SELFISH INTENTIONS - K-REx - Kansas State University

Breeze dated July 18, 1899, Thompson offered a notably conservative view of divorce that rested
almost entirely upon a defense of the marital union and its social value. Like many other leaders
during the nineteenth century, Thompson believed the state of the nation’s civilization and
happiness depended upon the family; therefore, the state had a deeply vested interest in the
stability and preservation of families. He elaborated, “I think it would aid very much in
maintaining this institution if it was generally understood that the law requires the marriage
contract, with few exceptions to continue indissoluble during the joint lives of the parties to
it.” 117 In an effort to preserve the family, Judge Thompson believed that only one ground,
adultery, was an acceptable reason for a divorce. He also deplored the spectrum of grounds for
divorce in various states: “From that limited range to the unbounded discretion allowed the court
by the statutes of Washington, each state, with one or two exceptions has provided more or less
avenues of escape from the matrimonial condition, and in this line the legislature of Kansas,
judging by comparison, has been very liberal.” 118 At the time of this letter, the state of Kansas
enumerated ten grounds for divorce, and Thompson believed that the only way that divorce rates
would decrease was to change Kansas statutes so that it was more difficult to “secure a judgment
setting aside the marriage contract.” 119
All of these justices were troubled by the state of Kansas divorce though their reasoning
varied. Some believed that divorce should be limited to cases of adultery only. Others believed
divorce should only be allowed in cases of abuse, adultery, or abandonment. Still others asserted
divorce law should be broad to allow people who want to get divorced for pretty much whatever
reason to get divorced so long as someone in the court room spoke on behalf of the union. All of
117 Ibid.
118 Ibid.
119 Ibid.
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