482 ANNUAL REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



amount of $38^64,394.85, and involving 6,122.824 miles of road. In 

 many cases where some part or all of the project was not being used 

 as a rural post road and there was not sufficient evidence to establish 

 a reasonable prospect that it would be so used within a reasonable 

 time, it was necessary to point out in detail the character of addi- 

 tional evidence which should be furnished to establish the eligibility 

 of the project. In some instances elimination of a portion or por- 

 tions of the project was suggested where it was impossible to fur- 

 nish sufficient evidence of a i*easonable prospect of use for mail tmns- 

 portation. 



Project agreements and certificates of approval of plans, specifica- 

 tions, and estimates, prepared by the Bureau of Public Roads, for 

 595 projects w^ere examined as to their legal form and sufficiency 

 before being transmitted to the State highway departments for ex- 

 ecution, and of these agreements and certificates 453 w^ere subse- 

 quently examined as to the sufficiency of their execution by the 

 State highway departments and were thereupon submitted to the 

 Secretary to be executed by him. These agreements involved a total 

 estimated expenditure of $42,178,903.91 and Federal aid aggregating 

 $18,273,159.17. 



Drafts of modifications of agreements and certificates, prepared 

 by the Bureau of Public Roads, were similarly reviewed in 185 

 cases, and cancelations of agreements in 2 cases. Of the drafts 

 of modifications of agreements so reviewed, 163 were subsequently 

 examined as to whether they w^re properly executed b}' the State 

 highway departments and were submitted to and executed by the 

 Secretar}^ 



Statutes of five States, amending former highway statutes, v/ere 

 reviewed to determine whether they met the requirements of the Fed- 

 eral aid road act. 



Proposed standard plans, specifications, and orders to bidders, and 

 contract and bond forms used by a number of the States in carrying 

 out the cooi>eration contemplated and authorized by the act, Avhich 

 were submitted for consideration by the several State highway de- 

 partments, were reviewed as to their legal form and sufficiency. Sug- 

 gestions as to changes in form and substance were made in several 

 in i-ances. 



Forms of resolutions to be used by the counties and other civil 

 subdivisions in applying to their respective State highw^ay depart- 

 ments for State and Federal aid in accordance with the State laws 

 were drafted for tlie convenience of the State highway departments 

 concerned. 



Opinions v/ere rendered on a number of important questions arising 

 under the act. In addition to the above list, 69 original agreements 

 and 12 supplemental agreements under section 8 of the act were 

 reviewed both as to form and substance. 



As indicated in the summary of this report, the woVk of the 

 Bureau of Public Roads and of the Forest Service was materially 

 enlarged by additional appropriations and by the enlargement of 

 the class of roads comprehended in the phrase "rural post road " as 

 used in the Federal aid road act. 



