America 1919-Chapter 943 - 322, The New York Times Predicament

After entering 1924, something significant happened at the beginning of the year.

Adolf Ochs of The New York Times couldn’t hold on anymore!

Since last year, the lawsuit against The New York Times initiated by Sinclair Oil Corporation and Pandora Oil Company had already begun, and at that time, Donnie personally pleaded with William Howard Taft to find every possible way to prolong the trial.

On the other hand, Adolf Ochs was also doing everything he could to shorten the trial duration.

Thus, Adolf Ochs had been fervently reaching out to his connections for this matter, even resorting to cash bribes to bring the lawsuit to a swift conclusion.

By the end of 1923, Adolf Ochs had abandoned any hope of winning the case—he just wanted the trial to end!

He had accepted the possibility of losing!

Unfortunately, by now, even if Adolf Ochs wanted to concede, it was no longer possible.

The team of elite lawyers he had hired had now become a double-edged sword.

Want to surrender?

Fine!

They would immediately turn to Donnie and demand exorbitant compensation from The New York Times. If this compensation were paid, the shareholders of The New York Times would tear Adolf Ochs apart!

"Caught between a rock and a hard place" perfectly described Adolf Ochs’s situation now!

Helpless, Adolf Ochs approached Paul Warburg today.

"Mr. Warburg, you simply have to help me!"

Upon meeting Paul Warburg, Adolf Ochs lowered his stance drastically.

He had no other options left. If he couldn’t secure more cash to support the lawsuit, The New York Times would face an economic crisis.

By then, the shareholders of The New York Times would unite and oust Adolf Ochs from the position of president.

To Adolf Ochs, losing his position as president of The New York Times was akin to losing all his power!

Paul Warburg, too, was feeling quite helpless at this moment. "I already spoke with Donnie over the phone earlier, but Donnie’s stance is resolute—he’s determined to see this lawsuit through to the end!"

As one of the essential voices for the Jewish people, Paul Warburg highly valued The New York Times. Seeing the newspaper’s predicament, he called Donnie again, hoping he would show leniency towards The New York Times.

But Donnie’s attitude remained steadfast—even a direct phone call from Paul Warburg couldn’t change Donnie’s determination, leaving Warburg deeply frustrated!

"Damn Donnie Block!"

If Adolf Ochs had a gun in his hand, with only one bullet in the chamber at this moment, he would undoubtedly shoot Donnie without hesitation!

Everything was Donnie’s fault!

"Mr. Warburg, I’ve come to see it clearly: Donnie is hell-bent on destroying our New York Times. I hope you can lend us more money. I believe Donnie will eventually run out of steam, especially since his spending on this case is bound to exceed ours!"

Since it was impossible to convince Donnie to drop his crusade against The New York Times, the only option left was to secure more funds and persevere!

Paul Warburg wore a helpless expression: "Dear Mr. Ochs, if it were in the past, I would certainly have lent you the money. But now, I simply don’t have the capacity to do so!"

Human desires are an endless abyss!

Even the savvy Jewish people can sometimes be blinded by their desires!

The return rates on real estate investments in Florida were simply too high. In just a few months, property prices in Florida had doubled!

This had rendered Paul Warburg incapable of resisting such temptation. Over the past few months, he had been mobilizing more and more funds into Florida.

He was determined to acquire as much of Florida’s land as possible!

During this period, he had even started dipping into the company’s reserve funds. For any large financial group, this kind of behavior was actually quite risky.

But Florida’s real estate market had blinded everyone to the underlying dangers.

At present, Paul Warburg simply did not have excess cash on hand. If he had any money, it would most assuredly be funneled into Florida’s real estate market.

How could there possibly be any leftover cash to lend to Adolf Ochs!

Upon hearing Paul Warburg’s refusal, Adolf Ochs said sorrowfully, "Mr. Warburg, if you don’t support us, The New York Times may become history!"

Paul Warburg found himself deeply conflicted. Although his mind was filled with thoughts of the Florida real estate market, he understood that losing The New York Times as a voice for their community would have significant impacts, especially in the realm of politics.

But right now, he truly couldn’t allocate more funds. After some contemplation, he decided he had no choice but to meet with Donnie personally.

"Alright, I’ll head to Atlantic City in the next couple of days and speak with Donnie face-to-face regarding this matter. Hopefully, he will show some mercy!"

Upon hearing that Paul Warburg wasn’t offering him money but instead going to confront Donnie again, Adolf Ochs’s heart was filled with dissatisfaction.

"Mr. Warburg, Donnie Block has already rejected your earlier request. Why would you go to him again? Surely you must know that even if Donnie agrees to your request, he will certainly aim to target me during this ordeal!"

Adolf Ochs knew very clearly that Donnie’s intentions in all of this were directly aimed against him.