SELFISH INTENTIONS - K-REx - Kansas State University

y default. In a majority of them arrangements have been made before the commencement of
the suit, by one or both of the parties to marry other parties, at the expiration of six months from
the date of decree.” 113 To counteract collusion, he argued that the divorce should not become
absolute until five years from the date the case was decided instead of the current standard of a
six-month waiting period to prevent fraud. Judge W. S. Glass of the Twenty-First District in
Marysville agreed. He claimed, “There exists an almost universal opinion that the law will
relieve from mistakes and sever the bonds of matrimony upon the slightest proof of statutory
cause. The right to remarry, which is acquired at the end of six months, should, in certain cases,
be withheld from and denied to both parties, and in other cases to the party at fault.” 114 Judge
Glass contended there were so many problems in the divorce statutes that he could not address
them all at length, because of the word constraints of the newspaper. He insisted nevertheless
that further changes needed to be made.
Judge O. L. Moore of Abilene agreed that divorces were too easy to get in Kansas but he
tended to put the blame on himself and his judicial peers. He argued, “If courts were strict in
requiring competent legal and satisfactory evidence in divorce cases as in other cases, there
would be a less number of divorce suits instituted and a far less number of divorces granted.” 115
In his opinion, the Kansas statutes for divorce were not the problem. The problem arose when
the districts courts did not correctly implement the law. The rise in divorce cases on the docket
in his opinion resulted “from the laxity of courts in granting divorces upon incompetent, if not
wholly insufficient testimony.” 116 By insisting that each case have satisfactory legal evidence,
Justice Moore contended Kansas would see a reduction in the number of cases petitioned
113 Mail and Breeze (Topeka), “Too Easy To Obtain Divorce in Kansas,” 21 July 1899.
114 Ibid.
115 Ibid.
116 Ibid.
47