistice 

 was signed, arrangements promptly were made for the active 

 resumption and vigorous prosecution of road work in all sections of 

 the country, not only with a view to repair the damage wrought by 

 the heavy traffic forced upon our highways during the war, when 

 maintenance operatioiis were seriously interfered with, but also to 

 provide adequate transportation facilities to serve the increased 

 needs of agriculture and industry. Recognizing also that road-build- 

 ing activities would furnish suitable employment for many unem- 

 ployed men during the period of transition from war to peace, the 

 Congress at its last session, accepting the recommendation of the 

 Department of Agriculture, appropriated $209,000,000, in addition 

 to the $85,000,000 provided by the original act, for the extension 

 of road construction iu cooperation with the States, and also 



