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Rossi & Berliss, except some vouchers bearing either the signature of George Baekeland or Rossi. In fact the order only bore the initial of each. What makes it worse it that Rossi initialed the vouchers ordering his own loans. I told Miss Bidwell to find whether there is anything in the letter or my correspondence indicating a record.
[[underlined]] Dec 15. [[/underlined]] [[red underlined]] Annual Stockholders meeting of Bakelite corporation. [[/red underlined]]
[[left margin in red]] Vice Presidents overstepping their duties [[/left margin]] 
Received a letter from [[red underline]] Karpen [[/red underline]] announcing he cannot be present as he has a [[red underline]] bad cold [[/red underline]] but his brother Leo is here. [[red underlined]] Hays without consulting [[/red underlined]] me told him why I intend to prepare that Ad. [[red underlined]] Karpen should not be reelected [[/red underlined]] as a vice president. He says his brother will take it much to heart etc. I answered him that when our corporation was first organised I was compelled to distribute "generalships" to everybody and [[red underlined]] too many vice-presidencies. [[/red underlined]] That since that time I had been confronted with the fact that functionally [[red underlined]] every one of the vice-presidents had overstepped [[/red underline]]  the [[red underline]] bounds of duty [[/red underline]] in [[red underline]] signing documents [[/red underlined]] and obligating the company [[red underlined]] without asking my consent. [[/red underlined]]
[[left margin in red]] A. Karpen [[/left margin]]
That in several instances unfortunate situations had arisen and that when, [[red underlined]] a year ago A.K. proposed Sanford Brown as an additional vice president [[/red underlined]] I only accepted his proposal until a change in the 
Bye-laws was made defining and limiting the powers of the vice presidents. That since then the Chicago factory had been moved and our office there had no greater importance than our several other sub offices in different parts of the country. Under the circumstances a vice president in such a distant city and who at present was an invalid, and could not be kept posted from day too day as to the ever changing business problems 
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[[left margin in red]] Adolph Karpen's [[double red underline]] tricks! [[/double red underline]] [[/left margin]]
was [[red underline]] an obstacle instead of a help [[/red underline]] That furthermore [[red underline]] A.K [[/red underline]] had taken several responsibilities in financial transactions [[red underline]] without consulting us, [[/red underline]] which put me in the delicate position of being censured by the stockholders for allowing him so much leeway. I specified first A.K. investing the surplus funds of Autopoint [[red underline]] in foreign  [[strikethrough]] secur [[/strikethrough]] bonds  [[/red underline]] of a nature [[red underline]] which none of us would have approved [[/red underline]] if he only had given himself the trouble of submitting his intended purchases for approval. Then [[red underline]] placing [[/red underline]] [[strikethrough]] the [[/strikethrough]] funds in a little bank in Chicago, [[red underline]] without consulting [[/red underline]] us, which cost us $4000 after the bank failed. Then [[red underline]] again [[/red underline]] placing about [[red underline]] $30000 [[/red underline]] of funds in another bank in which he became a director and from [[red underline]] which he borrowed for his own use a sum of money [[/red underline]] about equivalent to our deposit. - Then when the bank was about to fail withdrawing our deposit, but [[red underline]] immediately borrowing money from Autopoint to about [[/red underline]] the amount withdrawn and for which he gave his promisory note, and [[strikethrough]] we [[/strikethrough]] [[red underline]] inadequate collateral. - All this without consulting any of us, [[/red underline]] and railroading their financial transactions thru in a hurry with only the approval of Jacobs and Delhi, two employes of Autopoint which A.K himself designated as his "yes men." - That at present Karpen still owed Autopoint, our subsidiary of which he is President, still $8400 since quite a time and with insufficient collateral. - That [[red underline]] all this places me as president of B.C in a condition where I might be reproached [[/red underline]] of being lax in my duties by maintaining [[red underline]] A.K [[/red underline]] as [[red underline]] Vice President. [[/red underline]] 

Transcription Notes:
Only made a few minor changes in this edit...changed 'Autopaint' to 'Autopoint' (which was a company in Chicago) Rossi is correct. He was the manager of Bakelite. Berliss refers to Arthur Berliss who was a director of Bakelite Karpen is correct Adolp is most likely correct...found ref to both Adolp and Adolph Karpen in Poor's Manual of Industrials Should '&' be used in the transcription, when this is not what is written in the text? What is written looks more like a + sign.