66 THE UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



transmits the project statement with hrs recommendations 

 to the Washington office. 



If the project statement is approved, the plans, specifica- 

 tions and estimates are then submitted by the state highway 

 . department to the district engineer, who in turn sends them 

 to the central office with his recommendations. If they are 

 found to be suitable, a formal certificate to that effect is 

 issued by the Secretary of Agriculture to the Secretary of 

 the Treasury and to the state highway department, and a 

 formal project agreement is signed. As the work pro- 

 gresses, or upon its completion, payment of federal funds 

 is made to the depository named in the agreement. 



Thus it will be seen that the procedure required is some- 

 what elaborate. However, it does not seem to be more 

 than is neecssary properly to safeguard the expenditure of 

 so large a sum of money and the interests of those officials 

 who are made responsible. The actual procedure has been 

 greatly simplified by the adoption of standardized forms, 

 arrangements of plans, estimates, and specifications. 



It is perhaps too early to form any estimate of the success 

 of this measure. The most notable result thus far has been 

 the effect upon the highway laws and institutions of the 

 States. At the time of the passage of the act, fully one- 

 fourth of the States could not avail themselves of its 

 provisions because of inadequate organization. At the 

 present time, all of the States have highway departments ; 

 and most of them have passed such legislation as to cen- 

 tralize the construction and maintenance of roads in these 

 departments. This should greatly facilitate the cooperative 

 administration contemplated under the act. 



Whether the application of the cooperative principle to 

 the vast enterprise of building the highways of the nation 

 will produce the largest measure of benefit to the people 

 remains to be seen. If the administrative difficulties can be 

 amicably and properly solved, there would seem to be little 

 doubt as to the practical benefits. The two cooperative 

 measures described in this chapter should furnish ample 



