Memorandum1Jump to section
If the military force of the rebellion were already out of the way, so that the people of Louisiana could now practically enter upon the enjoyment of their rights under the present State and National Constitutions, your request would stand before me in a different aspect.
Annotation
[1] AD, DLC-RTL. Written on a slip of paper filed with the draft and copy of Lincoln to Malhiot and others, supra, this memorandum was probably a sentence intended for inclusion in the letter, but rejected. It restates substantially a draft by Seward which is also filed with the other papers, as follows: ``In whatever I may do or say on the subject at the present time, I cannot ignore the fact that in view of military operations outside of the state of Louisiana the presence of the land and naval forces of the United States in that now loyal state cannot yet be discontinued.''