ROAD MILEAGE, CENTRAL AND WESTERN STATES. 21 



law provides that all road bonds shall be sold by the county treasurer to the highest 

 bidder, but for not less than par. 



County prisoners may be worked on the public roads of the county. State con- 

 victs may be worked on the public highways of counties upon agreement between 

 the county board of commissioners and the board of trustees of the Indiana reforma- 

 tory and the board of control of the Indiana State prison. 



ROAD MiXEAGE. 



At the close of 1914 Indiana had 73,347 miles of public road, of which 30,962.40 

 miles, or 42.2 per cent, were surfaced. Of the surfaced roads, 10,291.29 miles were 

 macadam, 20,264.59 miles gravel, 168.35 miles bituminous macadam, 53.17 miles con- 

 crete, 34.75 miles brick, and 150.25 miles sand-clay. There were also reported 17,509.78 

 miles of graded and drained earth roads. For 1909 Indiana reported 67,996 miles 

 of pubHc road, of which 24,955.75 miles, or 36.7 per cent, were surfaced, indicating 

 a gain in surfaced roads in the five-year period of 6,006.65 miles. Detailed informa- 

 tion in regard to road mileage for 1914 is presented in Table 12. 



REVENUES APPLIED TO ROADS AND BRIDGES. 



The total revenue applied to roads and bridges in 1914 amounted to $14,233,985.93, 

 as follows: General county tax for road repairs, $2,022,117.24; township tax, 

 $1,018,639.26; additional road tax, $446,975.58; revenues derived from automobile 

 license fees, $462,811.08; cash value of statute labor tax, $887,255.79; expended from 

 township bond funds, $8,989,570.98; expended from county bond funds, principally 

 for bridge construction and repairs, $406,616. In 1904 there was applied to roada 

 and bridges, $4,335,108, an increase in the 10-year period of $9,898,877.93, or 228.34 

 per cent. Detailed information as to taxation and revenue is presented by counties 

 in Table 35. 



ROAD AND BRIDGE BONDS. 



The total road and bridge bonds outstanding on January 1, 1915, amounted to $42,- 

 095,357.34, of which $36,957,686.22 were issued by townships and $5,137,671.12 by 

 counties. 



TOWNSHIP BONDS. 



Of the township bonds, $3,893,221.31 were voted in 1914, and $7,841,711.53 were 

 sold the same year. The interest rate on the bonds voted and sold in 1914 was 4J 

 per cent and the term from one to 20 years, the average term being from 10 to 20 years. 

 In 1914 there was expended from township bonds $8,989,570.98, and $5,719,416.47 

 was retired. Detailed information in regard to township bonds is presented in 

 Table 57. 



COUNTY ROAD AND BRIDGE BONDS. 



The county bonds were issued principally for the construction and repair of bridges, 

 although some have been issued for the purchase of toll roads and for repairs due to 

 floods. In 1914 there were voted $635,000 and there were sold $777,294. In the 

 same year $406,616 was expended and $237,850 retired. 



Information in regard to county bonds was furnished by the State auditor of Indiana, 

 who stated that the information was incomplete. 



Details regarding county bonds are given Ln Table 57A. 



IOWA.1 



Iowa has a land area of 55,586 square miles and a total road mileage of 104,074, of 

 which 614.57 miles, or 0.59 per cent, were surfaced at the close of 1914. 



There is a State highway commission composed of three members, one of whom is 

 the dean of engineering of the State college of agriculture and mechanic arts and two 



1 The information relative to the State of Iowa was collected, under the direction of this office, by J. H. 

 Ames, State highway engineer, and collaborator of the U. S. Department of Agriculture. 



