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Show ARMY GUI 15 NEXT MOVE IN CONGRESS PRESIDENT HARDING SIGNS BILL REDUCING ARMY OF UNITED STATES TO 100,0000 MEN Congress Informed That Secretary Of War Would Not Be Asked To Dlechargo Men In For Certain Time. "WnK'hlnjfton President Ilnrdlng Bent a message to congress Thursday : strongly dissenting from provisions In the army appropriation bill which requires re-quires tho army to bu reduced to 1G0,-000 1G0,-000 wen by October 1. The president announced he bad signed the hill, but warned cntigics.s that he does not feel Justified In nsk Ing tho secretary of war to cnfoie the dismissal of men prior to expiration expira-tion of enlistment ns would he necessary neces-sary If tho provisions of the measure aro carried Into effect. The president said this provision will cause "very great embarrassment" to the nrmy and will be demornllrlng to tho spirit of the army Itself, probably prob-ably causing serious difficulty In so- ' curing enlistments In the future. The restriction was vigorously op- ' posed by Secretary of Wtir Week's. ' who declared It a "violation of con- ' tract" with enlisted men. President Harding advised congress ' Hint he would probably as!; additional ' legislation to remove the restrictions ' and said that while tho secretary of war will seek to nvold creating any l deficit prohibited by tho bill every error! er-ror! will be made to deal Justly with " enlisted men. The message was n very plain spo- f ,1(011 document nnd Is the tlrst serious disagreement between Hnrd'ng and lenders In congress. t Harding's message follows: 1 "I am udvlslng the congress of my t approval or H. It. no 10 a bill making provision ror the mnlntennnce nnd sup- n port or the United States army for the li year ending Juno 30, 1022. v "I cannot resist cnllng tho attention r of the congress nt this tlmo to the very li great embarrassment In carrying out c Its provisions while dealing Justly with the enlisted forces of the army so that t a later call for a slight modification f may not be wholly without notice," d The bill necessities a very Inrge o reduction In the enlisted personnel of the nrmy ind It is doubted that this a reduction enn bo brought about with' li out the summary dismissal of many p thousands of men who have a right to li expect nt the hands of tho government p the samo morn) obligations which the p government requires of them when they enlist for servvlce. In perfect r good faith tho secrctnry of wnr will p: proceed to reduce tho army to the fig- m ure contemplnted by the congress. The f: normal expiration of enlistments prob- h nhly will approximate one-huir the r- oi (Miction which tho congress h:i d'm-ted tr nnd every effort will be in ide to meet tho requirements of the longreh nt Is Ihe earliest jiosslhle day. i |