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been left to local governments.  The States themselves have, on the whole, contributed little.

Until 1938, direct financial aid for airports by the Federal Government was prohibited.54 However, in the form of work-relief, $385,157,592 was actually devoted by the United States Government to airport development during the depressed economic conditions of the 1930s and the early 1940s, along with $110,503,371 from localities on shared-cost programs.55 In 1938 the Civil Aeronautics Act was passed, which authorized a Federal survey of airport needs and the expenditure of Federal funds for constructing landing areas, provided the area was necessary for air commerce or national defense.56

During World War II, $353,020,333 was spent by the Federal Government to develop military landing areas in the continental United States (exclusive of funds spent on them by military agencies), and $9,513,995 was spent on landing areas solely for civil purposes.57 After the war had ended, over 500 airports constructed for military use were declared surplus and were turned over to localities for civil airport use.58

Approximately $750,000,000 was thus spent by the civil arms of the Federal Government on domestic airports prior to 1946, but about $353,000,000 of this amount was spent on military landing areas during World War II and almost all of the balance (about $385,000,000) was spent primarily for