It had been obvious from 1941 to 1945 that the Chinese had little understanding of the wealth and complexity of the island economy, and that our American studies of the island had directed Chinese attention to it and stimulated interest in the spoils. T. V. Soong was in wartime Washington occasionally, and his agents and lieutenants kept him well informed. It required some little time after the surrender, however, for word to spread through Chungking, Nanking and Shanghai that in Formosa China had indeed inherited “Treasure Island."
The only large-scale foreign investment in prewar Formosa had been a $25,000,000 bond issue floated by J. P. Morgan and Company on behalf of the Japanese Government to finance construction of the first dams and power stations at Sun-Moon Lake. The J. G. White Engineering Corporation had surveyed the power potential and upon White reports the Morgan Company had agreed to promote the enterprise. Late in World War II it is not impossible that T. V. Soong (then Foreign Minister) was approached for assurance that American investments in Formosa would be respected in the event of a transfer of sovereignty. Be that as it may, Soong had prepared well in advance of the Surrender at Taipei; within a matter of days the J. G. White Corporation had a team based at Taipei to check the power situation and report on industrial potential.
Nothing long remains secret in China; we must presume that the contents of the second White Survey report were fairly widely known early in 1946. The Government moved from Chungking to Nanking on May 1. About that time I was in Shanghai and found myself wined and dined by a number of major bankers and businessmen eager to discuss the situation in Formosa. Questions and comments clearly reflected a keen but new interest in the island, its economic history and its current problems under Chen Yi’s administration.
戰前台灣的大宗外國投資只有摩根公司(J. P. Morgan & Co.)為日本植民政府發行2500萬元公債,用以建造日月潭的第一個水庫和發電廠。原來由懷特公司(J. G. White Engineering Corporation)先做測量,並把發電的潛能作成報告,再寫成白皮書交給摩根公司,以促成這件工程。在二戰末期,宋子文是支那(重慶政府)的外交部長,可能是美國方面要他保證,萬一台灣的主權易手,美國在台灣的投資不受侵犯。這並非不可能。假設事實確是如此,那麼宋子文在台北早已有了準備。難怪幾天之間,懷特公司就派了一組團隊去台北調查電力情形,並提出工業潛力的調查報告。
【但在林蘭芳教授所寫的:《戰後初期資源委員會對台電之接收(1945~1952)~以技術與人才為中心》(中央研究院近代史研究所集刊/第79期(民國 102年3月),p87~135),對於懷特公司(J. G. White Engineering Corporation)來台則是照樣描述的】:
……(二)外籍工程師
在台電重用留用日人的同時,美方電力技術大廠J. G. White Engineering Corporation(懷特公司)的工程師來到台灣,重估日本人留下來電力設備與諸種復興建設的規劃,可視為戰後復舊工作與規劃的技術指導者,他們也是美國工程師協助中國電氣修復事宜中的一環。資委會與懷特公司,雙方早在戰爭結束前不久的1945年6月22日就開始接觸,而在日本投降後一個月後的9月20日簽訂合約,同年11月16日的書信往來,確定懷特公司工程師要在台灣工作。到1946年12月10日,該公司經理Gano Dunn提交資委會駐美辦事處文件,表示其成員已到台灣實地觀察並完成分析報告,調查台灣電力株式會社的設備,以確立12萬KW供電的要求。關於懷特公司成員戰後在台灣的活動,依資委會的機關誌有以下的記載:(1)資委會美國顧問工程師一行5人,於1945年12月間飛赴台灣視察 電氣事業設備情形,並將協助計劃修復事宜。(2)1946年2月資委會為計劃發展大規模電氣事業,已編好「向美國訂購大型汽輪發電設備規範」一種,又為適應是項事業需要,續向美國J. G. White公司添聘電氣工程專家3人,其中1人已到台灣,另2人正待船來華。(3)1946年5月美國懷特公司電力專家3人前往台灣考察,並於4月5日轉往華北一帶工作。(4)再據1946年6月的報導,資委會為加緊復員及發展全國電氣事業,前在美洽請懷德(J. G. White)公司派顧問工程師一批,來華協助,該工程師等於1946年1月間曾赴台灣作初步觀察,在台工作次第完成,除Adkins及Snethlary二君仍暫留台灣,協助完成台灣天冷、霧社水力發電計畫外,其他各員均已陸續返滬轉平,分往華北各地考察。