2. COMMERCIAL CONCEPTS - THE BEST ROUTE FOR EXPORTING GRAIN

In 1795, Adamić was sent, as an employee of the gubernatorial office, to travel along the rivers Sava and Danube to the Black Sea in order to find out whether they would be suitable for river traffic so that Hungarian products could be transported to the Mediterranean.

On the Danube delta Adamić wrote his work Reflections and Calculations (Riflessi e calcoli) in which he compared the overland route to Rijeka's harbour with the river route to the Black Sea.

The result was that the expenses were equally high for both options so that it was only worth exporting the highest quality grain. However, he maintained that if the traders would travel on the overland route and export the goods via Rijeka’s harbour, local people would be the ones to profit from the transport and the money would stay in the country. In these years a notable merchant from the nearby town of Karlovac favoured travelling along navigable rivers rather than along the dangerous (there were continuous attacks by the outlaws!) and very steep street Karolina. However, Adamić was not ready to leave something to others what Rijeka itself could have.

In 1825, during his function as a councillor in the Hungarian-Croatian parliament in Pozsony (Bratislava’s old name), Adamić published a brochure, in which he explained his concepts for exporting Hungarian products via Rijeka's harbour. He continued promoting his approaches regarding transportation and economy also later on when he was a member of the royal economical sub-commission in Pest.

The development of trade and economy required a more appropriate education and knowledge of regulations. For this purpose more and more textbooks and manuals were printed, which were intended for sailors, merchants and bookkeepers (textbooks about double-entry bookkeeping).