The following is a copy-paste of a digital document (mildly edited for formatting) written by my grandfather Byron Krulewitch (1924 - 2021). It's titled, in my grandfather's matter-of-fact style: "World War II Service Record – Byron A. Krulewitch - 11-18-2018"
My grandfather was a very special person. I was there when he passed last year at the age of 96. A month before he passed, he was still sharing more stories of these four years of his life. At the end of his telling, he shared "I didn't really appreciate how important being in the Navy would be in my life until years afterwards." He was a quiet but proud and competent man. Ran a business for years, and then helped his wife run a classical music series into his late 80s. He was good with computers, often helping my parents learn how to use their apple products, and typed this account himself. It's been fun and sentimental for me and my family to read privately. However, I've been told by many people upon hearing of its existence that they'd like to hear it. Byron has passed away, but he told me before he did that he wrote it so he could share it with people, not so it'd stay private. Like I said, he was proud of his service. And proud of being a geek ahead of his time!
In the fall of 1942 I turned 18 and registered for the military draft. This was required of all men 18 years of age and above when Congress instituted the draft upon the declaration of war with Japan. I had enrolled that fall at the University of Illinois Urbana Campus School of Engineering. My brother, Paul, volunteered for the Army Specialized Training Program (ASTP) program instituted by the United States Army and was in service. I had applied for an engineering deferment from the Local Draft Board and was waiting for a decision.
In the meantime, I decided to enlist in the Meteorological program of the United States Air Corp in February of 1943 and was lacking one credit in Analytical Geometry. I obtained permission from the School of Engineering to stay out of school to take a proficiency test to secure this credit. I studied with a tutor for one week and arranged to take the test on a Friday. The day before the test I was granted an engineering deferment and that took the sails out of me! I needed a grade of 75 to pass and received a 73! My brother advised me to not let myself be drafted and if possible to avoid service in the U. S. Army and so immediately after that fiasco, I found out about that the United States Navy’s special Radar program. In order to get into the program it was required to pass a special examination test, which I did in the spring of 1943. One of the provisions of the test was that I could not enlist or be drafted but was automatically enrolled in that program. It was a brand new program created by the United States Navy to train technicians to service all the new electronic gear aboard naval vessels including radio receivers, radio transmitters, sonar, service search radar, fire control radar and any other electronic gear being added for use aboard ship. This was quite intensive for a young 19 year old. I was informed that I had to wait until there was a space for me to enter the program, which occurred in May of 1944. In the meanwhile, I was able to complete four semesters in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Illinois. When I left school in the spring of 1944 the University decided to give credit to anybody who completed the12 weeks of study and was rating a “C” or better to receive full credit for that semester when entering military service. I was fortunate to comply and so received full credit for my first semester of my junior year. I was inducted into the United States Navy on May 23, 1944 and
was immediately sent to the Great Lakes Naval Training Center for Basic Naval Training. We were informed that as part the special program we were in, we would be tested upon the completion of each week of the program, which consisted of Pre-Radio School a four week program, Radio School a twelve week program and Secondary School a twenty-six week program. We were allowed to fail only three weeks and then we would be taken out of this program and assigned to the Deck Division aboard ship. I was assigned to Company 26, the 26tth company into the program. The program was so new that it kept changing to keep up with the advanced electronics being used aboard ships. Upon Completion of Basic Training in June 1944, I was sent to Pre-Radio School at Wright Junior College in Chicago, Illinois, my hometown. This was an introduction to electronic engineering. After successfully completely this program I was sent in July 1944, to Radio School at Gulfport Naval Training Center in Biloxi, Mississippi. One of the requirements was to build and design a Suprehetrodyne Radio Receiver, which was required to perform equally as well as a commercially available unit. We were able to keep the radio we built and I remember giving it to my dad when I came home on leave. Upon successfully completing this portion of the program I was sent to Navy Pier in Chicago, Illinois for Secondary School, the final phase of the program. During the work at this part of the program we were taught how to service all electronic gear aboard ship. Special laboratories were set up for this type of training. At this time, we were investigated to clear the top-secret classification since some of the equipment was classified top secret. I remember when training to service the radio transmitters I accidently put my hands on a “dirty” transmitter vacuum tube and got the shock of my life when I discharged a capacitor in plate circuit of this tube. My body when straight off the floor upon receiving the 2000 plus volts, which lasted just about one to two seconds. I was fortunate to go thru this entire program without repeating any part of the program. About one third of the personnel in the program were able to do this. Upon completion of the program I was given the Rank of Electronic Technician’s Mate 3rd Class (ETM 3/C). In January 1945, I was then sent to Treasure Island in San Francisco, California to await transportation to Pearl Harbor in the Hawaiian Islands. Within the week I was immediately shipped out of
Treasure Island on an APH, The USS Dixie an Attack Hospital Ship, which also included a company of women marines and women navy nurses. There was a standing order from the ship’s captain that any serviceman caught without permission in or near the women’s quarter would be subject to a general court martial and dishonorably discharged. Upon arrival in Pearl Harbor I was assigned to the Command of the Pacific Destroyer Group. I was in Pearl Harbor for a very short time when I departed for Okinawa aboard the CL63, the USS Birmingham, a Light Cruiser. On August 15, 1945 we crossed the 180th Meridian and I was initiated into The Order of the Golden Dragon. Life aboard this ship was very regimented. I remember standing muster in un-dressed blues (blues without white stripes) each morning after breakfast and also when entering and leaving port. Undress blues were the uniform of the day aboard this class of ship and higher. I found out life aboard destroyer class ships in ComDesPac were much easier. The uniform of the day was dungarees ( blue jeans) and not regimented at all. Muster was only taken once a day and then in dungarees.
Upon arrival in Okinawa we were waiting to be assigned to a ship and I do not remember how long I was on the island but it was several days. While on the island I remember attending an outdoor movie and in the middle of the movie the lights came on and there was machine gun and rifle firing. Some of the isolated Japanese soldiers were still on the island and they were spotted close to the movie compound. A search party was trying to capture them. I was finally assigned to the Destroyer Escort, DE 446 USS Brandon, and I was a part of the communications division aboard ship. I was never given a watch assignment or battle station assignment but was on 24 hour call at the radio shack at all times which was 4 hours on 4 hours off during battle station watch. The ship would go thru Kamikaze Drills every day at 11 am and we never knew if it was real or a drill until the all clear was sounded. The aircraft would dive at us out of the sun and you could not identify the aircraft by sight. The Navy installed IFF (Identification Friend or Foe) equipment aboard the planes and the ships in order to eliminate this problem. In August 1945 we were being assembled as part of the Invasion Fleet for Japan. Buckner Bay in Okinawa was filled with more ships than the eye could see. There were at least 20 Essex Class Aircraft Carriers and all the support ships required for such a massive
operation. The war ended at the end of August 1945 and then this armada was being disassembled when in October 1945 a typhoon struck Okinawa in which about 460 ships were either sunk or destroyed. These were more ships then the Japanese destroyed in the entire war. Our ship was sent to sea to ride out the typhoon and we were in swells with over 20 to 30 foot seas. We took a 68-degree roll from dead center and our ship’s maximum roll was 72-degree before it would sink. We cracked our mast at the A-1 deck, which is the first deck above the main deck. The Brandon was then sent back to port for repairs and I was re-assigned to the DE 326 USS Thomas J. Geary. I experienced going thru six other typhoons while in the South Pacific. When under way the destroyer escort rolled 30 degrees in calm seas. I remember one time climbing the 85 foot mast to replace a 5 hp motor on the surface search radar while under way. Our Flotilla of DE’s were the second American Ships to arrive in Shanghai after the battleship the USS Wisconsin. When we got liberty and we arrived at the dock on the motor whaleboat there were a line of Chinese people on either side of the gangway, we were not sure whether to go thru the gangway or head back to ship but as some of our sailors started to go thru the people on either side kissed the uniforms. We later learned they were thankful for the liberation of their country from the Japanese,
We were then given the duty to provide mail service between Okinawa, Hong Kong and Shanghai, which we did for nine months. During this tour of duty another electronic tech, Otis Anderson from New Orleans, started operating illegal amateur radio and I became enamored with it and joined him and then I started doing it on my own. We operated with the call sign of W5DGO portable VS6, (Five Dozen Green Onions) portable VS6 which means we were operating out of Hong Kong. During this time because everyone had trouble with my last name I was given the name of “Cookie”. I would go on the air about 10 pm for usually 4 to 6 hours talking all over the Pacific Theater. Eventually Otis and I established a 14.1 club, which included people in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Okinawa, the Philippines, Beijing and lord know where else. 14 mc was the 20-meter amateur radio band. There also was a 10 meter band, 28 mc, but we did not have the equipment to operate on it. We reached as far as Argentina with an unturned antenna, which was amazing. We both were surprised we did that well. When personnel was heading back to the States they would ask
us if we could let their families know and we did by calling an amateur radio operator in Argentina who would then transmit the information back to the States. I can remember one time when we were on the air (which was really illegal) we came over the sound system of the movie being shown aboard ship. We knew then that we had to be more careful. We then knew that we could not transmit when movies were being shown! One member of the 14.1 club located in Hong Kong arranged for a meeting the next time we got liberty and when I got to shore I was amazed to find out the individual was a Commodore in the British Navy! He took me to his BOQ (bachelor officers quarters) and we had dinner and went on the air to join the other members of the 14.1 club. It was a truly amazing experience! I remember what happened on Christmas Day 1945 in Hong Kong. The British sailors were very upset with the American Navy because we took over the town because our pay grade was double theirs and they could not afford to go to the bars and whatever else, because the local people raised the rates to make more money from the U. S. Sailors. So on XMAS day they marched down the streets arm-in-arm and any American sailor they found they knocked him out. The sailors came back aboard ship bruised and angry. So between XMAS and New Years the signal lights and signal flags aboard ships in the harbor were so busy it looked light a XMAS tree with all the blinking lights. The American sailors aboard all the ships were arranging a retaliation to occur on New Years Day. As a result they proceeded to do the same thing to the British Sailors as was done to them, only they took on officers as well. I was lucky for I was on shore patrol on Kowloon, the city on the mainland opposite Hong Kong. So, consequently I did not see any of the action that took place.
In my day there was a saying “Join the Navy and See the World”, that is exactly what happened to me. The Commanding Officer of the Flotilla of DE’s was being re-assigned to Gunnery School and obtained permission to travel back to the United States with many ports of call. We were told that each port we visited we would be able have Liberty (another name for shore leave) We started back from Shanghai and then traveled back to Hong Kong and then to Singapore where on April 5, 1946 we crossed the equator and I was initiated into the ANCIENT ORDER OF THE DEEP and became a Shellback and a member of King Neptune Rex’s court. We then went to Ceylon off the coast of India up
the Red Sea to Port Said thru the Suez Canal to Alexandria we stayed a week and I was able to get to Cairo went thru the Pyramids and saw the Sphinx. This was an amazing adventure for a 22 year innocent guy. We then went to Gibraltar and up thru the Straits of Messina along side the Boot of Italy. The skipper (Captain of the Ship) insisted we travel up the Straits by LORAN (long range navigation) so I was on duty the whole time we went up the Straits to our destination, the city of Naples. We stayed a week and I was able to get to the Isle of Capri and enter the Blue Grotto. You could only enter the grotto at low tide because at high tide the entrance was almost completely under water. A really amazing sight since the blue phosphorescent ceiling illuminated the entire grotto. We then went to Marseilles, France where we stayed for a week. I remember while on liberty I met a couple of French Mademoiselles who thought I would be their entry into the United States. They plied me with wine and I remember being in bed with one and passing out. I had to be back aboard ship by 8 am or I would be AWOL (absent without leave). They made sure I was awake to get back to my ship in time for roll-call. As the ship was leaving port these two girls were on shore waving and saying good-bye to “Cookie”. The final port of call was Madeira off the coast of Portugal. We then crossed the Atlantic to Charleston, South Carolina where we decommissioned the ship at the end of May 1946. I was then sent to the Great Lakes Naval Training Center where I was honorably discharged on June 8, 1946.
Being in the United States Navy and serving my country was a humbling experience and one that I will never forget.
Byron: https://imgur.com/a/GuUJyYz
https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/herald/name/byron-krulewitch-obituary?id=10317552
Mods please let me know if I'm doing anything wrong with this post, thanks. I just recently posted it to /WW2, and might drop it in a few others if people make reasonable suggestions.

The following is a copy-paste of a digital document (mildly edited for formatting) written by my grandfather Byron Krulewitch (1924 - 2021). It's titled, in my grandfather's matter-of-fact style: "World War II Service Record – Byron A. Krulewitch - 11-18-2018"
My grandfather was a very special person. I was there when he passed last year at the age of 96. A month before he passed, he was still sharing more stories of these four years of his life. At the end of his telling, he shared "I didn't really appreciate how important being in the Navy would be in my life until years afterwards." He was a quiet but proud and competent man. Ran a business for years, and then helped his wife run a classical music series into his late 80s. He was good with computers, often helping my parents learn how to use their apple products, and typed this account himself. It's been fun and sentimental for me and my family to read privately. However, I've been told by many people upon hearing of its existence that they'd like to hear it. Byron has passed away, but he told me before he did that he wrote it so he could share it with people, not so it'd stay private. Like I said, he was proud of his service. And proud of being a geek ahead of his time!
In the fall of 1942 I turned 18 and registered for the military draft. This was required of all men 18 years of age and above when Congress instituted the draft upon the declaration of war with Japan. I had enrolled that fall at the University of Illinois Urbana Campus School of Engineering. My brother, Paul, volunteered for the Army Specialized Training Program (ASTP) program instituted by the United States Army and was in service. I had applied for an engineering deferment from the Local Draft Board and was waiting for a decision.
In the meantime, I decided to enlist in the Meteorological program of the United States Air Corp in February of 1943 and was lacking one credit in Analytical Geometry. I obtained permission from the School of Engineering to stay out of school to take a proficiency test to secure this credit. I studied with a tutor for one week and arranged to take the test on a Friday. The day before the test I was granted an engineering deferment and that took the sails out of me! I needed a grade of 75 to pass and received a 73! My brother advised me to not let myself be drafted and if possible to avoid service in the U. S. Army and so immediately after that fiasco, I found out about that the United States Navy’s special Radar program. In order to get into the program it was required to pass a special examination test, which I did in the spring of 1943. One of the provisions of the test was that I could not enlist or be drafted but was automatically enrolled in that program. It was a brand new program created by the United States Navy to train technicians to service all the new electronic gear aboard naval vessels including radio receivers, radio transmitters, sonar, service search radar, fire control radar and any other electronic gear being added for use aboard ship. This was quite intensive for a young 19 year old. I was informed that I had to wait until there was a space for me to enter the program, which occurred in May of 1944. In the meanwhile, I was able to complete four semesters in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Illinois. When I left school in the spring of 1944 the University decided to give credit to anybody who completed the12 weeks of study and was rating a “C” or better to receive full credit for that semester when entering military service. I was fortunate to comply and so received full credit for my first semester of my junior year. I was inducted into the United States Navy on May 23, 1944 and was immediately sent to the Great Lakes Naval Training Center for Basic Naval Training.
We were informed that as part the special program we were in, we would be tested upon the completion of each week of the program, which consisted of Pre-Radio School a four week program, Radio School a twelve week program and Secondary School a twenty-six week program. We were allowed to fail only three weeks and then we would be taken out of this program and assigned to the Deck Division aboard ship. I was assigned to Company 26, the 26tth company into the program. The program was so new that it kept changing to keep up with the advanced electronics being used aboard ships. Upon Completion of Basic Training in June 1944, I was sent to Pre-Radio School at Wright Junior College in Chicago, Illinois, my hometown. This was an introduction to electronic engineering. After successfully completely this program I was sent in July 1944, to Radio School at Gulfport Naval Training Center in Biloxi, Mississippi. One of the requirements was to build and design a Suprehetrodyne Radio Receiver, which was required to perform equally as well as a commercially available unit. We were able to keep the radio we built and I remember giving it to my dad when I came home on leave. Upon successfully completing this portion of the program I was sent to Navy Pier in Chicago, Illinois for Secondary School, the final phase of the program. During the work at this part of the program we were taught how to service all electronic gear aboard ship. Special laboratories were set up for this type of training. At this time, we were investigated to clear the top-secret classification since some of the equipment was classified top secret. I remember when training to service the radio transmitters I accidently put my hands on a “dirty” transmitter vacuum tube and got the shock of my life when I discharged a capacitor in plate circuit of this tube. My body when straight off the floor upon receiving the 2000 plus volts, which lasted just about one to two seconds. I was fortunate to go thru this entire program without repeating any part of the program. About one third of the personnel in the program were able to do this. Upon completion of the program I was given the Rank of Electronic Technician’s Mate 3rd Class (ETM 3/C). In January 1945, I was then sent to Treasure Island in San Francisco, California to await transportation to Pearl Harbor in the Hawaiian Islands.
Within the week I was immediately shipped out of Treasure Island on an APH, The USS Dixie an Attack Hospital Ship, which also included a company of women marines and women navy nurses. There was a standing order from the ship’s captain that any serviceman caught without permission in or near the women’s quarter would be subject to a general court martial and dishonorably discharged. Upon arrival in Pearl Harbor I was assigned to the Command of the Pacific Destroyer Group. I was in Pearl Harbor for a very short time when I departed for Okinawa aboard the CL63, the USS Birmingham, a Light Cruiser. On August 15, 1945 we crossed the 180th Meridian and I was initiated into The Order of the Golden Dragon. Life aboard this ship was very regimented. I remember standing muster in un-dressed blues (blues without white stripes) each morning after breakfast and also when entering and leaving port. Undress blues were the uniform of the day aboard this class of ship and higher. I found out life aboard destroyer class ships in ComDesPac were much easier. The uniform of the day was dungarees ( blue jeans) and not regimented at all. Muster was only taken once a day and then in dungarees.
Upon arrival in Okinawa we were waiting to be assigned to a ship and I do not remember how long I was on the island but it was several days. While on the island I remember attending an outdoor movie and in the middle of the movie the lights came on and there was machine gun and rifle firing. Some of the isolated Japanese soldiers were still on the island and they were spotted close to the movie compound. A search party was trying to capture them. I was finally assigned to the Destroyer Escort, DE 446 USS Brandon, and I was a part of the communications division aboard ship. I was never given a watch assignment or battle station assignment but was on 24 hour call at the radio shack at all times which was 4 hours on 4 hours off during battle station watch. The ship would go thru Kamikaze Drills every day at 11 am and we never knew if it was real or a drill until the all clear was sounded. The aircraft would dive at us out of the sun and you could not identify the aircraft by sight. The Navy installed IFF (Identification Friend or Foe) equipment aboard the planes and the ships in order to eliminate this problem. In August 1945 we were being assembled as part of the Invasion Fleet for Japan. Buckner Bay in Okinawa was filled with more ships than the eye could see. There were at least 20 Essex Class Aircraft Carriers and all the support ships required for such a massive operation.
The war ended at the end of August 1945 and then this armada was being disassembled when in October 1945 a typhoon struck Okinawa in which about 460 ships were either sunk or destroyed. These were more ships then the Japanese destroyed in the entire war. Our ship was sent to sea to ride out the typhoon and we were in swells with over 20 to 30 foot seas. We took a 68-degree roll from dead center and our ship’s maximum roll was 72-degree before it would sink. We cracked our mast at the A-1 deck, which is the first deck above the main deck. The Brandon was then sent back to port for repairs and I was re-assigned to the DE 326 USS Thomas J. Geary. I experienced going thru six other typhoons while in the South Pacific. When under way the destroyer escort rolled 30 degrees in calm seas. I remember one time climbing the 85 foot mast to replace a 5 hp motor on the surface search radar while under way. Our Flotilla of DE’s were the second American Ships to arrive in Shanghai after the battleship the USS Wisconsin. When we got liberty and we arrived at the dock on the motor whaleboat there were a line of Chinese people on either side of the gangway, we were not sure whether to go thru the gangway or head back to ship but as some of our sailors started to go thru the people on either side kissed the uniforms. We later learned they were thankful for the liberation of their country from the Japanese.
We were then given the duty to provide mail service between Okinawa, Hong Kong and Shanghai, which we did for nine months. During this tour of duty another electronic tech, Otis Anderson from New Orleans, started operating illegal amateur radio and I became enamored with it and joined him and then I started doing it on my own. We operated with the call sign of W5DGO portable VS6, (Five Dozen Green Onions) portable VS6 which means we were operating out of Hong Kong. During this time because everyone had trouble with my last name I was given the name of “Cookie”. I would go on the air about 10 pm for usually 4 to 6 hours talking all over the Pacific Theater. Eventually Otis and I established a 14.1 club, which included people in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Okinawa, the Philippines, Beijing and lord know where else. 14 mc was the 20-meter amateur radio band. There also was a 10 meter band, 28 mc, but we did not have the equipment to operate on it. We reached as far as Argentina with an unturned antenna, which was amazing. We both were surprised we did that well. When personnel was heading back to the States they would ask us if we could let their families know and we did by calling an amateur radio operator in Argentina who would then transmit the information back to the States.
I can remember one time when we were on the air (which was really illegal) we came over the sound system of the movie being shown aboard ship. We knew then that we had to be more careful. We then knew that we could not transmit when movies were being shown! One member of the 14.1 club located in Hong Kong arranged for a meeting the next time we got liberty and when I got to shore I was amazed to find out the individual was a Commodore in the British Navy! He took me to his BOQ (bachelor officers quarters) and we had dinner and went on the air to join the other members of the 14.1 club. It was a truly amazing experience! I remember what happened on Christmas Day 1945 in Hong Kong. The British sailors were very upset with the American Navy because we took over the town because our pay grade was double theirs and they could not afford to go to the bars and whatever else, because the local people raised the rates to make more money from the U. S. Sailors. So on XMAS day they marched down the streets arm-in-arm and any American sailor they found they knocked him out. The sailors came back aboard ship bruised and angry. So between XMAS and New Years the signal lights and signal flags aboard ships in the harbor were so busy it looked light a XMAS tree with all the blinking lights. The American sailors aboard all the ships were arranging a retaliation to occur on New Years Day. As a result they proceeded to do the same thing to the British Sailors as was done to them, only they took on officers as well. I was lucky for I was on shore patrol on Kowloon, the city on the mainland opposite Hong Kong. So, consequently I did not see any of the action that took place.
In my day there was a saying “Join the Navy and See the World”, that is exactly what happened to me. The Commanding Officer of the Flotilla of DE’s was being re-assigned to Gunnery School and obtained permission to travel back to the United States with many ports of call. We were told that each port we visited we would be able have Liberty (another name for shore leave) We started back from Shanghai and then traveled back to Hong Kong and then to Singapore where on April 5, 1946 we crossed the equator and I was initiated into the ANCIENT ORDER OF THE DEEP and became a Shellback and a member of King Neptune Rex’s court. We then went to Ceylon off the coast of India up the Red Sea to Port Said thru the Suez Canal to Alexandria we stayed a week and I was able to get to Cairo went thru the Pyramids and saw the Sphinx. This was an amazing adventure for a 22 year innocent guy.
We then went to Gibraltar and up thru the Straits of Messina along side the Boot of Italy. The skipper (Captain of the Ship) insisted we travel up the Straits by LORAN (long range navigation) so I was on duty the whole time we went up the Straits to our destination, the city of Naples. We stayed a week and I was able to get to the Isle of Capri and enter the Blue Grotto. You could only enter the grotto at low tide because at high tide the entrance was almost completely under water. A really amazing sight since the blue phosphorescent ceiling illuminated the entire grotto. We then went to Marseilles, France where we stayed for a week. I remember while on liberty I met a couple of French Mademoiselles who thought I would be their entry into the United States. They plied me with wine and I remember being in bed with one and passing out. I had to be back aboard ship by 8 am or I would be AWOL (absent without leave). They made sure I was awake to get back to my ship in time for roll-call. As the ship was leaving port these two girls were on shore waving and saying good-bye to “Cookie”. The final port of call was Madeira off the coast of Portugal. We then crossed the Atlantic to Charleston, South Carolina where we decommissioned the ship at the end of May 1946. I was then sent to the Great Lakes Naval Training Center where I was honorably discharged on June 8, 1946.
Being in the United States Navy and serving my country was a humbling experience and one that I will never forget.
Byron: https://imgur.com/a/GuUJyYz
https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/herald/name/byron-krulewitch-obituary?id=10317552
Mods please let me know if I'm doing anything wrong with this post, thanks.

Pasifika are on the frontline in New Zealand’s Covid battle – and are copping racist abuse for it
https://www.theguardian.com/world/commentisfree/2021/aug/30/pasifika-are-on-the-frontline-in-new-zealands-covid-battle-and-are-copping-racist-abuse-for-it
"Fa’anana Efeso Collins
Public indifference to abuse of the Pasifika community is especially concerning – we all need to show compassion in this crisis
The past week in lockdown has been tumultuous for many in my community. I was on my way to pick up my daughter from school when media outlets began reporting that New Zealand was headed for a possible level 4 lockdown, suggesting the Delta variant had breached our borders and there was a probable case in the community. By the time I arrived at the school, notifications were filling my messenger feed with supermarkets packed to the brim as the rush for toilet paper began. New Zealand went into full lockdown that night in its fight against Covid-19.
Within a matter of hours, news emerged that a person from the North Shore of Auckland had tested positive followed by people who had attended a large church gathering in south Auckland. Church plays a pivotal role in the Pacific community. It serves as a hub to express our faith, language and culture, where we reconnect with friends and family. It grounds us and allows us to recharge before we head back into a society that is different to what we knew in our home islands dotted around the Pacific.
Recent census data shows that Pacific people make up 40% of the area I represent, in south Auckland. In comparison to other Aucklanders, Pacific people earned less than 60% of the average income. According to the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, industries employing the most Pacific people are in manufacturing, utilities and construction, wholesale and retail and the health sector; jobs that are both essential and involve regular contact with incoming travellers, or those requiring healthcare. Research shows that the Pacific population living in homes with at least seven people is more than six times that of the non-Pacific population in New Zealand.
Just a day into lockdown and glued to news media with their breaking updates, it didn’t take long for the comments sections of various online platforms to light up with derogatory slurs aimed at my community. It felt like deja vu as only a month prior to this latest Covid outbreak I addressed a large church gathering about my own confrontation with the extreme end of racial discrimination. I shared how my family was the subject of a bomb threat after my criticism of a reality television show which I believe unfairly stigmatises Māori and Pacific youth.
While it is always a minority who perpetrate these attacks whether in the form of detestable social media posts or an anonymous bomb threat, what’s more concerning is the underlying public indifference to these incidents. Prior to the news of an emerging Covid cluster connected to a Samoan church, the general public sentiment was supportive of those infected. As subsequent and related cases were revealed, they weren’t subjected to any extra scrutiny as their most recently visited locations were published online. And why should they? This is the 21st century, we’re a modern, progressive country and New Zealand hasn’t had a major nationwide community outbreak like this in over a year.
But public sentiment wasn’t so generous with news of a “super-spreader” event – held before lockdown – at the church concerned in south Auckland. Instead, commentary focused on why Pacific people spread this insidious virus so quickly. Whatever the intent of this there are important factors to understand.
Churches are places of worship and connection, where people gather in song, prayer and reflection. There are few activities, excepting nightclubbing, casinos or sex shops, that would spread a highly contagious airborne virus better than a church, but as I’ve already said, attending church is an intrinsic part of Pacific culture.
Many Pacific people in New Zealand are first or second generation migrants. Like many migrants, we have found ourselves in roles that often bring us face to face with the virus like transport, hospitality and retail. These are essential roles that are particularly pronounced during lockdown. It’s been said before but it’s worth repeating: we are on the frontlines of New Zealand’s battle against Covid.
Disappointingly, the vaccine rollout has been disjointed for large parts of our community. Pacific health providers should have been leading our large-scale vaccine events, staffed by health professionals with existing relationships in the community. Increasing our coverage and ensuring people can navigate the booking system noting their issues with language barriers and connectivity are vital. These challenges are not insurmountable which has been evidenced in the last couple of days, by a much-needed turnaround in the vaccination approach. Early signs indicate a telling increase in the uptake for Pasifika which is most encouraging. We would have been here earlier, had our voices been heard at the planning and design stages.
In any case, we can take real hope from the Samoan congregation that’s been in the news this week. Last week members of the church gave their first public interview to the media and when asked how they felt about the vitriolic abuse they had received responded with, “may God bless you”. If they can wish a blessing on those who curse them, that same courage is something we can all aim to live up to. Our character as the team of five million is being tested and we will all need to dig deep to get through this crisis … and draw from our collective well of compassion, forbearance and empathy.

• Fa’anana Efeso Collins is a New Zealand-born Samoan and is a councillor for Manukau in south Auckland"

​

Pasifika in Bay of Plenty forced to present passports to get Covid jabs. In Tauranga, mass occupied by racist descendants of Pakeha British Colonial backstabbing thieves.

https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/pasifika-in-bay-plenty-forced-present-passports-get-covid-jabs
" In a scene reminiscent of the dawn raids, a big group of Pasifika families in Tauranga were told they couldn’t be vaccinated unless they presented their passports first.
A provider who tried to register the families for vaccinations on Friday was told by the Bay of Plenty District Health Board they wanted to see their passports to check if they were seasonal workers.
Sameli Tongatea who works with the Tauranga families said it felt like the 1970s dawn raids all over again where Pasifika had to present their passports to authorities.
1 NEWS spoke to one of the families involved, who were left distressed at the situation. Lisa Leaaepeni says she wanted to withdraw her family from the vaccination programme but in the end changed her mind because she says, its important.
“If you want the community to do their stuff to get their injections let them do it, they don’t need to have their ID or anything it’s really important for all the families out there to get their injections,” she said.
Regional Public Service commissioner Ezra Schuster says he was told about the incident from his community and has been working with the DHB to try and resolve the issue.
He said there was a “huge level of disappointment” and things needed to change.
Schuster said the Bay of Plenty DHB board had apologised for the hurt this would have caused.
“This is an opportunity for the DHB in our Pasifika community, certainly in Tauranga, and across the Bay of Plenty to really better understand what the needs are and really learn from the experience,” he said.
The Government has made it clear that anyone, resident or not, is able to be vaccinated."
​

Families grapple with how to mourn loved ones during lockdown

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/te-manu-korihi/450123/families-grapple-with-how-to-mourn-loved-ones-during-lockdown
" Te Aniwa Hurihanganui
Families mourning the loss of their loved ones are grappling with tighter restrictions on funerals and tangihanga, which prevent them from being present at any stage of the funeral process.
During last year's level 4 lockdown, people in the same isolation bubble as the deceased person were allowed to go to the funeral home or urupā.
The whānau of the late Ngāti Kahungunu kaumātua Des Ratima has decided to place their father's body in storage until level 4 restrictions lift.
Whānau spokesperson Bill Gray said they wanted to delay the service and give him the send-off he deserved.
"Our hands are tied, it's the government's directive that we can't do much and we've accepted that," he said.
"I guess it doesn't stop us from using Zoom to remember those wonderful moments in time we spent with this honourable man."
Storing tūpāpaku, or the deceased, is just one of many ways families are dealing with the new restrictions.
Viewings of the tūpāpaku, dressing of loved ones, or taking tūpāpaku home are also prohibited.
The Ministry of Health said in a statement the rules had tightened due to the increased threat of the Delta variant.
For Māori the rule-change is particularly significant. Tangihanga are a sacred cultural tradition, often lasting several days.
Gray said the Ratima whānau felt heartbroken to have to mourn their father's death over Zoom.
"It's foreign to Māoridom that one can use a phone to express their emotions and farewell someone that was so dear and near to us."
Zoom hui to give whānau and friends of Des Ratima the chance to pay their respects have been taking place over the last week.
Donna McLeod from Motueka sympathises with them and all those who are unable to be with their loved ones.
The writer, poet and playwright has been through it before, having lost her father during last year's level 4 lockdown.
"It was really hard for us. My father has been with us for the last five years, he had dementia, and we never expected for him to pass away during lockdown and he did.
"We are mana whenua here and we are so much part of the marae, and even though my father was Pākehā he was still part of that community and so no one was able to come and awhi us and manaaki us and hold us."
McLeod's father was allowed to be at home for a short period before he was cremated.
Family and friends living nearby would walk past their home and perform karakia or say a tribute to him from the roadside.
Others living afar shared memories online, or streamed into Mcleod's home from their computer screens.
"There is nothing like being at a tangihanga and being with a whānau but when we can no longer do that we need to think, how can we still offer all those things that awhi, that manaaki? That is the hardest thing, to use Facebook and to use Zoom, and I know it's not the same but this is where we're heading."
This year during Matariki, family and friends of McLeod gathered at Te Uma where the urupā is located to remember her father and others who were not able to be properly mourned during last year's lockdown.
"We called out the names of those who passed away and that was beautiful. We also just finished a show in Motueka called Unveiling where we celebrated the lives of five of our people who had passed away during that time that we never got to celebrate all together.
"In these down times when we're not in isolation, let's celebrate. But when we can't all be together, let's find ways to be together."
She said her father's send-off wasn't perfect, but her whānau did the best that they could.
She said that's all anyone mourning loved ones could do right now.
"For me and my brothers I guess that's the main thing. We did the best we could in that time. And that's what we have to remember for Māori whānau and all of us really - that we've done the best that we can in this time."'
​
Obituary: Des Ratima, kaumātua, pioneer, soldier and leader
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/300390389/obituary-des-ratima-kaumtua-pioneer-soldier-and-leader
"Des Ratima: electrician, soldier, politician; b July 28, 1952; d August 22, 2021
Even in his final moments of life, Des Ratima was taking phone calls from those who needed him most.
Remembered as the mayor of Whakatu, respected kaumātua and effortless leader, Ratima died earlier this week, age 69.
The Ngāti Kahungunu,​ Te Rangikoianake​, Rongowhakaata Te Whānau A Kai​ descendant was known as a man who served the nation, a political beast, a soldier and pioneer. He was a man who lived a life to serve others.
Ratima was the fourth son born to Desma​ and Kararaina Ratima,​ in Whakatu​, near Hastings. He had six siblings (all boys), Richard, James, Lenny, Dennis, Thomas and Cowley.
His family were the first to purchase a section at Whakatu, and Ratima was schooled at Mangateretere Primary.​
“He always said he was the fastest runner in the school,” wife Evelyn​ says. “He was proud of that, and he was very athletic. They would have races every year, and he had to win every year.”
After attending Church College of New Zealand in Hamilton, he was destined for a job at the freezing works in Whakatu, where his father wanted his sons to work. Des wanted to be a tradesman, but reluctantly followed his father's wishes – at least to begin with.
“The freezing works was the place to go, because you made good money there, that’s how most homes in Whakatu were bought and paid for,” Evelyn says. “It was a very busy community and quite a wealthy community, but Des knew there was something better than this.”
During his time at the freezing works, an electrical fault caused mechanical issues in the factory, and an electrician was called in to fix the problem.
A young Des Ratima stood by and watched the “skinny, nerdy” electrician fiddle and tamper with the wires, fixing the problem in only minutes. It was then he knew what he wanted to do.
“Des thought, if he can do that, I can do that.”
Going against his father’s wishes, he gained an apprenticeship as an electrician. But Evelyn says he was subject to racism and often wasn’t allowed in people’s homes during jobs. “Only the white workers were allowed to go into the house, he had to stay outside, and he worked like that for a long time.”
Despite this, Ratima graduated from the power board as a top student and ended up being the boss of the electrician he’d first observed in the freezing works.
He bought his first home in Flaxmere and started a family with first wife Charmaine, having four boys, Quinton​ – who died at six days old – Dallas​, Dacoda and Des Kabraska.
But his skills as an electrician took him into the army ​ in 1977, where he would make a life-changing cultural impact, establishing the first military marae in Waiouru in 1995.
He started as a corporal and would travel back to Hawke’s Bay every weekend in his Morris Minor to visit his family. He was later transferred to Singapore, and his family joined him, before moving back to New Zealand.
He would remain in the army for 27 years, moving between Trentham and Auckland. It was through his army career he met close friend and padre Bill Gray, who described their relationship as “walking in each other's footsteps”.
Gray was fluent in te reo, and Ratima asked him to be his teacher. Both were eventually transferred back to Waiouru, and it was there Ratima saw a vision for the marae.
“He was standing looking out where the marae is today, and when he looked, he saw a vision of the marae, he saw the wharenui as it stands now,” Evelyn says. “It was upright and it was shiny. He looked at it, then rubbed his eyes, looked again, and it was not there. Then he knew he had a job to do.”
He and Gray worked together, building and opening the marae, but their work was met with some resistance.
“It was a new culture, and in the defence, they didn’t have a Māori culture,” Evelyn says.
Gray says Ratima used the building to bring “great transformation”.
“We saw a great cultural change in the Defence Force, from a colonial culture to a New Zealand culture, that was very much our own. He used that concept to bring about a dual culture with a shared vision and a dual heritage.
“For me, Des was born under the shadow of ancient law – his destiny was already determined. His morals and values were of paramount importance, thus shaping his daily life, he held the line, and he did not retreat.
“No path was ever too great for him. To succeed in life, he was about great performance, commitment and determination to succeed, to give people a better quality of life in the hope that they could rise each day to a dawn of new hope.
“He was an ordinary man with extraordinary gifts, a man with a purpose and a mission using his amazing gifts to bring hope and an ongoing heartbeat to people.”
Ratima met second wife Evelyn during his army days, but they did not become close until later in life, when he aspired to a career in politics. They would move back to Whakatu and continue building a thriving community.
Evelyn was Ratima’s constant travel companion during their endless journeys across the country. It was a particularly important task for her, as Ratima had sleep apnoea.
“I’d often look over, and he’d dropped off at the traffic lights, which meant I'd have to give him a prod. He wouldn’t let me drive because once I got completely lost.”
After life in the forces, Ratima became an integral part of the Hawke’s Bay community, involving himself in many projects during the past decade.
He received the ONZM in 2018 for services to Māori and became a justice of the peace in 2016. In 2018, he was named Hawke’s Bay Business Leader of the Year.
He chaired Whakatu Kohanga Reo for 10 years, reviving it from a struggling early childhood education provider, to a successful learning centre.
He was a cultural and environmental adviser for regional and district councils, and a member of the Hawke’s Bay District Health Board Māori Relationship Board.
He was chairman of the marae collective Nga Marae O Heretaunga and helped organise various projects.
He was chairperson of the Te Kupenga A Maui and Whaea o te Ara police committees since 2007, helping to develop strategies to reduce the number of Māori involved in crime and changed the lives of many.
He stood for the Alliance Party in the general election in 1999, just missing out on becoming a member of Parliament, after being ranked 13 on the list. He was then elected Mana Motuhake vice-president, in 2001.
Gray says Ratima lived his life for others and had a final wish to those living around him.
“In all his years of work, he’s done this without any personal gratification or financial rewards, for he believed in the value of human life, and he was prepared to put his life at risk.
“Despite his final hours on this earth, despite his great illness that taxed him considerably, he still answered the calls of people in need, and he died courageously, in an honourable way, serving a nation. His final message to the nation was to feed the people and feed the children.
“And also go the doctor if you want to live longer.”'
​

Oranga Tamariki had 'prime role' in events leading to Flaxmere beating - Kaumātua

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/409963/oranga-tamariki-had-prime-role-in-events-leading-to-flaxmere-beating-kaumatua
Māni Dunlop
​

Covid-19: East Coast hapū establish road checkpoint after authorities refuse

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/ld450358/covid-19-east-coast-hapu-establish-road-checkpoint-after-authorities-refuse
" A hapū-led checkpoint at Te Araroa has been set up despite local and national authorities saying it was not necessary under alert level 4. Photo: Supplied / LDR
The Matakaoa Covid-19 response group say roaming police checkpoints have not reduced traffic and that their communities have been offered "less protection" during the outbreak of the more infectious Delta variant, than during lockdown in 2020.
A roster of people who will physically distance if not from the same bubble are operating the checkpoint located at the intersection of State Highway 35 and Pohutu Road.
Tairāwhiti area commander Inspector Sam Aberahama said he would visit the checkpoint to speak with those involved this morning but had no further comment at this stage.
Static road checkpoints involving the community are illegal.
It comes after acting Minister for Emergency Management Kris Faafoi last week rejected a written request from 32 Ngāti Porou marae to declare a regional state of emergency and implement static checkpoints for the Coast.
The Minister agreed with Tairāwhiti's emergency management controller David Wilson, who believed emergency status was not necessary.
Matakaoa Covid-19 response spokeswoman Ani Pahuru-Huriwai said they had asked for static checkpoints to control the flow of traffic and so far, at a regional and national level, had been refused.
"We have given emergency services every opportunity to try to bring the risk levels down for our whānau and they've not been effective.
"We have tried to communicate this to the council, the emergency controller and central government, and our voices are being ignored, so we are left with no choice but to put these protections in ourselves," Pahuru-Huriwai said.
"We see this as a failure from local and national government to live up to the numerous commitments they have made over this past year to work closely with communities in combating Covid-19."
The group released traffic flow data provided by the police's mobile checkpoints, saying it showed a marked increase in traffic levels compared to the same time frame in the 2020 lockdown when static checkpoints were in place.
"Whereas last year we were able to get traffic flows down to about four or five cars per hour, now we are averaging 23 cars per hour," Pahuru-Huriwai said.
"Our local whānau are also noticing a lot of strange cars and unknown people in town, and police checkpoints have stopped cars coming into our communities from as far away as Waikato."
Pahuru-Huriwai said they had worked closely with police over the past week, providing community assistants to the mobile checkpoints.
Police sent to Wharekahika/Hicks Bay and Te Araroa from other regions had been very supportive and professional.
Inspector Aberahama told The Gisborne Herald on Friday that police were happy with the 20 mobile checkpoints running across the district daily.
About 50 to 60 police were patrolling Tairāwhiti.
Matakaoa Covid-19 response member Tina Ngata said the checkpoint came as a relief to whānau.
"Everybody is relieved to have it back up because we know that that's what works. Our kaumātua are anxious, our whānau are anxious because we all know about the Delta variant and we feel less protected than last year.
Ngata said they were frustrated to have spent more than a year working with the district council, civil defence, police and health officials about the importance of communities in responding to Covid-19 only to have their requests ignored and denied.
"It just flies in the face of everything they've said in the last year when they've said they will work with us.
"We have tried doing it the way that the police wanted to do it and it's not working.
"We do value our relationship with police. We just have a different opinion to them and our opinion is grounded in the community."
The council declined to comment."
​

Here we go again: Covid and racism

https://e-tangata.co.nz/comment-and-analysis/here-we-go-again-covid-and-racism/
by Emmaline Pickering-Martin
Once again, news of the Pacific ethnicity of many of the Covid cases in the latest outbreak has brought the racists out of the woodwork. Emmaline Pickering-Martin says the media need to behave more responsibly when it reports ethnicity.
It’s been a year since I penned a response to the Covid outbreak which sent Auckland into a second lockdown in August 2020.
In that piece, I discussed the intersection of Covid and racism and privilege, and how we as a society seemed blind to all of it — unless, of course, you were Pacific. Then you understood the intersections very well.
So here I am, a year on, trying to comprehend the lack of awareness that we, as a society, still have.
This lockdown, our first Level 4 for 2021, was prompted by a case of the new Delta variant of Covid that began in Devonport.
It’s a small seaside suburb on the north shore of Tāmaki Makaurau nestled at the foot of Takarunga, or Mt Victoria as it’s become known to Pākehā. (Fun fact: Takarunga (hill standing above) had a partner, Takararo (hill standing below) that was quarried by colonisers when they “settled” Devonport and the surrounding area.)
But I digress. A man who lives in Devonport, who is most likely Pākehā (because: Devonport), tested positive for the Delta strain of Covid. He and his wife had been on a trip to the Coromandel before being tested. He was an avid scanner, which meant that his “locations of interest” were easily found.
Then the virus went on its own trip throughout Tāmaki and all the way down to Pōneke. During its travels, the virus visited at an Assembly of God church in Māngere on a Sunday. Here the virus did its thing and shared itself around.
What happened next, via the media, however, has transported me all the way back to August 2020.
Earlier this week, Dr Ashley Bloomfield announced that more than half of the new cases of Covid are of Pacific ethnicity. He then said Pacific people have the highest rates of testing and that they are to be commended.
But what came next was pretty far from commendations.
Almost immediately after announcing these facts, the mainstream media jumped on board with their ever so subtly racist headlines:
“Samoan church cluster has 58 cases, largest source of current outbreak”
“Samoan church cluster: 58 cases linked to Sunday service attended by 500 people”
“Number of cases linked to Samoan Church Service”
“Samoan Church service in South Auckland now considered a cluster”
This contrasted with the style of earlier headlines when we first heard about the Devonport case.
“New Community Case of Covid-19 in Auckland”
“Covid-19 Delta variant 11 new community cases”
“Latest on Covid-19 community outbreak”
To most people, those Sāmoan headlines may just look like headlines. But, for Pacific people, as we’ve seen in the past, reporting like this leads to the racist abuse of Pacific communities — and, by osmosis, South Auckland.
It’s been a whole year since we went through this, and yet, here we are again, with mainstream media ignoring, or perhaps not even seeing, the very real damage done by this type of clickbait heading.
We’ve seen multiple cases of racism towards our people this week. Abusive messages received by many of us. Calling us “dumb coconuts”. Telling us it’s our fault because we drink kava and share cups. Saying this is why they don’t hire effing coconuts or let effing coconuts stay in their rental properties.
These are all real examples of messages received in the last two days alone. And they have a real impact. I know I’m far from being the only Pacific person who has felt both enraged and hurt by the racism being directed at our communities this week.
Not to mention the report of two Pālagi policemen stopping a car with two young Pacific people going to the airport vaccination centre — not believing they were heading there and telling them they’d be fined $300 if they were seen driving around again.
Must be nice to be a cop pulling over young Pacific people this week, when last week you let so many Pākehā flee the city and head for their holiday homes up and down the line.
Northland friends of mine who live in Whangaruru have described how their little village, which is usually so quiet until the holidays, is suddenly full again. So much for our “Team of 5 million”.
Dr Bloomfield did the correct thing in talking about percentages of ethnicities of new cases. We need to know that so we can help keep our people safe. It puts us on high alert.
But we don’t need to be told to get tested by racist idiots. Throughout this pandemic, Pacific have had the highest rates of testing of any ethnicity in the country. And in the last few days, with drive-through vaccination locations popping up in Auckland and Wellington, and a more targeted approach to vaccinating our communities, Pacific people have been quick to take the opportunity to keep our families and communities safe. As RNZ reports, we’re now leading rates of vaccination for the over 60s and over 40s. Frankly, we’d have been there sooner if the vaccination rollout had been better at targeting our people.
The media needs to behave responsibly when it reports the cases within our Pacific communities.
Imagine seeing a headline like this: “Pākehā man from Devonport index case”. Or this one: “26 new cases today a Pākehā cluster”.
Yet I’ve seen the “Birkdale Social Network Group” and the “South Auckland Samoan Church Cluster”. How is one “a group” and the other “a cluster”? Why do some get their ethnicity front and centre in a headline, and others don’t?
Well, it’s because, for the most part, in mainstream media, Pākehā are considered the norm. They are the centre — and news is largely about what happens to them, or what affects them. And that means that we, as Māori and Pacific peoples, are the “other”. And we are treated as such.
But isn’t it time to put an end to that? Surely, we’ve all come to understand the impact of colonisation — and that, in the wider Pacific region at least, it’s actually Pākehā who are the “other”.
So reporting on our people as if we’re some kind of anomaly is not okay. There is well-informed, neutral reporting and commentary — and then there are clickbait stories, commentary and headlines that pander to our country’s racist underbelly.
Actually, can we even say that it’s an underbelly anymore? There’s so much evidence at times — and this week has been a case in point — that we’re living in a straight-up racist country. Check the Facebook comments section on any mainstream media platform and you’ll see just how big an appetite there is for racist clickbait headlines.
Racism, however, is just one part of the issue this time round. Another concern is the lack of a clear and effective vaccination rollout for Māori and Pacific peoples.
Long before this lockdown, our leaders were calling out for a strong plan for our people. We understand vaccine hesitancy within Māori and Pacific communities. We understand the volume of misinformation out there. And we understand the language and cultural barriers, and the problems of accessibility.
So why wasn’t there a Pacific focused rollout led by Pacific communities, running alongside the everyday rollout? We know that there’ve been at-risk community members wanting to book vaccines since vaccination began, but with the online “one size fits all” system, they haven’t been able to. Not to mention the real digital divide between Māori and Pacific communities on the one hand, and Pākehā communities on the other.
The inequity is blindingly obvious, but no one really seems to be able to hand over the reins and let us do what we do best: care for ourselves.
Even today I read an email that said Māori health providers had been trying to encourage vaccinations in their communities, but the online system wasn’t letting people book because of the “criteria” for the rollout, so people were just hoping for walk-ins.
How is this okay? We’ve had more than enough time to iron out all these issues and also to hand the rollout to communities to lead themselves.
Emmaline Pickering-Martin was born in Suva and raised between Ba and Nadi in Fiji. She migrated to join her whānau in Aotearoa in the late ‘90s, and has three children who share Fijian, Māori, Sāmoan and Tuvaluan whakapapa. Emmaline is a teacher who has taught in primary and intermediate schools across Tāmaki Makaurau. She has a master’s in Pacific Studies with first class honours, and is now a professional teaching fellow at the University of Auckland, and comms advisor for Hāpai Te Hauora Māori Public Health.
© E-Tangata, 2021"

Māori Health Authority must enable tino rangatiratanga - feedback

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/te-manu-korihi/450180/maori-health-authority-must-enable-tino-rangatiratanga-feedback

Māori health providers push for accelerated vaccination

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/te-manu-korihi/450365/maori-health-providers-push-for-accelerated-vaccination

Tahiti Covid-19 outbreak claims another 17 lives, spreads to 45 islands. Fuck France.

https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/450157/tahiti-covid-19-outbreak-claims-another-17-lives-spreads-to-45-islands

Below are the top headlines we’ve been reporting this whole week on Cyber Security Headlines.
If you’d like to hear and participate in a discussion about them, the CISO Series does a live 20-minute show every Thursday at 4pm PT/7pm ET. The show is hosted by reporter Steve Prentice and we welcome a cyber practitioner to offer some color to the week's stories. Our guest this week/tonight is Jerich Beason, CISO, Epiq
If you want to get involved you can watch live and participate in the discussion on Crowdcast (register), or you can just subscribe to the Cyber Security Headlines podcast and get it into your feed.
Here are some of the stories we'll be covering.

Emotet malware officially removed from all infected devices globally

The infamous botnet that once empowered over 70% of global infections was apparently successfully uninstalled from all infected systems globally, yesterday.German police, in association with other police agencies, has captured the C2 servers of Emotet botnet and disabled operations. Emotet was infamous for making backdoors through which second-stage payloads such as Qbot and TrickBot, were able to procure ransomware malware such as ProLock, Ryuk, and Conti. This botnet was reported to have been operated by TA542, also known as Mummy Spider.
(TechDator Magazine)

Computer security world in mourning over death of Dan Kaminsky

Celebrated information security researcher Dan Kaminsky, has died. He was 42. Though Kaminsky rose to fame in 2008 for identifying a critical design weakness in the internet’s infrastructure – and worked in secret with software developers to mitigate the issue before it could be easily exploited – he had worked behind the scenes in the infosec world for at least the past two decades. He was heralded for his work in spotting flaws in SSL, and in automating the detection of Conficker malware infections. He had been a stalwart of the security research scene for years, and was a much-loved regular at conferences big and small. He would talk with and advise anyone – even paying the entrance fees for some researchers or letting them crash in his hotel room floor – and it was this generosity that people are overwhelmingly remembering this weekend.
(The Register and all of us at CISOSeries.com)

Password manager Passwordstate hacked to deploy malware on customer systems

Click Studios, the Australian software firm behind Passwordstate, notified its 29,000 customers via email on Friday, after a malware-laced update was live for 28 hours between April 20 and 22. Once the intrusion was discovered, the attackers immediately took down their C&C server, which prevented investigators from discovering what additional payloads and other actions the attackers had performed. It is also very likely that the malware had full access to customers’ password stores. Click Studios has recommended that customers change all their passwords as soon as possible.
(The Record)

Millions of Pentagon dormant IP addresses spring to life following Trump departure

On January 20th, Global Resource Systems LLC, an obscure company based in Florida discreetly announced to the world’s computer networks that it now was managing 56 million IP addresses that had been owned by the Pentagon, a number that quickly increased to 175 million which amounts to 6 percent of the IPv4 sector, worth billions of dollars on the open market, and usually controlled by telecommunications giants. The reason for the release and the way it was done both remain unclear, but a spokesperson for an elite Pentagon unit known as the Defense Digital Service, which reports directly to the Secretary of Defense, says it is a “pilot effort [that] will assess, evaluate and prevent unauthorized use of DoD IP address space.”
(The Washington Post)

The state of ransomware in Q1

According to Coveware’s Quarterly Ransomware Report, Q1 saw the average ransomware payment increase 42% from Q4 2020 to $220,298, with median payments up 59% to $78,398. While considerable increases, these both are still below the peaks in ransom payments seen in Q3 2020. A small number of very high ransoms tied to the CloP ransomware group pulled the average higher. Data extortion ransomware attacks continued to gain in popularity, now accounting for 77% of all ransomware attacks, up 10% on the quarter. Remote desktop compromises were the most common vector, surpassing email phishing and making up just under 50% of all attacks, and most common in organizations over 10,000 employees.
(Coveware)

Ransomware gang threatens to expose police informants if ransom is not paid

The Babuk Locker gang claims it has downloaded more than 250 GB of data from the Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia. It is now giving DC Police officials three days to respond to their ransom demand; otherwise, they say they will contact local gangs and expose police informants. The gang posted screenshots on Tor that suggest it had obtained access to investigation reports, officer disciplinary files, documents on local gangs, mugshots, and administrative files. The Babuk Locker gang is one of the most recent ransomware groups today and is behind the attack on the NBA’s Houston Rockets that we reported on yesterday.
(The Record)

FBI shares four million email addresses used by Emotet with Have I Been Pwned

Now that Emotet has been removed from victim machines globally, the millions of email addresses collected by the botnet for malware distribution campaigns have been shared by the FBI as part of the agency’s effort to clean infected computers. Individuals and domain owners can now learn if Emotet impacted their accounts by searching the database. Given its sensitive nature, the Emotet data is not publicly searchable. Subscribers to the service that were impacted by the breach have already been alerted, says HIBP creator, Troy Hunt.
(Bleeping Computer)

Came across Ed's obituary from a few years ago recently.
https://obituaries.register-herald.com/obituary/robert-deal-1074342648
It says "Ed was considered at one time to be the foremost authority on laser physics in the world."
I found it interesting that Ed (who clearly must have been a very clever man) working in WPAFB as opposed to e.g. a MIT or Caltech etc research post be listed as a one time world authority on lasers!
Obviously there were rumours that the Roswell wreckage was taken to WPAFB where reverse engineering projects might have taken place!!
It's also kinda interesting that the rock band Pixies recorded a number of songs across various albums to do with Area51 and Roswell etc but these songs were written by lead singer Black Francis who had a major interest in UFOs as opposed to bass player Kim Deal who was Ed's daughter!!!

In June 2004, Ernest T. Turner contacted the Killeen Police Department to report his daughter missing. It would not come out until about 6 months later, but Ernest wasn’t telling the whole truth.
Danielyelle Jolene “DJ” White, 24, was last seen at her residence by a friend on May 21, 2004 (some reports say May 22) in Killeen, TX. Danielyelle has a history of run-ins with law enforcement, and she suffers from mental illness that led to her being committed to mental institutions at least 21 times. When Danielyelle was 16 years old, she fell into gang life. Danielyelle had no work history at the time of her disappearance. She was known to frequent downtown Killeen (Gilmer Street area). Danielyelle was also known to use drugs, and she lost custody of her son shortly before her disappearance.
Let’s circle back to Ernest, who happens to be a registered sex offender. As a result of Danielyelle’s troubles at the time, Danielyelle could no longer live with her mother and son; she was living with Ernest. He is not her father, nor is he biologically related to her; he is simply described as an “associate.” Unfortunately, and for reasons unknown, Ernest did not give any information about Danielyelle’s real family when he made the missing person report.
Detective Sharon Brank (Killeen Police Department) received Danielyelle’s case at the end of September 2004. She did not begin working on it until the end of November 2004 due to other priorities, namely a string of armed robberies. By chance, Detective Brank ran across Danielyelle’s sister’s name in a police communication database and contacted the sister, Kristy Cansler. Kristy then informed Danielyelle’s mother, Sharon Clark. Sharon did not learn Danielyelle was missing until December 2004 - over 6 months later.
In 2012, there was a tip that a homeless woman resembling Danielyelle was spotted in Indiana. To date, there have been no arrests in this case, and Danielyelle has not been located. Police have informed Sharon that Danielyelle may be dead due to Danielyelle’s past gang associations. Danielyelle’s sister has since died, but the search for Danielyelle carries on through other family members and recently released pleas to the public for information.
Ernest's lie about Danielyelle being his daughter, and his decision to not list any other family members on the missing person report, can be looked at in different ways. In reading the articles, it appears that Danielyelle's mother had some familiarity with him, but their level of acquaintance is unclear.
*Note: If you do some follow up, I’m sure you will find that there is information on Facebook about Danielyelle and an alleged boyfriend; however, since the information cannot be verified in official sources, it is not included here.
Sources not previously linked:
Killeen Daily Herald
Temple Daily Telegram
Charley Project
Doe Network
Texas Sex Offender Registry

Dear ZZZZ,
Thank you for your message to the Manuscripts Reference Team. I'm afraid that we can only trace this manuscript back to the time when it was incorporated into the (then) British Museum's collection. According to the register of acquisitions it was purchased in February 1836 from Mr. Rodd (Thomas Rodd the bookseller). Below is the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography's entry for him:
Thomas Rodd the younger (1796–1849), Rodd's eldest son, was born on 9 October 1796, at Waltham St Lawrence, Berkshire. From the age of nine he worked in his father's factory. A consequent injury to his knee left him lame. He later helped in the bookselling business in Great Newport Street, which he took over in 1821, and ran successfully until his death. He wrote Traditionary Anecdotes of Shakespeare (1833), and printed in 1845 a Narrative of the proceedings instituted in the court of common pleas against Mr. T. Rodd for the purpose of wresting from him a certain manuscript roll under pretence of its being a document of the court. Although the charges against him were dropped, he was left to pay his own legal expenses. His memory and knowledge of books were remarkable, and his catalogues, especially those of Americana, are valuable sources of bibliographic information. He provided copies of early books for the British Museum, the Bodleian Library, and the library of Queen's College, Oxford.
Thomas Rodd the younger was married, but left no children, and died at his home, 9 Great Newport Street, on 23 April 1849, after a paralytic stroke which occurred at the British Museum. He was held in high regard by influential figures of his day, and his obituary in the Oxford Herald, reprinted with additions in the Morning Herald, acknowledged his 'sound judgement as a bibliographer' (Morning Herald, 30 April 1849). He was buried on 28 April in Highgate cemetery. His shop stock was sold in ten sales by Sothebys in 1849–50.
I'm afraid there doesn't appear to be any obvious ownership marks on the manuscript itself.

" John Tyler (March 29, 1790 – January 18, 1862)[1] was the tenth President of the United States from 1841 to 1845 after briefly being the tenth Vice President (1841); he was elected to the latter officeon the 1840 Whig) ticket with President William Henry Harrison. Tyler ascended to the presidency after Harrison's death in April 1841, only a month after the start of the new administration. He was a supporter of states' rights, and as president he adopted nationalist policies only when they did not infringe on the powers of the states. His unexpected rise to the presidency, with the resulting threat to the presidential ambitions of Henry Clay and other politicians, left him estranged from both major political parties.
Tyler, born to a prominent Virginia family, became a national figure at a time of political upheaval. In the 1820s the nation's only political party, the Democratic-Republicans, split into factions. He was initially a Democrat, but opposed Andrew Jackson during the Nullification Crisis, seeing Jackson's actions as infringing upon states' rights, and criticized Jackson's expansion of executive power during the Bank War. This led Tyler to ally with the Whig Party. Tyler served as a Virginia state legislator, governor, U.S. representative, and U.S. senator. He was put on the 1840 presidential ticket to attract states' rights Southerners to a Whig coalition to defeat Martin Van Buren's re-election bid."
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"Charles Constantine Pise, SJ, (1801–1866)[1] was a Roman Catholic priest and writer.
Born in Annapolis, Maryland, on 22 November 1801, "the son of an Italian father and a mother who came from an old Philadelphia family,"[2] he was educated at Georgetown College) in Washington, D.C., sent to Rome to continue studies, and entered the Society of Jesus as a novice.[1] He left the Jesuits when the death of his father caused him to return to the United States and was ordained a diocesan priest in 1825.[3]
From 1821-22 he attended Mount St. Mary's College and Seminary in Emmitsburg, Maryland. During his stay there, his classmates included three future archbishops: John McCloskey, John Baptist Purcell, and John Hughes).[2]
He wrote several works in prose and verse, and was a distinguished lecturer and preacher.[1] Among his many literary works, he wrote three Catholic devotional novels and one semi-fictional work, Letters to Ada.[2]
Between 1827-30, he published a five-volume History of the Church from Its Establishment to the Present Century (although the work stopped at the 16th century). In honor of this effort, Pope Gregory XVI made him a knight of the Sacred Palace and Count Palatine, "the first time these honors had come to an American." At this point, he was also made a knight of the Holy Roman Empire and was granted a Doctor of Divinity degree by examination.[2]
During these years, Pise was an assistant at St. Patrick's Church) in Washington, DC.[2] Henry Clay arranged for him to be appointed Chaplain of the Senate. Pise served as Chaplain from 1832-33.[2] Pise was the first (and, to date, only) Roman Catholic United States Senate Chaplain, coming into that office on December 11, 1832.[1]
Answering objections to the presence of a Catholic in such a prominent government role, and prefiguring a similar speech by John F. Kennedy more than 125 years later, on July 4, 1833, Pise made "an eloquent address" before the Maryland House of Delegates describing in what sense he felt an American Roman Catholic owed 'allegiance' to the Pope.[2]In 1849, he was assigned as rector) at Saint Charles Borromeo Church in Brooklyn, New York; he died in Brooklyn on May 26, 1866.[4]

Appraisal

Pise had a career of such prominence that it was unusual he was not made a bishop. One biographer suggests that his friendship with Catholic intellectual Orestes Brownson may have been the problem, at a time when the American Church was turning away from intellectualism as a result of growing Irish domination. Alternatively, the same biographer suggests that it may have been an anti-Irish, anti-Jesuit streak in Ambrose Maréchal, Bishop of Baltimore, which led him to suppress this logical cap to Pise's career.[2]" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Constantine_Pise
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"James Ryder was born in Dublin, Ireland on October 8, 1800. After the death of his father, he came to the United States with his mother and enrolled in Georgetown College in 1813. Two years later he entered the Society of Jesus at Whitemarsh, MD. He was sent with Rev. Mulledy and five other Jesuits to Rome for philosophical and theological studies. He was ordained a priest in Rome in 1825. Rev. Ryder became known as a great administrator and eloquent preacher. He served twice as President of Georgetown College from 1840 to 1845 and again from 1848 to 1851. Concurrently, he was Provincial of the Maryland Province from 1843 to 1845.
In 1845 he became President of Holy Cross and during his presidency he added the East wing to the original Fenwick building. He left Holy Cross in 1848 and served in Jesuit churches in Virginia and Pennsylvania. He died at the Jesuit church of St. Joseph in Philadelphia on January 12, 1860."
https://www.holycross.edu/archives-and-special-collections/rev-james-ryder-sj
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Quoting of the book The Bicentennial History of Georgetown University: From academy to university, 1789-1889, : by Robert Emmett Curran
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"Even before Harrison's inauguration, Ryder had already paid his respects to the weary president-elect. Then, a month after Harrison's inauguration, James Ryder and George Fenwick took part in the funeral that followed his brief fight with pneumonia. With Harrison's successor, John Tyler, a Virginian, Ryder also developed a warm relationship. (The president's sister became a Catholic that spring.) Tyler himself became a regular participant in the commencement ceremonies and recommended students to the college, including his son, Tazewell, who boarded there for nearly two years, from 1843 to 1845. Even after President Tyler left office, Ryder remained his close supporter. In 1859, long retired from Georgetown, Ryder was a key agent in an abortive attempt to revive the "party-less" Tyler's fortunes as the Democratic Party's presidential candidate. 92 (When Tyler had become a "man without a party" in 1844, his successor, James K. Polk(Scottish Rite Mason), continued Tyler's practice of presiding at the Georgetown College commencement; and he enrolled his nephew there in 1845.) During President Tyler's term, Ryder was pleased that the Congress approved a bill which in 1844 formally incorporated "Georgetown College" so that its trustees could be recognized as legal agents able to accept and manage property and funds without limit, powers that the original charter of 1815 had not conveyed. It is likely that the manager of the bill in the Senate was William D. Merrick of Maryland (the brother-in-law of Father William Matthews), who was a member of the Standing Committee on the District of Columbia, under whose jurisdiction such matters fell. Under the terms of the incorporation a seal, first devised by William DuBourg in the late 1790s, was now formally adopted for the legal transactions of the institution. That seal incorporates the heraldic eagle used on the Great Seal of the United States, substituting in its talons the earth's globe and the cross for the nation's arrows and olive branch. The financial condition of the college improved dramatically during Ryder's first term. The institution's debt, approximately $20,000 when he became president in 1840, had virtually been liquidated by 1842.93 The financial records for the period are very incomplete. Some of the debt amortization appears to have resulted from a change in bookkeeping methods rather than from financial improvements, since the province decided to take over the debts of both Georgetown College and St. Johns Literary Institute in 1841.94 It is highly possible, however, that some of this reduction also stemmed from the monies Ryder earned through his lectures. He may also have used his wide-ranging travels and contacts to raise money. In 1852, after he was transferred to Philadelphia, he secured permission to go to California to raise money for a new Jesuit college in Philadelphia and came back with $5,000. 95 It is hardly likely that was Ryder's first fund-raising trip."
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"During his time as Georgetown rector, Ryder cultivated good relations with the federal government and promoted the college in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia. He had a warm relationship with President John Tyler, who participated in commencement ceremonies and sent his son to Georgetown. Curran speculates that Ryder used speaker’s fees to improve the financial strength of the college. And in 1852 he raised $5,000 on a fund-raising trip to California for St. Joseph’s College. Ryder also built Holy Trinity church in Georgetown, completed in 1852.118" source : https://jesuits.org/Assets/Publications/File/Studies_Spring_2014_46-1.pdf
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" John Tyler, of Virginia, gratefully remembered by the College, had become President of the United States by the unexpected decease of General Harrison. He honored Georgetown College on this occasion, and dispensed the diplomas and premiums, thus paying the highest respect to religion and literature. The honor was highly appreciated by the College, as Congress was then in session, and the President overwhelmed with public duties...... The annual College exhibition was attended by John Tyler, President of the United States, who was received with all due honor by the Archbishop of Baltimore and the president of Georgetown. " - Memorial of the First Century of Georgetown College, D. C. , John Gilmary Shea
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"Charles Constantine Pise

" : Priest, poet, and prose writer, b. at Annapolis, Maryland, 22 Nov., 1801; d. at Brooklyn, New York, 26 May, 1866. He was educated at Georgetown College, and was for some time a member of the Society of Jesus. He taught rhetoric at Mount St. Mary's College, Emmitsburg, Md., where John Hughes, afterwards Archbishop of New York, was among his pupils. In 1825 he was ordained to the priesthood and officiated for some time at the cathedral in Baltimore. He afterwards served at St. Patrick's Church, Washington, as assistant pastor, and while there was elected (11 Dec., 1832) chaplain to the United States Senate — the only Catholic priest hitherto appointed to that office. He was a personal friend of President Tyler(!). In 1848 he became a pastor of St. Peter's church, New York; he had previously been assistant pastor in the same church under the vicar-general, Dr. Powers. In 1849 he was appointed pastor of St. Charles Borromeo's, Brooklyn where he officiated until his death. Dr. Pise wrote several works in prose and verse, among them being: "A History of the Catholic Church (5 vols., 1829); "Father Rowland" (1829); "Alethia, or Letters on the Truth of Catholic Doctrines" (1845); "St. Ignatius and His First Companions" (1845); "Christianity and the Church" (1850). His "Clara", a poem of the fifteenth century, and "Montezuma", a drama, were never published. He contributed to the magazine literature of the day, was a distinguished lecturer and preacher, and a writer of Latin verse."http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12116a.htm
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Charles Constantine Pise SJ, a personal friend of President John Tyler, and the only Catholic Priest to ever serve as chaplain to the United States senate, confirmed my suspicion that Sir Francis Bacon was an agent of the Jesuits!
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Pise in his book Saint Ignatius and His First Companions, writes " It is asserted that their system (The Jesuits)was defective, and that a new and better one has since been adopted. This surely cannot be meant in reference to moral instruction; and with regard to literary education, before the modern system can be pronounced preferable to theirs, it must have produced orators more eloquent, poets more perfect, philosophers more profound, literary men more accomplished, than those of preceding ages. At all events, this fact must be conceded : that, for the times, their schools were incomparably the best. Bacon and Grotius—two unquestionable authorities—have borne testimony to their worth and excellence. The former(Bacon), in his work On the Progress of the Sciences, writes in these terms : " When I consider their tact and ability to train up youth in the sciences and good morals, I remember the expression of Agislaus in reference to Pharnabazus : Being what you are, would that you were ours."* And, in another place, "As regards the subject of education, every thing may be said in a few words : Look at the schools of the Jesuits ; nothing can be better than their system." "
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here is a post Ive made on the topic : https://www.reddit.com/RomeRules/comments/9116gp/sir_francis_bacon_was_johann_valentin_andreae_on/
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John Tyler had many Catholic conversions in his family as well.. quoting from "Notes on Some Convert Relatives of the Presidents" Author: Scannell O'Neill Source: The Catholic Historical Review, Vol. 2, No. 1 (Apr., 1916), pp. 66-72,Published by: Catholic University of America Press, we see a list of members of President John Tyler's family who have converted to Catholicism.
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" JOHN TYLER:
MRS. JULIA GARDINER TYLER (1820-1889), widow of President John Tyler.
PEARL TYLER, daughter of the above, and wife of William Munford Ellis, and her daughter.
MARTHA JEFFERSON TYLER WAGGAMAN (1782-1855), the wife of Theodore E. Waggaman, Washington (who was also a convert), was a daughter of Governor John Tyler, of Virginia, and a sister of the President.
MISS SARA WAGGAMAN (1818-1905), daughter of the above-in religion, Sister Mary Regis, of the Sisters of the Visitation, Georgetown, D. C. Miss Waggaman was for some years the mistress of the White House.
Miss MOLLY ELLIOTT SEWELL, the novelist, a grand-niece of President Tyler "
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James K Polk( a Scottish Rite Mason) , John Tyler's successor as President continued Tyler's tradition of speaking at Jesuit Georgetown University! Quoting from The Bicentennial History of Georgetown University: From academy to university, 1789-1889, : by Robert Emmett Curran "James K. Polk, continued Tyler's practice of presiding at the Georgetown College commencement; and he enrolled his nephew there in 1845.) "
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Now here are James Polk's family members who converted to Catholicism
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• JAMES K. POLK : Several near relatives of President Polk, the descendants of his ancestor, Robert Polk, are numbered among our American converts, including:
• THE BARONESS MARY DE CHARETTE, of Paris, was the daughter of Col. A. J. Polk, of Nashville, Tenn., the son of Bishop Leonidas Polk, General of the Confederate Army.
• MISSPOLK, sister of the above.
• MRS. SOPHRONIA POLK HORNSBY, St. Louis, the daughter of the Hon. Trusten Polk (1811-1876), Governor of, and United States Senator from, Missouri, and Judge Advocate-General of the Confederate States.
• MRS. FLORENCE CONN STITH, wife of Taylor Stith, St. Louis, granddaughter of the Hon. Trusten Polk.
• MRS. ESTHER WINDER POLK LOWE, wife of Gov. Enoch Lowe, a daughter of Col. James Polk, and cousin of President Polk."

source : (https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/25011388.pdf)
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President James Polk initiated diplomatic relations between the Vatican and the United States. " In 1848, President James K. Polk appointed Jacob I. Martin as chargé d’affaires (a diplomatic envoy below the ambassadorial level) to the Papal States, thereby extending to the Pope the formal de jure recognition of the United States. Mr. Martin presented his credentials to Pope Pius IX on August 19, 1848. Five representatives succeeded him, the last being Rufus King who retired from his post in 1867. Mr. King’s departure would signal the beginning of a 74 year interregnum during which there was no American diplomatic representation to the Pope. " source : https://s3.amazonaws.com/caa-production/attachments/111/C_Pages57to62_Melady.pdf?1366918870
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Father James A Ryder SJ, the personal friend of President John Tyler, was the founder of the Philademic Society at Jesuit Georgetown University. Charles Constantine Pise SJ, another Jesuit Priest who was personal friends with President John Tyler was a member of the Jesuit Philademic Society!
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" The Philodemic Society is a student debating organization and literary society at Georgetown University. It was founded in 1830 by Father James Ryder, S.J., in whose honor an award is given every Spring at the Merrick Debate. The Philodemic is among the oldest such societies in the United States,[3] and is the oldest secular student organization at Georgetown.[4] The society's motto, "Eloquentiam Libertati Devinctam" reminds its members that they are pursuing Eloquence in Defense of Liberty.[5] .... In 1830, students under the leadership of Father James A. Ryder, S.J., later elevated to university president, founded the Philodemic Society. The only other student group at that time was a religious group, the Soldality of Our Lady. The society's first debate was on the topic of "Napoleon Bonaparte or General Washington: Which was the better man?"(!!!)[7] Though a secular society, the Philodemic often recognized Georgetown's Catholic traditions, and beginning in 1841, added an official commemoration of the Jesuit landing at St. Mary's City, Maryland to their calendar.[8] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philodemic_Society
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Notable members of the Philademic society include.
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• William Matthews Merrick (Class of 1831), U.S. Congressman from Maryland, Federal Judge
• Daniel Carroll Digges (Class of 1833), Maryland politician
• Alexander Dimitry, American diplomat, linguist and scholar; U.S. ambassador to Costa Rica and Nicaragua
• Charles Constantine Pise, first (and, to date, only) Roman Catholic Chaplain of the United States Senate
• Solomon Hillen Jr., U.S. Congressman from Maryland, Mayor of Baltimore
• Francis Kernan (Class of 1836), U.S. Senator from New York
• William Wing Loring, Officer in the United States Army, the Confederate Army, and Egyptian Army
• James Ryder Randall, poet and author of Maryland, My Maryland
• Georges-Casimir Dessaulles, (Class of 1848), Canadian senator
• Bernard G. Caulfield, (Class of 1848), U.S. Congressman from Illinois
• Tomás Herrán, (Class of 1863), Colombian diplomat, namesake of the Hay–Herrán Treaty of 1903
• Edward Douglass White (Class of 1863), 9th Chief Justice of the United States
• Stephen Russell Mallory, Jr. (Class of 1869), U.S. Senator and U.S. Representative from Florida
• Agustín de Iturbide y Green, Prince of Iturbide (Class of 1884), heir to the Mexican throne
• Condé Benoist Pallen, (Class of 1880), Catholic editor and author
• Condé Montrose Nast (Class of 1894), noted magazine publisher
• Robert J. Collier (Class of 1894), editor of Collier's Weekly
• Philip Hart (Class of 1934), former U.S. Senator from Michigan
• Richard Alan Gordon (Class of 1950), assistant dean of Georgetown University Law Center
• Antonin Scalia (Class of 1957), Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court[19]
• Robert S. Bennett (Class of 1961), noted American attorney
• Robert Shrum (Class of 1965), noted political consultant
• Francis Keating (Class of 1966), 25th Governor of Oklahoma
• John G. Koeltl (Class of 1967), Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York

John C Calhoun, one of President Tyler's Secretary of State was oPenly pro slavery" Later in life, Calhoun became known as the "cast-iron man" for his rigid defense of white Southern beliefs and practices.[2][3] His concept of republicanism emphasized approval of slavery and minority rights, as particularly embodied by the Southern states—he owned dozens of slaves in Fort Hill), South Carolina. Calhoun also asserted that slavery, rather than being a "necessary evil," was a "positive good," benefiting both slaves and slave owners.[4] " https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_C._Calhoun
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Jesuit James A Ryder was also openly pro slavery! " Faculty and students at Georgetown accepted the slave economy and even endorsed it. The college Philodemic Society held debates about slavery, usually supporting the proslavery side. Father James Ryder, SJ, a two-time president of the school, condemned abolitionism, declaring “God is a God of order” (Georgetown Slavery Archive 1835). A strong majority of students and alumni who fought in the Civil War did so on the Confederate side. " https://www.aacu.org/diversitydemocracy/2018/summerothman
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Tazewell Tyler, President Tyler's son, went to Georgetown fought for the Confederate army! "Tazewell Tyler (1830–1874), who was a doctor, served as a surgeon in the Confederate Army during the Civil War." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letitia_Christian_Tyler
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"President Tyler had shown his interest in Georgetown College by his presence at the Commencements; he evinced his confidence in its excellence by placing his son, Tazewell Tyler, as a student in the Institution in October, 1843. Few institutions in the country can boast of having had among the scholars so many students nearly related to those who have filled the Presidential chair. Relatives of Washington, Madison, Jackson, Van Buren, Polk, Tyler, Buchanan and Johnson, are to be found on the roll of Georgetown University. " - Memorial of the First Century of Georgetown College, D. C. , John Gilmary Shea
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Here is info on President John Tyler's wife covering to Catholicism :
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" Julia Tyler’s Conversion
One of the reasons she left Virginia in 1872 was because of financial problems dealing with her estate. Before returning to Sherwood Forest, which by now, in 1876, was under the executor-ship of her eldest son David, Julia and her twelve year-old daughter Pearl entered the Catholic Church. That was in May 1872. For the next seventeen years until her death at sixty-nine years of age in July 1889, Mrs. John Tyler became a fervent advocate for the Catholic Church Due to her prestige and nobility many women wrote to her for advice on seeking refuge and consolation in the Catholic religion. She became, as some said of her, “a zealot” for Catholicism.
I was not able to find any particular facts concerning exactly why she converted. Was there a priest who directed her? I would assume there was. Could it be the good influence of Catholic culture that she found while traveling throughout Europe (and Ireland) in the early 1840s ( we do know that the appalling condition of the Irish in their homeland at that time had a strong impact on her)? Perhaps it was her audience with Pope Gregory whose papal ring she kissed? All that is mentioned is that she found succor in the Church and healing from her heavy crosses. That’s quite good enough, is it not?
I will conclude with the obituary from the New York Times detailing her funeral and the eulogy of the bishop-elect of Richmond, Augustine Van der Vyver:
“He spoke of her worth as a wife and mother, her devotion as a child of the Church and as one who had filled the highest position of the land alloted to her sex with signal ability. No less conspicuous had she been in private life where her worth and her virtues had won for her the love of all who knew her. Although summoned suddenly, she met death without fear, as she had made her peace with God and died with the full assurance of eternal happiness. She was justly admired for the great qualities of her mind and heart. He said that as the world had honored her while living, the Church honored her remains not on account of any social or worldly distinction, but because those remains were once the temple of God, and as the Church prayed for the living to bear patiently their trials and afflictions, so the Church prayed for her soul that God in His mercy would give it rest.”
Father Charles E. Donohoe offered the Requiem Mass and accompanied the funeral procession to the cemetery. It was, at that time, one of the largest ever seen in Richmond."
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http://catholicism.org/convert-julia-tyler-americas-tenth-first-lady.html
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"During President Tyler's term, Ryder was pleased that the Congress approved a bill which in 1844 formally incorporated "Georgetown College" so that its trustees could be recognized as legal agents able to accept and manage property and funds without limit, powers that the original charter of 1815 had not conveyed. It is likely that the manager of the bill in the Senate was William D. Merrick of Maryland (the brother-in-law of Father William Matthews), who was a member of the Standing Committee on the District of Columbia, under whose jurisdiction such matters fell. "- The Bicentennial History of Georgetown University: From academy to university, 1789-1889, : by Robert Emmett Curran
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William D Merrick was trained by the Jesuits at Georgetown! William Matthews Merrick was also a member of the Philademic Society at Georgetown, that is sourced above.
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"William Duhurst Merrick (October 25, 1793 – February 5, 1857) was a United States Senator from Maryland, serving from 1838 to 1845.Merrick was born in Annapolis, Marylandand completed preparatory studies. He later graduated from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.. Merrick held several local offices and served in the War of 1812. He was the register of wills of Charles County, Maryland from 1825 to 1832. He studied law, was admitted to the bar, and commenced practice in Port Tobacco, Maryland."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Duhurst_Merrick
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" William Matthews Merrick (September 1, 1818 – February 4, 1889) was a United States Circuit Court judge for the District of Columbia and congressman from the fifth district of the state of Maryland. Merrick was born near Faulkner, Marylandand graduated from Georgetown University, Washington, D.C., in 1831. He studied law at the University of Virginia at Charlottesville, and read law to be admitted to the bar in Baltimore, Marylandin 1839. He entered private practice in Baltimore in 1839, moving his practice to Frederick, Maryland, in 1844. He served as deputy attorney general for Frederick County, Maryland, from 1845 to 1850.Merrick's father, William Duhurst Merrick, was a United States Senator from Maryland. His uncle, William Matthews), was the President of Georgetown College(!!!)."[1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Matthews_Merrick#Early_life,_career,_and_family
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Matthews_(priest))
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_T._Merrick
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Sunday:
Wheeling High School student's artwork to be on display in U.S. Capitol for one year (Daily Herald)
Elgin computer programmer gets break, becomes Neil Diamond tribute artist in Las Vegas (Daily Herald)
DuPage spends about twice what other collar counties do on courthouse security because they use sworn sheriff's officers, whereas others use lower-paid security officers (Daily Herald)
Growth at Gary Chicago International Airport offers hope for city hurt by economic downturn (Chicago Tribune)
Activists protest outside Zion gun store located on Sheridan Road (Chicago Tribune/Lake County Sun-News)
Morton Arboretum leader, drumming up support for Arbor Day, talks about how important trees are to urbanized areas (WBBM AM 780)
Ex-boyfriend charged in murder of Merrillville woman, he and his current girlfriend charged with felony fraud for using dead woman's food-assistance benefits and selling her car (CBS 2)
Three-car accident at Arlington Heights Road and Euclid Avenue sends two people to hospital (Daily Herald)
Ground broken for Pepper Road Pathway in Lake Barrington (Daily Herald)
Race at McHenry County College brings out superheroes to benefit variety of charities (Daily Herald)
Bishop of Diocese of Gary says St. Mary of the Lake Church, once threatened with closure, to remain open (Chicago Tribune/Post-Tribune)
DuPage, Will coroners: Naperville fentanyl death forebodes potentially 'catastrophic' year (Chicago Tribune/Naperville Sun)
Monday:
Bartlett Village Board approves $53.6 million budget (Daily Herald)
Opinions split over effectiveness of slate of candidates elected to Long Grove Village Board (Daily Herald)
Indian Prairie Unit School District 204, whose three high schools have won 16 Grammy Awards, places a focus on the arts; other suburban districts have won awards since 1999 (Daily Herald)
Elgin, Barrington students aim to log 5 million minutes of physical activity in the classroom (Daily Herald)
Communities work to replace trees lost in battle with emerald ash borer (Chicago Tribune)
Palatine-based Community Consolidated School District 15 approves 10-year teachers contract (Chicago Tribune)
Drunken driver from Chicago also arrested for punching, spitting on Riverside officer (Chicago Sun-Times)
Suburban Cook County still seeing depressed house prices; Blue Island home prices down an average of 47.2 percent since housing bubble burst (Crain's Chicago Business)
Will County holds community summit about the threat heroin poses (WBBM AM 780)
Gary man released from jail after DNA evidence clears him of 1989 rape (CBS 2)
Two people sent to hospital after vehicle they were in crashed into a wall outside Libertyville Starbucks (Daily Herald)
Handful of visitors turn out for wreath-laying in honor of 45 people killed in 1946 train crash in Naperville (Daily Herald)
A first for Illinois Supreme Court: Hearing oral arguments at a school, Benedictine University in Lisle, on May 19 (Daily Herald)
Naperville woman's defense team to claim insanity in murder of son, another child (Chicago Tribune/Naperville Sun)
Alleged sex-abuse victim sues Hastert, claiming breech of contract for failing to pay in full $3.5 million promised to keep deal quiet (Chicago Tribune)
Developer plans new hotel near former Purple Hotel property in Lincolnwood while another developer struggles with finances to redevelop land (Chicago Tribune/Lincolnwood Review)
Woodstock police trying to determine who put a weeks-old puppy in a pillow case, taped it shut, then abandoned it near a busy road (Chicago Tribune)
Two men shot at Aurora gas station; police suspect shooting was gang-related (Chicago Tribune/Aurora Beacon-News)
Stone Park man shot to death in Melrose Park; case under investigation (Chicago Tribune)
Elmhurst fifth-grader recognized for saving young sister from drowning (Chicago Tribune)
Two Round Lake teens arrested for allegedly burglarizing neighbor's house, taking jewelry, alcohol and tobacco products (Chicago Tribune/Lake County Sun-News)
Shorewood man charged in late-night motorcycle accident that killed pedestrian, another biker on Illinois Route 59 (Chicago Sun-Times)
Sauk Village treasurer charged with embezzling money from village's police pension fund by issuing fraudulent checks to himself (Chicago Sun-Times)
Police investigate two separate drive-by shootings at same house in Plainfield (CBS 2)
Crete native on his way to NFL draft visits elementary school which he attended (WGN TV)
Tuesday:
Geneva School District 304 schedules forum for May 3 to discuss objections to proposed TIF district (Daily Herald)
Mundelein Village Board OKs one-year extension to firefighters' contract, $54.9 million budget (Daily Herald)
Lightning strike damages Vernon Hills townhouse building, displaces four families (Daily Herald)
Yorkville man killed in two-truck crash on I-88 near Naperville during evening rush hour (Daily Herald)
Man killed when his car is struck while stopped unexpectedly on Illinois Route 173 outside Van Patten Forest Preserve near Zion (Daily Herald)
Task force recommends Glen Ellyn Elementary School District 41 build permanent addition to Hadley Junior High (Daily Herald)
Police seek man who robbed Oswego convenience store at gunpoint on Saturday (Chicago Sun-Times)
Illinois, Indiana reach deal that will fund revamped environmental study for controversial Illiana Expressway (Crain's Chicago Business)
Oak Park police issue warning after attempted child abduction at Fox Park (ABC 7)
Two men posing as utility workers steal jewelry from Palatine home (Daily Herald)
Naperville City Council approves 39-unit apartment building near 5th Avenue Metra station (Daily Herald)
Vernon Hills-based Hawthorn Elementary District 73 formulating facilities plan as enrollment continues to grow (Daily Herald)
DuPage County Board considering raises for board members, some countywide elected officials (Daily Herald)
Board chairman announces plans to consolidate DuPage Election Commission, DuPage County Clerk's Office (Daily Herald)
Roselle man sentenced to 2 months in jail, 2 years of probation for head-butting Metra conductor (Daily Herald)
Evanston Township High School District 65 commits to change how system treats minorities (Chicago Tribune)
[Debate over whether two aldermen were in Harvey City Council meeting leaves officials wondering whether they passed ordinance giving city ability to collect property taxes](www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/ct-harvey-levy-fight-met-20160426-story.html) (Chicago Tribune)
Owner of Evanston's Dave's Italian Kitchen close to signing lease to open new restaurant in town (Chicago Tribune/Evanston Review)
Federal Reserve Chairman speaks at Northwestern University; says reforms following Great Recession are improving things, but doesn't address whether they will prevent future financial crises (Chicago Tribune)
Teacher from Joliet elementary school competes on 'Jeopardy!' (Chicago Tribune)
I-55 crash near Bolingbrook claims life of Coal City man (Chicago Sun-Times)
Hebron man dead after his car crashes into tree (Chicago Sun-Times)
Cook County jury awards $22.7 million to widow of man killed by allegedly drugged driver on I-294 near Roosevelt Road four years ago (Chicago Sun-Times)
Springfield man, a convicted murderer, arrested for failing to register his address following tip that he was staying at PADS facilities in Kendall County (Chicago Sun-Times)
Driver, passenger taken to hospital after car they were in hit a pole, a building in Oak Lawn (Chicago Sun-Times)
DuPage County acknowledges its roll in African-American history, notably Graue Mill's participation in the Underground Railroad (WBBM AM 780)
Neighbor charged in stabbing deaths of two people in Lyons assisted-living facility, following argument over allegedly property taken by one of the victims (ABC 7)
Wednesday:
Harvard announces the sale of former Motorola plant (Chicago Tribune)
Forest View woman charged with intentionally crashing her car into ex-boyfriend's in Riverside in order to make him talk to her (Chicago Sun-Times)
FBI: West Chicago bank robbed at gunpoint (Chicago Sun-Times)
Gary teen charged with battery after hitting mother during argument (Chicago Sun-Times)
Event planner proposes banquet hall for former Cubby Bear North sports bar in Lincolnshire (Daily Herald)
Rolling Meadows City Council rejects rezoning, meaning mosque can't move to proposed location (Daily Herald)
Woodland Elementary School District 50 board fires lunch monitor accused of shoving student to floor (Daily Herald)
Some legislators wary of governor's proposal to allow private company to build lanes on Stevenson Expressway (I-55) between I-355 and I-90/94 interchanges (Crain's Chicago Business)
Three Chicago-area Congressmen pen letter to city of Chicago urging the reopening of a diagonal runway at O'Hare Airport; state Senator, leader of O'Hare watchdog group say the letter is a first step to addressing Wood Dale residents' concerns (WBBM AM 780)
Customers turn out to support owner of Schaumburg hobby store, where a burglar stole $5,000 worth of merchandise (NBC 5)
Overturned semi blocks northbound lanes of Indiana State Road 49 near Chesterton, causing backup on I-94 (ABC 7)
Former U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert sentenced to 15 months in prison for violating bank laws; judge calls him a 'serial child molester' for actions that led to hush-money case (Chicago Tribune)
Former Wheaton College president passes away at 89 from complications of lung cancer (Chicago Tribune)
U.S. presidential candidate Hillary Clinton touts need for American manufacturing jobs during visit to Munster Steel plant (Chicago Tribune/Post-Tribune)
DuPage County treasurer says property owners can expect 2.52 percent increase in taxes (Daily Herald)
Metra hires architect to start on remodel of Libertyville station (Daily Herald)
New liquor-license category will allow three Aurora restaurants to reduce late-night kitchen operations while still selling alcohol (Daily Herald)
Algonquin's Founders' Days festival (July 28-31) to return to Towne Park downtown, after three years at a neighborhood park (Daily Herald)
Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police names Batavia detective Most Outstanding Officer of the Year (Daily Herald)
Arlington Heights man charged with residential burglary, unlawful videotaping after installing a video camera in neighbors' apartment (Daily Herald)
Deadline for Miss, Junior Miss and Little Miss Libertyville pageants is May 12 (Daily Herald)
Carpentersville man reels in estimated 50-inch muskie on Fox River below the Algonquin dam (WBBM AM 780)
Calumet Park man shot in chest, dies at the corner of 125th and South Paulina in Calumet City (Chicago Sun-Times)
Ex-Addison, ex-Elk Grove Village police officer, now living in Ohio, charged with wife's shooting death (Chicago Sun-Times)
LaSalle County man wanted in Kendall County for disorderly conduct, retail theft, failure to appear in court arrested in San Diego, Calif. (Chicago Sun-Times)
Johnsburg couple's plan to renew their vows in Las Vegas hits turbulence; calling a purported Spirit Airlines representative, not the carrier itself, and rebooking flight costs them $840 (NBC 5)
Thursday:
Hampshire resident opens specialty grocery store in East Dundee (Daily Herald)
Tensions between Rolling Meadows police officers, former chief appear to be behind his earlier-than-planned retirement (Daily Herald)
Students from Youth Leadership Academy urge Elgin to change Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples' Day (Daily Herald)
Evanston, Mitchell Museum of the American Indian team up to replace Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples' Day on the city's calendar (Chicago Tribune/Evanston Review)
Richton Park couple to appear on Spike TV's 'Life or Debt' show on Sunday (Chicago Tribune)
State administrative appeals judge finds that former College of DuPage controller didn't engage in misconduct or intentionally violate school policy (Chicago Tribune)
Police: Evanston Township High School student brought unloaded semi-automatic gun to school (Chicago Tribune)
Elgin man arrested for robbing a person at knifepoint in Elgin, using stolen credit card (Chicago Sun-Times)
Cicero minister sentenced to 5 years in prison for bilking federal program for child care out of $900,000 (Chicago Sun-Times)
Lake Bluff-based Abbott Labs acquires St. Jude Medical Inc. for $25 million (Crain's Chicago Business)
Sons of Union Veterans to install markers on Civil War graves in Oswego cemetery; dedication scheduled for May 7 (WBBM AM 780)
Man found dead inside bathroom at North Riverside Kohl's store (WGN TV)
Learn how to create an edible forest garden on May 7 at Resiliency Institute in Naperville (Daily Herald)
Glen Ellyn Village Board approves bringing back Intelligentsia Cup cycling race (Daily Herald)
Round Lake church volunteer sentenced to 10 years in prison for sexual abuse of teen boy (Daily Herald)
Disbarred Naperville attorney given nearly 5-year sentence, has to pay $240,000 for her part in mortgage scheme that cost lenders, homeowners $725,000 (Daily Herald)
Former Cubs, Sox players — including Ozzie Guillen — to participate in charity softball game on Sept. 10 at Boomers Stadium in Schaumburg (Daily Herald)
Man sent to prison for 20 years after abusing boys at Mooseheart School fighting state's attempt to have him committed indefinitely as sexually dangerous person (Daily Herald)
Allegations made of Evanston Township High School staff stealing from students' lockers; video surfaces online (Chicago Tribune/Evanston Review)
Body found down embankment at Cline and 5th avenues in Gary ID'd as that of uncle of murdered Burbank man; uncle was shot to death (Chicago Tribune/Post-Tribune)
Lincoln-Way High School District 210 releases capital-projects list, enumerating $4.65 million in work that needs to be done (Chicago Tribune/Daily Southtown)
Naperville residents demand changing name of 'Hassert Boulevard,' mistaking street's appellation for former U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert; Bolingbrook posts explanation on its website differentiating names (Chicago Tribune/Naperville Sun)
Crystal Lake man arrested for providing morphine pills to woman who died of an overdose in March (Chicago Sun-Times)
Woman reports attempted kidnapping after man helped change a car tire in the parking lot at Home Depot on Randall Road in South Elgin (Chicago Sun-Times)
Judge approves sale of Ameristar Casino in East Chicago to trust, which will lease the building back to owner's subsidiary (Times of Northwest Indiana)
Rest of litter related to puppy found inside taped-up pillow case turned over to Gilberts animal-rescue center (WBBM AM 780)
Wood Dale Bank and Trust robbed (CBS 2)
Driver, two students from Homer Glen school bus taken to hospital following accident in which a car pulled out in front of the bus in Lockport; driver, passenger in car also hospitalized (CBS 2)
Illinois attorney general calls to eliminate statute of limitations on felony sexual assaults and sex crimes against children (NBC 5)
Major construction projects in Indiana include Interstate 94 from Illinois to Michigan; state police plan extra patrols for work zones and won't issue warnings (WGN TV)
Friday:
Police/fire pensions eat into Mount Prospect's budget surplus, prompting the village to examine proposed tax increase (Daily Herald)
Glenbard High School District 87, Glen Ellyn police investigate threat made against Glenbard West on social media, despite it being declared 'unfounded' (Daily Herald)
West Chicago Community High School basketball player a finalist for U.S. Army and Pro Football Hall of Fame's award of excellence (Daily Herald)
Des Plaines Elementary School District 62 expecting loss of 250 students over the next eight years, then enrollment expected to stabilize (Daily Herald)
18-year-old Naperville man already facing charges of battery and misuse of a weapon now accused of sexual abuse of a teenage girl (Chicago Tribune/Naperville Sun)
Two youth-home workers in Lake Villa indicted in 'choke-hold' death of boy (Chicago Tribune/Lake County News-Sun)
Zion man charged with robbing Northbrook store at knifepoint while he was wearing women's clothing (Chicago Sun-Times)
Switching delays cause delays on four Metra lines on Friday morning (Chicago Sun-Times)
Arlington Heights Elementary School District 25 begins planning for Thomas Middle School addition (Daily Herald)
Sugar Ray, Everclear, Lit and Sponge to appear on stage at Naperville's Last Fling as part of Summerland Tour (Daily Herald)
Village sets up Go Gurnee campaign to encourage residents to walk 30 minutes a day during May (Daily Herald)
Zion police arrest four people for beating a man and two women, shooting a woman in Wadsworth (Daily Herald)
Palatine-Schaumburg High School District 211 policy group recommends against creating written regarding transgender students' bathroom acesss (Daily Herald)
Coombs Road bridge north of Elgin to remain closed as result of 'age-related damage' (Daily Herald)
Lake County state's attorney says no charges will be filed against Zion police officer in shooting of mentally-ill man (Chicago Tribune/Lake County News-Sun)
Former Wheaton College student pleas guilty to secretly videotaping three coeds in college-owned apartment (Chicago Tribune)
Man robs Ben Franklin Bank branch in Arlington Heights (Chicago Sun-Times)
La Crosse, Ind., man dies after being shot in Chicago Heights (Chicago Sun-Times)
Yorkville man charged with stealing credit cards from Plano YMCA locker last year (Chicago Sun-Times)
Saturday:
Cook County clerk to let stand disputed Harvey vote on property-tax ordinance (Chicago Tribune)
Arlington International Racecourse, Illinois Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association reach deal, just days before facility set to reopen for season (Chicago Tribune/Arlington Heights Post)
Former Barrington High School football player, college student from Elgin cast on MTV matchmaking series (Chicago Tribune)
Operator of Downers Grove charity charged with falsely reporting that a woman did community service, accepted $300 in exchange (Chicago Sun-Times)
Preservationist questions Lake County Forest Preserve District's plan to move Discovery Museum from Wauconda to Libertyville (Daily Herald)
Ivy Hill Elementary School in Arlington Heights celebrates 50th anniversary (Daily Herald)
GrubHub has expanded service to Evanston, Northbrook, Park Ridge and Skokie; plans to add Naperville and Schaumburg in coming week (Crain's Chicago Business)
1,216-student Calumet City School District 155 paying superintendent $413,219 annually (CBS 2)
Elderly driver makes turn, crashes into a bakery and a salon in Bridgeview, then drives off; he later turned himself into police (CBS 2)
Former Roman Catholic priest who once served in Naperville found guilty of sexual abuse of students while he taught at a Michigan high school (Chicago Tribune/Naperville Sun)
Former Bear Desmond Clark claims Vernon Hills school has 'racist culture' (Chicago Tribune/Lake County News-Sun)
Couple from unincorporated Homer Township (Will County) dead in apparent murder-suicide (Chicago Tribune/Daily Southtown)
Huntley police searching for man who held up a 7-Eleven with a handgun (Daily Herald)
Elgin teen facing felony residential burglary charge for entering a house by tearing open a window screen (Daily Herald)
Des Plaines man struck, killed by semi truck after getting out of his car, which had been involved in a multi-vehicle crash (Daily Herald)
Lake Zurich Fire Rescue Department rescues ducklings from storm drain (Daily Herald)

A quotation attributed to J.P. Morgan came to my attention recently, beginning "Capital must protect itself in every possible manner, through combination and legislation.... debts must be collected, bonds and mortgages foreclosed as rapidly as possible."
On investigation, the passage is almost certainly NOT Morgan's. It's quite likely generated Populist Party propaganda. It does appear to date from 1892, though little or none of the information in the manifesto passes verification. People, organizations, and companies named simply don't show up in historical record that I can find.
But the longer story raises some interesting aspects and history.

The Bankers' Manifesto of 1892

The document is known variously as "The Bankers' Manifesto of 1892" or "The Wall Street Letter". It's a favourite of conspiracy circles, and turns up more than a few times on Reddit, as well as elsewhere online.
There are two immediate questions:
First: did old John Pierpont ever personally say words to this effect? There's no evidence I've found to suggest that he had anything to do with the statement.
Second is the quote itself something that can be attributed to bankers of the late 19th century? Circumstantial evidence that the "manifesto" is entirely fabricated, though its date of publication seems fairly well established.

Beginning the Investigation

Straight off, I found that reactionary economist Gary North had a distinctly skeptical view, aimed at Green Party California Treasury candidate, attorney and author Ellen Brown, who had mentioned the Manifesto in both The Web of Debt and her blog. While I'm not inclined to subscribe to North's views, in this case he appears to be largely correct in dismissing the piece.
In response, Brown's blog references (and a response to North) have been removed. I've contacted her asking for any further information she has on the document's validity, what her current stance on the document is, and why she's deleted the blog entries.

John Pierpont Morgan

I'd have to check with just what J.P.'s standing among financiers was in 1892, but Morgan's Wikipedia bio suggests he was kind of a big deal[1]:

In 1892, Morgan arranged the merger of Edison General Electric and Thomson-Houston Electric Company to form General Electric. After financing the creation of the Federal Steel Company, he merged it in 1901 with the Carnegie Steel Company and several other steel and iron businesses, including Consolidated Steel and Wire Company, owned by William Edenborn, to form the United States Steel Corporation.

It also give the height of his career as "during the early 1900s". Though by 1895 he was personally coming to the aid of the US Government via the President:

In 1895, at the depths of the Panic of 1893, the Federal Treasury was nearly out of gold. President Grover Cleveland accepted Morgan's offer to join with the Rothschilds and supply the U.S. Treasury with 3.5 million ounces of gold[6] to restore the treasury surplus in exchange for a 30-year bond issue.

If there had been a letter collectively representing Wall Street's interests, it's possible, even probable, that Morgan would have been aware of it. But that's a very large "if" in this case.

Doing the Lindbergh, Bankers Magazine, and Snopes

Using Google Books and the Ngram Viewer to search for "Bankers' Manifesto" turns up some results, though more from the 1920s/1930s than earlier.
There's also a text of Charles A. Lindbergh (father of the pilot, also congressman from Minnesota), Banking and Currency and the Money Trust, from 1913. I'm looking for reference to the Manifesto within that:
There's a denial that the passage ever appeared in The Banker's Magazine, notably this from the same publication, in July of 1920.
It's worth noting that a denial that TBM didn't carry the piece isn't a denial that the piece existed at all. Nor does Emery cite TBM. Which rather makes this a non-denial denial (it's denying a fact which isn't generally in fact in question).
...Though further research shows a 1911 reference to Banker's Magazine in The Tailor, "Official Organ of the Journeymen Tailors' Union of America":

J. Mahlon Barnes, the National Secretary of the Socialist party, supplies us with the following circular, which was published for exclusive circulation among bankers in Banker's Magazine, March, 1892. G. G. Severance, Of Everson, Wash., had in his possession a copy of this magazine. The article was copied in the Chicago daily press of March 21, 1892, one year preceding the panic of 1893.

And of course, the denial itself (or a subsequent mention) ends up cited as a source elsewhere on reddit. Conspiracy nuttery and critical reading comprehension seem often at odds....
While the redoubtable Snopes.com doesn't have an official entry, there's a discussion thread from 2011 which is less than impressed, though it references a few additional sources.
Update: "The Bankers' Magazine and Statistical Register - Vol. 47 (July 1892 to June 1893." was provided via an /Scholar request. The March, 1892 issue fails to include the manifesto, no surprise, nor does that month's roster of bank failures mention the mysterious "Murrits & Co.".

The Southern Mercury, T.W. Gilruth, and "The Wall Street Letter"

We get a more complete story in the Southern Mercury, Dallas, Texas, Thursday, November 15, 1894, under "Infamy of Infamies" (clickbait and outrage headlines apparently not being specific to our times). Specifically, a letter from the "discoverer" of the letter, and the full text of "The Wall Street Letter" (it hadn't yet morphed to "the Bankers' Manifesto"):

INFAMY OF INFAMIES
Plotting treason and conspiracy,
Money Must Rule, Homes Must Be Taken, Courts Corrupted and Spies Employed
The Ohio Populist publishes the following bank circular eminating [sic] from Wall street:
The circular was dropped by a prominent broker on the stock exchange in Chicago, and was picked up by Mr. T. W. Gilruth, then a reporter on the Chicago Daily press, and first published in that paper. The bankers at once took steps to destroy the paper. Mr. Gilruth now resides in Kansas City, Mo.
A few days since the Ohio Populists addressed a letter to Mr. Gilruth requesting a copy of the original and its history. We append his reply,

Kansas City, Mo., Oct. 20, 1894
To The Ohio Populist.
Gentlemen --- Your letter dated October 17 arrived this morning, and I hasten to answer it in view of the importance of the request you make, and inclose you a copy of the document known as the "Wall Street Letter." It is a genuine emanation from the people who are engaged in an attempt to destroy "A government of the people, by the people, and for the people," and establish in lieu thereof a government of plutocracy, long-winded titles, oppression and slavery for the masses.
I had the Wall street letter published in the Chicago Daily Press, which resulted in the bankers taking such steps as destroyed the paper. The Press is no longer published.
I was born at Worthington, Franklin county, O., April 6, 1843. My father, Rev. James Gilruth, was well know all over the state years ago.
He has an abolitionist concerning chattel slavery. I am an abolitionist concerning wage slavery.
Yours fraternally, T.W. Gilruth.

Here is the circular. Read it! Think over it! Ye boastful yeomanry of a (once) glorious republic! We must be made a tenantry, that we may not "quarrel with our rules." Great God, is there a man in this plague-stricken land who has a drop of patriotic blood in his body, whose heart will not fire with indignation, and whose spirit will not rebel against such damnable and diabolical treachery as this? Read it, friend, and if it doesn't make a populist out of you, we must decide that you are the one or the other of two things, a fool or a tool!

[The letter follows.]

Wall Street, N Y., March 21, 1892
Developments abroad this week have been quite as important as those at home. The appointment of a receiver for the speculative banking house of Murrits & Co.[2], ends a long agony among capitalists, and is a long step toward the final liquidations of England's latest financial folly. The continental crisis which has long been pending seems to be at hand.
The failure of a leading banking house at St. Petersburg a few days ago, the suspension of a Paris bank today, the more intense financial distrust in Spain and Portugal, and all the political complications at Berlin, all point unmistakably to a climax of the wretched condition of financial and political affairs that has existed upon the continent for years.
It is not to be wondered at that the American Market no matter how sound and healthy it may be, should stand still in the face of these events, and of others of which they are the precursors.
London having relieved itself of a surfeit of securities extensive sales of its holdings of Americans, and by so doing has filled her bank vaults ith American gold, is in a position to take care of its holdings of Argentine securities, for which there is practically no market at present.
English bankers, brokers and investors certainly will not touch continental securities unless they should fall in value to such figures that might tempt bargain hunters, for all of these securities have be[e]n tabooed in the London market, and will continue to be until capitalists determine whether or not to bring on a general war between European nations. It is reasonable to assume, therefore, that the minor and local financial troubles of the continent will be limited to those who are locally responsible for them --- that is, as far as the misfortunes of any nation can be confined within its own territory.
Out of all of this disorder a better and sounder condition of affairs will be developed by the imperialism of capital but the process of reaching that basis will inevitably be slow, tedious, and costly. A gold basis for money circulation must first be established.
We must proceed with caution and guard well every move made, for the lower orders of people are already showing signs of restless commotion.
Prudence will therefore dictate a policy of apparent yielding to the popular will, until all our plans are so far consumated that we can declare our designs without fear of any organized resistance.
The Farmers' Alliance and Knights of Labor in the United States should be carefully watched by our trusted men, and we must take immediate steps to either control those organizations in our interest or to disrupt them.
At the coming Omaha convention to be held July 4, our men must attend and direct its movements, else there will be set on foot such an antagodism [sic] to our designs as may require force to overcome. This at present time would be premature; we are not yet ready for such a crisis.
Capital must protect itself in every possible manner, through combination and legislation.
The courts must be called to our aid, debts must be collected, bonds and mortages [sic] foreclosed as rapidly as possible.
When, through process of law, the common people have lost their homes they will be more tractable and easily governed through the influence of the strong arm of government --- applied by a central power of imperial wealth under the control of leading financiers.
A people without homes will not quarrel with their rulers. History repeats itself in regular cycles; this truth is well known among our principal [sic] men now engaged in forming an imperialism-of-capital to govern the world.
While they are doing this, the people must be kept in a condition of antagonism.
The question of tariff reform must be urged through the organization known as the democratic party. And the question of protection with reciprocity, must be forced to public view through the republican party.
By thus dividing the voters we can get them to expend their energies in fighting themselves over questions of no importance to us, except as tethers to lead the common herd.
Thus, by discreet actions, we can secure all that has been so generously planned, and thus far successfully accomplished.
(Signed) H. Zimmerman, Secretary. To the Bankers and Brokers Central Committee of Chicago, Ill. [STRICTLY PRIVATE.]

Other reproductions of the letter or circular appear in The People's Voice (Norman, Oklahoma) and Appeal to Reason, Girard, Kansas.
Note that while some spellings vary between published versions of the Letter, e.g., "Murrits" vs. "Murris", other errors are uniform: "mortage" is consistently misspelled in the versions I've found, and "principal" misused for "principle" -- both peculiar errors for a banker to make.

Validating Sources and References

Checking on the individuals and institutions named, here's what I've been able to turn up.

T.W. Gilruth

There's little published information on him at all, though I was able to track down some genealogical and newspaper records.

• There is an attorney practicing under that name in Maquoketa, Iowa, on October 27, 1870. Apparently representing the law, not the homeowner, curious given later sympathies.
  
• Genealogical inquiries for a Thomas Gilruth, father of James, in Scioto Co., Ohio
  
• Robert Rowe Gilruth, born in Nashwauk, MN., 1913, is named as a descendent of James Gilruth, of Ohio. He was first director of NASA's Manned Spacecraft Center (now Johnson Space Center), and apparently suggested the Man on the Moon program to Kennedy. Parents names aren't listed, though a biography by Chris Kraft (yes, that Chris Kraft) names R.R. Gilruth's parents as teachers. There's also a further Lindbergh reference (this time to the aviator). Small world.
  
• An Ancestry.com record lists a Thomas Westlake Gilruth matching the birth particulars given in The Mercury. This is our man:
  

  Born in Worthington, Ohio, USA on 6 Apr 1843 to James Gilruth and Mary Westlake. Thomas Westlake married Althea Stimson and had 2 children. Thomas Westlake married L Alice Dewitt. He passed away on 3 Jan 1921 in Kansas, Missouri, USA.
  Spouses: Althea Stimson 1845-1886, L Alice Dewitt 1858-Unknown
  Children: Zoa Gilruth 1868-Unknown, Mabel Gilruth 1874-Unknown
  

• I'm not locating an obituary, though I've an inquiry in to the Kansas City Public Library.
  
• I have found a book published by a Thomas W. Gilruth, Millionaires or slaves, which?, 1890, but the Archive.org record for it is a miscataloged mining reconnaissance report....
  (Archive.org apparently has no integrated error reporting, hrm...)
  (And various other online sources point to the same erroneous Archive.org record.)
  There's an Amazon record for the same item.
  

Other traces: Jackson County Iowa Families

Thomas W. Gilruth opened a law office in Maquoketa about the time the railroad made its appearance but in a few years sought "fresh fields and pastures new."

Via the Kansas City Public Library I've received the following Obituary notice, with the cover letter:

There was an obituary for T. W. Gilruth in the Jan. 4, 1921 Kansas City Star newspaper, which stated that he died in New Mexico.

It's partially illegible, but from it, interpreting blurred segments with guesses at obscured content [in braces]:

T. W. Gilruth Dies in New Mexico.
Thomas W. Gilruth, 78 years old, 2035 West Prospect place, died yesterday morning in Albuquerque, N. M. Mr. Gilruth was born in 1843 in Worthington, O., and came to Kansas City in 1880 from Davenport, Ia. Until f[illegible] years ago he was engaged in the [real e?]state business in this city. He was very active in the early days in the[illegible] ing of the city and it was th[rough his?] efforts that Observation Park [was estab?]lished. He is survived by h[is wife Mrs.] Alice DeWitt Gilruth and tw[o daugh?]ters, Mrs. John Gilfoy, B[ellingh?]am Wash., and Mrs. Clarence Sto[ne, Denver?]. Burial will be in Denver.

Using that notice as a lead, several more results surface, though they suggest a possible identity confusion. I'm suspecting that next-of-kin are not reliably identified.
El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.), 04 Jan. 1921.

THOMAS GILRUTH, JURIST, DEAD AT ALBUQUERQUE
Albuquerque,N. M., Jan.4. -- Thomas W. Gilruth, 77, former member of the Colorado supreme court, is dead. He is survived by his widow and two daughters, Mrs. John J. Gilfoy of Seattle, Wash., and Mrs. Clarence B. Stone of Denver. The body will be shipped to Denver, where it is understood, burial will be made.

Another substantively similar notice in Bisbee daily review. (Bisbee, Ariz.), 04 Jan. 1921, "Judge Gilruth Dies". Though this suggests a confusion of names:

JUDGE GILRUTH DIES
ALBUQUERQUE, N. M., Jan .3 -- Thomas W. Galbraith, 77, former member of the Colorado supreme court, died here today. He is survived by his widow and two daughters, Mrs. John J. Gilfoyle of Seattle, Wash., and Mrs. Clarence B. Stone of Denver. The body will be shipped to Denver tomorrow morning where, it is understood, burial will be made.

[Emphasis added.]
I cannot find a comprehensive online list of Colorado supreme court justices.

Gilruth dismissed as a fraud by Topeka, KS, People's Party paper The advocate and Topeka tribune.

This is an interesting discovery: a corrections notice calling out the Wall Street circular as a fraud, from a People's Party (that is: friendly) paper. Note that this is a claim of fraud, not proof.
The advocate and Topeka tribune. (Topeka, Kan.), 14 Sept. 1892.

In an editorial note last week calling attention of editors of reform to the so-called Wall street circular fake first published in the Chicago Daily Press, we wrote that "the thing originated in the fertile brain of T. W. Gilruth, who held a position for a time on the editorial staff of the Press." The compositor transformed the name into Gilmore. We desire to make this correction lest there be somebody named Gilmore who might object to the charge, and because the fraud should be placed where it belongs. Gilruth is a snide, and if anyone who knows him has not yet found it out, he is liable to do so to his sorrow.

The original notice:
The advocate and Topeka tribune. (Topeka, Kan.), 07 Sept. 1892.

The Great West and one or two other exchanges reproduce the Chicago Daily Press fake purporting to be a Wall street circular. The thing originated in the fertile brain of F. W. Gilmore [sic: should be T. W. Gilruth], who held a position for a time at the Press. He has been challenged time and again to produce the original if it is genuine, and has failed to do so. The thing is a fraud and so is its author, and neither of them is worthy of the confidence of the people.

In going through issues of the Advocate (itself a "the official paper of the People's Party of Kansas"), it's telling to note how much of it is devoted to exposing the misreporting of other periodicals. The September 7, 1892 issue (the paper was a weekly) begins "On August 30, the Kansas City Journal published five columns of dime novel rot purporting to be a history of the Frazer-Gibson murders in Chautauqua and Elk counties, and the incidents leading to the arrest of Frank Kinzey and Jerry Hutton, which occurred August 29 at Sedan." And on. For four columns across the entire front page. The issue as a whole comprises 16 pages. And would set you back $1. For the year.

Further Fraud Dismissals

Further dismissals in the Barbour County index., July 06, 1892, p. 1 and the June 5, 1892 The Inter Ocean from Chicago, Illinois · Page 16 (noting that the Inter Ocean was a Republican newspaper, it later merged with others to form the Herald Tribune per its Wikipedia entry). There's a Library of Congress archive of the former from which we read:

NOTHING BUT A FAKE
The Circular Purporting to Have been Buried on the Floor of the Chicago Exchange.
Apropos to what we said relative to the Chicago Daily Press "special that is going the rounds of the reform press, the Nebraska Alliance has this to say:

Many of the reform papers are publishing a lengthy dispatch purporting to have been sent from Wall street, March 21, 1892, to the Chicago Daily press, in which the ideas and plans of the plutocrats are outlined. Mrs. Emory quotes a portion of this dispatch in her new book on "Imperialism in America." We have read this dispatch with some care, and we must say that all the internal, as well as external, evidence indicates that it is a fake. We have no doubt that it truly sets forth the plans and sentiments of the plutocracy; in fact it sets them forth too plainly and systematically to be written by anyone but a reformer. Plutocracy [never] gives away its designs, except by accident, or in piece meal.
If the genuineness of this dispatch cannot be established, it should be taken in at once. If reform writers put it alongside the Huscard and Buell circulars and various other documents of like character, the public faith in the genuineness of all may be shaken. We cannot afford to father any fakes.
Right you are; and with no reflections upon that worthy gentleman, we further state that our belief, that to us is next to knowledge, that T. W. Gilruth, of Kansas City, at that time industrial editor on the Press, in whose department on the editorial page the "special appeared, is the author exclusively of the same, and until evidence is produced to prove otherwise, we shall hold to that belief. Call it in. We have no use for fakes. --Nonconformist.

We regarded this so-called dispatch as a fake when it first appeared, and hence we never published it. We could not see the evidence of its authenticity. It may voice the sentiment of Wall street, but we doubt if the gold-bugs are sending out that kind of dispatches to be left lying around loose on the floor of the Chicago exchange to be picked up by "calamity howlers" and given to the public. This is where this precious document is said to have been found. We do not believe it, and we shall not take up this "howl" until we have better evidence of its authenticity. We are glad to know that others share our opinion of it. --Topeka Advocate.

h/t whycantusonicwood

Further newspaper references to Gilruth

Rounding out a few more details, we find Gilruth elected president of the Citizen's Industrial Alliance in 1891, on the People's Party Lecture Bureau and lecturing later that year, and in 1894. Several accounts of the Wall Street Letter in 1894. Party communications, a petition to

• Pittsburg dispatch. (Pittsburg [Pa.]), 11 June 1891.: T. W. Gilruth elected president of the Citizens' Industrial Alliance at its organizational meeting in Topeka, KS.
  
• Kansas agitator. (Garnett, Kan.), 22 Sept. 1891.: Listed among Peoples Party Lecture Bureau members.
  
• Dodge City times. (Dodge City, Kan.), 02 Oct. 1891.:
  

  On last evening at the rink, T. W. Gilruth, president of the National Citizens' Industrial Alliance, delivered a very able address on the economic questions of the day. The meeting was very well attended by the voters of the city and vicinity. Mr. Gilruth is a very able man and we think the seed sown by him will have a very good effect in the coming election.
  

• The Farmers' union. (Memphis, Mo.), 11 Jan. 1894. T.W. Gilruth speaking at a People's Party conference in Kansas City.
  
• Dakota farmers' leader. (Canton, S.D.), 30 Nov. 1894.. Substantively the same account as in the Southern Mercury above, of the Wall Street Letter.
  
• Dakota farmers' leader. (Canton, S.D.), 30 Nov. 1894.: And again.
  
• The dawn. (Ellensburg, Wash.), 21 Dec. 1895. A response to T.W. Gilruth regarding a bond issues inquiry.
  
• Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.), 09 July 1895.: T. W. Gilruth among those demanding "municipal ownership of the gas works", as secretary of the Knights of Labor.
  
• The Wichita daily eagle. (Wichita, Kan.), 09 July 1895.: Gas works story again.
  
• St. Paul daily globe. (Saint Paul, Minn.), 09 July 1895.: And gas again.
  
• Kansas City journal. (Kansas City, Mo.), 16 Feb. 1898.: Death of a Miss Isabella Franklin Jones, aged 37, Unity Liberal Scientist, reported at "the home of Thomas W. Gilruth, 1018 West Twenty-first street, of measles."
  
• Kansas City journal. (Kansas City, Mo.), 08 Dec. 1898.: City reservoir improvements meeting.
  

The "Bankers and Brokers Central Committee of Chicago"

Searching "Bankers and Brokers Central Committee of Chicago" on DDG and Google turns up nothing. Nor "Bankers and Brokers Central Committee".

"H. Zimmerman"

A sufficiently common name and lack of specificity that I'm having trouble turning up any relevant records. What Chicago banking histories I can find make no mention of leadership at about that time.
A biography from History of Montgomery County has an "HH Zimmerman" as owner of the Harvel Bank, in Harvel, IL, 240 miles south-west of Chicago (south of Springfield, IL, and east of St. Louis, MO). Born in 1869, would make him 23 in 1892. Somewhat young for a secretary of a banking committee. It also states that he bought the Harvel Bank from his father, John W. Zimmerman in 1900, after moving to Quincy, IL, aged 13, completing high school, and taking a business course, also in Quincy, and taking a position at a hardware company in St. Louis for four years. Which doesn't leave much time for being active in Chicago banking.

"Omaha Meeting" and the Populist Party

The "Omaha Meeting" apparently refers not to a bankers' convention (Gary North makes the error of suspecting this in his debunking of this document) but to the Populist Party (sometimes "People's Party") convention in Omaha, Nebraska, on July 4, 1892.

The platform preamble was written by Ignatius L. Donnelly. The planks themselves represent the merger of the agrarian concerns of the Farmers' Alliance with the free-currency monetarism of the Greenback Party while explicitly endorsing the goals of the largely urban Knights of Labor. In the words of Donnelly's preamble, the convention was "[a]ssembled on the anniversary of the birthday of the nation, and filled with the spirit of the grand general and chieftain who established our independence, we seek to restore the government of the Republic to the hands of the plain people, with which class it originated." The Omaha Platform called for a wide range of social reforms, including a reduction in the working day, a “safe, sound, and flexible” national currency, assistance to farmers with the financing of their labours, “fair and liberal pensions to ex-Union soldiers and sailors,” the direct election of Senators, single-terms for Presidents and Vice-Presidents, “the legislative system known as the initiative and referendum,” “the unperverted Australian of secret ballot system,” the nationalization of the railroads, the telegraph, and the telephone systems, a postal savings, “a graduated income tax,” and “the free and unlimited coinage of silver.”

Populism itself is a bit of an odd duck, and a U.S. political movement I'm not terribly familiar with. For some context:

Some historians see a close link between the Populists of the 1890s and the progressives of 1900-1912, but most of the leading progressives (except Bryan himself) fiercely opposed Populism. For example, Theodore Roosevelt, George W. Norris, Robert LaFollette, William Allen White and Woodrow Wilson all strongly opposed Populism. It is debated whether any Populist ideas made their way into the Democratic party during the New Deal era. The New Deal farm programs were designed by experts (like Henry Wallace) who had nothing to do with Populism.

Source: Wikipedia.
If there's one aspect of this investigation that's been most interesting, it's been the story and goals of the Populist Party. Sarah E.V. Emery's Seven Financial Conspiracies lays out the party's platform and principles:

1. Finance: a national currency, safe, sound and flexible, issued by the general government only
2. Transportation: Transportation being a means of exchange and a public necessity, the government should own and operate the railroads in the interests of the people.
3. Land: The land, including all the natural resources of wealth, is the heritage of the people and should not be monopolized for speculative purposes

Murrits & Co.

I find no results for "Murrits & Co." in Google or Google Books search. Nor for variants of "company", "and company", "murris" (as given in The Peoples Voice), "murritts", or "merritts".
The expression "speculative banking house" in conjunction with "London" and "1892" appears within Google's archives only in other reproductions of the Wall Street Letter. "Speculative banking house" alone makes a few other appearances, but doesn't seem to be in common use.
A cursory review of banking and bankruptcy publications from 1892 London show no other apparent matches for similar circumstances.

Sarah E. Van de Vort Emery

While there are a few references for Mrs. Emery, including two books, Imperialism in America: its rise and progress (in which I first found a longer variant of the alleged Morgan quote), and Seven Financial Conspiracies Which Have Enslaved the American People. But aside from these, little or no biographical detail.
She died October 12, 1895, aged 57, in Lansing, Michigan. Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]), 19 Oct. 1895.

Conclusions: Dubious Provenance, not Morgan

Given what I've turned up, I'd call the Manifesto's provenance questionable at best. I've a few further inquiries out though I don't expect my general views to change.
There's no doubt that its existence is established as early as 1892, the year it's supposed to have been written.
If the manifesto was representative of the banking industry at the time, circumstantial evidence suggests Morgan would have certainly been aware, likely approved, and quite possibly participated in its authorship. That said, evidence of authenticity is strongly lacking. Attributing the quote to Morgan himself is almost certainly in error.
As an example of poor practices, this is telling: by propagating an apparent falsehood, I'm inclined to greatly reduce my view of the Populist / People's Party's credibility. The fact that the myth continues to be repeated, and that there's no definitive debunking of it, also strikes me as curious. Though I suppose it's largely a minor footnote in history.
But it's also a strong reminder to check your facts and stories. Especially the ones you'd like to be true.

Edits

1. Additional details and sources especially on Gilruth added. Also Emery's obituary. June 15, 2015.
2. Added July 1892- June 1893 Banker's Magazine archive. Thanks, whycantusonicwood
3. Added Barbour County index., July 06, 1892, p. 1 and the June 5, 1892 The Inter Ocean from Chicago, Illinois · Page 16, thanks, whycantusonicwood

Notes

1. This is deliberate ironic understatement.
   
2. Other sources give "Murris & Co.". Quality copyediting and/or typesetting isn't a strong suit of the Populist papers, truth valance notwithstanding.