If current predictions come true, New England will have the forge-lit skies and smoky haze of a steel industry by 1953. With the migration of the textile companies southward, the six nodtheastern states had begun to ask themselves if their leadership in small industry was finished. But with the discovery a few years ago of a rich vein of iron ore in Newfoundland and Labrador came the hope of an even greater share of the nation's manufacturing wealth. As it stands now, plans are being made to build as steel mill in one of New England's seaports before 1953 and to set up shipping traffic in ore between that port and the mines to the north.

The New England Council Steel Committee is directing the early planning for the mill. Formed three years ago, this group has the job of selecting the site and arranging for the financing of the new enterprise. Finding a location is the Committee's biggest problem-not because it can't find a suitable city but because so many cities are seeking such an industtry to ward off unemployment. Boston would like to see the mill in adjoining Hingham or Everett; the only steel plant now in New England is a small one on the Mystic River flats in Everett. Hingham, however, has objected that it wants to keep itself residential and will not welcome the mill. Portsmouth, New Hampshire and the Maine ports have put in their bids for the plant, too, but their chances aren't very good because of their distance from other New England industrial centers.

New London, Connecticut is the best bet to get the mill in the end. Ample acreage, good port facilities and railroads, an excellent fresh water supply in the Thames River, plus a proximity to the firearms and precision instrument factories in southern New England, all make New London the most logical site. New London would like the will, furthermore, because the city has felt serious unemployment with the closing down of so many Coast Guard activities; like all the other cities, New London would be glad to see the 20,000 to 30,000 jobs that the mill would make whether it is located.

To begin operations, the mill need anywhere from 150,000,000 to 215,000,000 dollars. One rumor from Washington stated that the Reconstruction Finance Corporation had offered the minimum figure as a start to any company desiring to begin construction. But, the New England Council Committee has said that it would rather see private than RFC financing; as an initial gesture, the Council has formed a "New England Steel Mill Organizing Corporation" with a capital of $300,000 to promote private investment in the plant. The Council, too, has emphasized strongly that it would not care to have the New England mill merely a branch of one of the midwestern steel companies. Though the local enterprise will need help in organizing from the more experienced steel manufacturers, it will eventually, according to the Council, be completely independent.

Until the source of ore in Labrador can be fully exploited, the steel mill can get its raw material from the already developed mines in Belle Isle, Newfoundland. The Mystic River Iron Works now produces 500 tons of pig iron daily from the Newfoundland ore. But the Belle Isle vein is not as rich as the ones in Labrador; thus, the further expansion of the New England steel industry will have to wait until a transportation system is established through the Canadian hinterland. Though a truck road now cuts across Labrador, it will be a few years before a railroad is built. One plan sees the beginning of work on a 360-mile rail line by next summer. The actual mining operations in Labrador are being financed by Republic Steel, Inc., and six Canadian companies.

With the steel mill proposal, will come a redoubled effort on the part of New England businessmen to block the St. Lawrence Seaway. If the ore from Labrador could travel down the St. Lawrence to the Great Lake ports, the geographical advantage of a New England steel mill would be materially diminished. The prospect of an important industry in New England threatened by the Seaway may well be the reason why New England senators fight the St. Lawrence project.

Whichever site is chosen, whoever finances it, the coming of a steel mill is an event that all New England can look forward to eagerly. It may well be the end of the gradual slump which this area has felt since the textile shutdowns in 1921; possibly, New England can one day rival the midwest in basic industrial strength. As one commenter put it, "When New England gets a steel mill, it will begin a new era of leadership in American industry."