820 LAWS OF MARYLAND. [CH. 277

vided, however, that said funds shall be expended in the several
counties of the state in the same ratio as the county road mile-
age of each county bears to the entire county road mileage of
the State.

SEC. 11. And be it further enacted, That if the Congress of
the United States shall fail on or before December 15, 1924. or
December 15, 1925, or December 15, 1926, respectively, to pass
legislation appropriating from the Federal Treasury funds for
the construction during said years 1924, 1925 and 1926, respect-
ively, of rural post roads in the various States sufficient to equal
the amounts herein respectively appropriated for said purpose in
Maryland, then, and in that event the money herein appropri-
ated to be used in connection with said Federal appropriations
for the building of rural post roads, or so much thereof as shall
not be matched by Federal appropriations, shall on and after
December 15, 1924, December 15, 1925 and December 15, 1926,
respectively, become available, in the discretion of the State
Roads Commission, for use by said State Roads Commission in
the construction of roads in the various counties of the State,
said money to be appropriated by the State Roads Commission
to the various counties of the State in the same ratio which the
public road mileage of each county bears to the total public
road mileage of the several counties of the State, and it shall
not be necessary for the various counties to add to such monies
any county funds whatever.

SEC. 12. And be it further enacted, That the State Roads
Commission is hereby authorized and directed to ask for bids
and enter into contracts in the usual form for the construction
of such rural post roads or lateral roads as it may from time
to time under the provisions hereof determine to construct, said
contracts to be made in the name of the State Roads Commis-
sion, and to contain the same provisions now required by law
for contracts of such roads. The term "rural post roads" as
used herein, provided it shall not be contrary to the Act or
Acts of Congress appropriating Federal aid therefor, and the
term "lateral road" as used herein shall include bridges, and
authority is hereby given to the State Roads Commission to
build such bridges as it may decide to be a proper part of the
rural post road and lateral road system, as herein described:
such bridges, if upon lateral roads, to be charged against the
counties in which the same are located, in the same manner as
are lateral roads, and to be paid for by said counties to the
same extent.