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its capacity to 70,000 sacks. Their four stores, at Ashburton, Tinwald and Lyndhurst, were then reckoned to hold almost 800,000 bushels. As a grain exporter, Hugo handled the greater part of the Ashburton crop each year; local growers were always certain of a sale at his stores; he never refused wheat. Nevertheless, under the difficult conditions of the time, he profited more perhaps from his skilled speculations on the world market. He was also inevitably drawn into farm finance. Until 1887 his was the only large firm free from outside control and Hugo, though at times ruthless, was more willing than his competitors to act generously when he judged that a farmer had a good chance of success. A large number of men were financially dependent on him.

Perhaps Friedlander’s ability was best shown by his skill in handling the bankruptcy of the firm in 1895—an event of possibly wide-spread consequence. The serious economic depression of that year followed a promise of improvement during the early 1890s and may have found his usually shrewd foresight at fault. It is more likely that the affairs of the Bank of New Zealand were to blame; in 1895 only ‘immediate and drastic action’ by Parliament rescued the bank from failure, which threat to the bank perhaps explains why Friedlander Brothers’ overdraft of some £40,000 was called up suddenly in May. The Friedlanders dissolved the partnership and formed a new firm of Friedlander and Company Ltd with Max as the nominal head. The latter sold all the stock off his Roxburgh Farm and probably the farm also. (He sold Kolmar in 1896 and Ardagh in 1902.) The grain in stock, a mere 12,000 bags, was disposed of at surprisingly good prices for the time. There were disputes as to whether the Official Assignee should see the firm’s books.

Friedlander and Company took up the business with scarcely a break. In two and a half months ‘the estate of H. and R. Friedlander’ paid 15s in the pound and soon cleared the debt. Friedlander and Company then sold out to Friedlander Bros. Ltd. While these no doubt skilful manoeuvres were in progress, Rudolph was re-elected treasurer of the Agricultural and Pastoral Association and Max, a member of the committee. The latter, as usual, won more prizes for sheep than anyone else at the show later that year. (Miles and Company, already mentioned as one of the oldest of Canterbury stock and station agency firms,^[1] went into liquidation in July.)