PUBLIC UTILITIES: Electric Ax

In Costa Rica's beautiful up-to-date capital, San José, sirens last week blared the death-knell of the very company which supplied them with power—big Electric Bond & Share Co.'s little Costa Rican affiliate which supplies San José and 32 nearby towns with electricity. For a year the Central American Republic's unicameral Congress has engaged in a tiff with Bond & Share. Bond & Share sought a new franchise for its affiliate, asked permission to charge higher rates. The Congress considered the proposed rates exorbitant. Month ago the Congress broke the resultant deadlock by...