The relevent material consists of one paragraph and a footnote to it. They are as follows:
Other matters were then talked over relating to the evils of immediate emancipation, if that policy should be pressed, especially the sufferings which would necessarily attend the old and the infirm, as well as the women and children, who were unable to support themselves. These were fully admitted by Mr. Lincoln, but in reference to them, in that event, he illustrated all he could say by telling the anecdote, which had been published in the papers, about the Illinois farmer and his hogs.* The conversation then took another turn.
_____________________________________________________
*Mr. Lincoln had a wonderful talent for illustrations of this sort. His genius for Anecdotes was fully equal, if not superior, to that of Æsop for Apologues or Fables. They were his chief resort in conveying his ideas upon almost every question. His resources for producing them, seemed inexhaustible, and they were usually exceedingly pointed, apt, and telling in their application. The one on this occasion was far from being entitled to a place on a list of his best and most felicitous hits of this character. The substance of it was this:
An Illinois farmer was congratulating himself with a neighbor upon a great discovery he had made, by which he would economize much time and labor in gathering and taking care of the food crop for his hogs, as well as trouble in looking after and feeding them in winter.
"What is it?" said the neighbor.
"Why, it is," said the farmer, "to plant plenty of potatoes, and when they are mature, without either digging or housing them, turn the hogs in the field and let them get their own food as they want it."
"But," said the neighbor, how will they do when the winter comes and the ground is hard frozen?"
"Well," said the farmer, "let 'em root!"
__________________________
The book is titled: "A Constitutional View of the Late War Between the States: its Causes, Character, Conduct and Results" by Alexander H. Stephens. The copy I have is a modern reproduction (Sprinkle Publications, Harrisonburg, VA).
The material quoted above is from vol. II, p. 615. The context is a discussion of the proceedings of the Hampton Roads Peace Conference of February, 1865.
Stephens' dedication in volume II is dated April 26, 1870, and there is what appears to be a copyright notice dated 1870.
The song "Root hog, or die" dates to 1856, according to what I found on the web, but as you can see, Stephens makes no mention of it.
Why? Just because he included details omitted by Alexander Stephens in his account? Or because you disagree with his message? You have to admit that the Henry J. Raymond version of the story puts an entirely different slant on the story. You would have us believe that Stephens is concerned only about the slaves, but why should we assume that? Mr. Hunter's concern seems to be about southern society as a whole, of which the freed slaves were only a part of it. And I doubt that they were the important part. No work would be done, he says. Nothing would be harvested. People would starve. Lincoln's response, in this case, is quite obviously a slap at a society that is accustomed to having others do all their work for them. Lincoln appears to be saying to the southerners that your chattel is gone and not coming back. You want to survive then it's up to you to shoulder the load. It is the priviledged planter aristocracy who have to 'root, hog, or die' and not the newly freed slave.
It should be remembered that account is given by Henry J. Raymond, a close friend and ally of Lincoln. Why wouldn't Lincoln be honsest and open and candid to him? If anything, I would place more credence with the Raymond story that the Stephens version, not because it supports Lincoln but because the Stephens recounting is a small and insignificant part of his work. The tale has nothing to do with the subject of the two volume work, which was the constitutional support of secession. Why should Stephens provide the same level of detail as Raymond, who was recounting Lincoln's talents as a story teller?