We may next pass to the long list of new states in the West and Northwest whose generous boundaries spread over the Mississippi valley, the vast regions of the Rocky Mountains, and the Pacific slope. The course of legislation in Minnesota has run closely parallel to that of Wisconsin, though it is divergent in some important details. In 1851, seven years before the admission of that state to the Union, a statute logically declared bigamous marriages and those within the forbidden degrees, if solemnized in the territory, void without a decree. At the same time, as causes of absolute divorce in favor of the aggrieved were sanctioned (1) adultery; (2) impotency; (3) sentence to imprisonment in the penitentiary after the marriage, no subsequent pardon effecting a restoration of conjugal rights; (4) wilful desertion for one year next preceding the commencement of the suit; (5) cruel and inhuman treatment, whether practiced by using personal violence or by any other means; (6) habitual drunkenness for one year immediately preceding the filing of the complaint. By this act no provision is made for partial divorce.[445] The term of wilful desertion was increased from one year to three years in 1866;[446] but in 1895 the shorter period was restored, so that under the existing law the six grounds of absolute divorce as sanctioned in 1851 are recognized, except that "cruel and inhuman treatment" is constituted a cause, the original explanatory clause being omitted.[447] On the other hand, limited divorce is now provided for. Since 1876, on complaint of a married woman, separation from bed and board is authorized (1) for cruel and inhuman treatment by the husband; (2) for such conduct on his part as may render it unsafe and improper for her to cohabit with him; or (3) for abandonment and refusal or neglect by him to provide for her. The district court of the county where the persons or one of them resides is now vested with jurisdiction in all actions for divorce or for the annulment of marriage.[448]
One of the worst and most characteristic features of American state legislation is seen in the session laws of Iowa, where the statute-maker is perennially engaged in adopting, changing, abrogating, or re-enacting plans of divorce and alimony. The first step was taken in 1838, when the district court of the county where the persons or one of them resides was given jurisdiction on the petition of the aggrieved. The grounds of absolute divorce then allowed are (1) impotence; and (2) adultery. Those of divorce a mensa or of divorce from the bond of wedlock, in the discretion of the court, are (1) extreme cruelty; or (2) wilful desertion for one year.[449] This law was repealed and a new one adopted in the next year. Nothing is now said of separation from bed and board; but a full divorce may be had by the injured spouse for (1) impotency; (2) bigamous marriage; (3) adultery; (4) one year's desertion; (5) felony; (6) habitual drunkenness; (7) cruel treatment; (8) indignities.[450] Three years later this statute in turn gave place to another by which the same causes are sanctioned, except, under the sixth head, it is provided that "said habitual drunkenness shall be contracted after marriage."[451] In 1846, however, this proviso was dropped; and at the same time an "omnibus" clause was sanctioned. A full divorce may now be granted (9) "when it shall be made fully apparent to the satisfaction of the court, that the parties cannot live in peace and happiness together, and that their welfare requires a separation."[452] The eighth ground was dropped in 1851, and at the same time it was again specified under the sixth head that drunkenness shall have become habitual after marriage.[453]
Thus matters stood until 1855, when the worthy legislators managed to put the law in a curiously awkward shape. It was then decreed that "hereafter no divorce otherwise than from bed and board shall be granted except" (1) where either spouse shall commit adultery; (2) be convicted of felony; (3) was impotent at the time of the marriage; or (4) wilfully deserts the other for the space of three years. "In all other enumerated causes heretofore deemed sufficient"—continues the statute—"no divorce otherwise than a divorce from bed and board shall be granted."[454] This scheme was short-lived. An act of 1858 revives the law as it stood in 1851, except that the term of wilful desertion was extended to two years and the omnibus clause was omitted, thus leaving seven grounds of petition in force.[455]
The present law of Iowa governing the causes of divorce took its rise in the code of 1873. The district court in the county where the plaintiff or defendant resides still has jurisdiction. Limited divorce is not recognized, but "it appears that courts of equity will grant alimony without divorce to a wife where she is separated from her husband because of his misconduct, though no express statutory provision is found authorizing such proceeding."[456] A full divorce may be decreed against the husband (1) when he has committed adultery subsequent to the marriage; (2) when he wilfully deserts his wife and absents himself without reasonable cause for the space of two years; (3) when after marriage he is convicted of felony; or (4) becomes addicted to habitual drunkenness; or (5) when he is guilty of such inhuman treatment as to endanger the life of his wife; and against the wife, for the five causes just enumerated, and also (6) when at the time of the marriage she was pregnant by a man other than her husband, unless the husband then had an illegitimate child or children living and the fact was unknown to her.[457]
The divorce legislation of Kansas begins in 1855, the next year after the territory was erected. The grounds on which the aggrieved may secure a complete dissolution of the matrimonial bond are (1) impotence continuing from the time of the marriage; (2) bigamous marriage; (3) adultery; (4) wilful desertion and absence for two years without reasonable cause; (5) conviction of felony or infamous crime; (6) habitual drunkenness for two years; (7) cruel and barbarous treatment endangering life; (8) intolerable indignities offered to the person; (9) vagrancy of the husband.[458] In 1859 this law gave place to another, by which the fifth, eighth, and ninth causes above enumerated were omitted; the term of wilful absence, under the fourth head, was reduced to one year; and habitual drunkenness became a cause, without specification of the time during which it must have existed.[459] The very next year this plan was in its turn superseded. A new act allowed separate alimony without dissolution of marriage, and sanctioned eleven grounds of total divorce. The first four of these are identical with the corresponding numbers in 1855, as modified in 1859. In addition are approved (5) pregnancy of the wife at the time of the marriage by a man other than the husband; (6) extreme cruelty; (7) fraudulent contract; (8) gross neglect of duty; (9) habitual drunkenness; (10) sentence for crime and imprisonment therefor in a penitentiary, provided complaint be filed during the term of confinement; (11) when one person has secured a divorce in another state or territory, leaving the obligation binding on the other.[460]
The eleventh cause just specified was dropped in 1868. The remaining ten were then re-enacted;[461] and these grounds, without addition or essential change, constitute the law of Kansas at the present time. In this state there is no separation from bed and board. But "the wife may obtain alimony alone from the husband without a divorce ... for any of the causes for which a divorce may be granted."[462] By the constitution, jurisdiction in all divorce actions is vested in the district courts;[463] and the supreme court has authority when suits are brought up on error.[464]
Both kinds of separation are provided for by the Nebraska law of 1856; and a marriage is then declared to be completely dissolved without decree in case of conviction and imprisonment for life. The district court of the county where the married persons or one of them resides is empowered to grant absolute divorce on complaint of the aggrieved for (1) adultery; (2) physical incompetency at the time of the marriage; (3) sentence to imprisonment for three years or more, no pardon effecting a restoration of conjugal rights; (4) two years' wilful abandonment without good cause; (5) habitual drunkenness. The same tribunal may decree either a limited or a full divorce for (1) extreme cruelty; or (2) two years' utter desertion by either spouse; and (3) in favor of the wife, when the husband, being of sufficient ability, shall grossly or wantonly and cruelly refuse or neglect to provide for her.[465] No essential change appears in the statutes until 1875, when imprisonment for life was made a sixth ground of absolute divorce;[466] and so the law of Nebraska remains at the present hour.[467]
Separation from bed and board has at no time been authorized by the laws of Colorado. The district courts have jurisdiction. Full divorce may now be granted in favor of the aggrieved on eight grounds; and in this regard there have been few changes since the first statute of 1861. The present causes are (1) impotence continuing from the time of the marriage or originating thereafter in consequence of immoral or criminal conduct; (2) bigamous contract; (3) adultery; (4) one years' wilful desertion and absence without reasonable cause (5) extreme or repeated acts of cruelty, consisting as well in the infliction of mental suffering as of bodily violence; (6) failure on the part of the husband, being in good bodily health, to make reasonable provision for his family for the space of one year; (7) habitual drunkenness of either spouse for the same period; (8) conviction of felony.[468]
Since the original statute of 1870, in Wyoming, a bigamous contract or a marriage where the persons are related within the forbidden degrees, or where either is insane or an idiot, is void without judicial decree.[469] In that state separation from bed and board has never been sanctioned. Under the existing law, as it has stood since 1882, absolute divorce is allowed either person when aggrieved for (1) adultery; (2) physical incompetence continuing from the time of the marriage; (3) conviction of a felony and imprisonment therefor in any prison, no subsequent pardon effecting a restitution of conjugal rights; (4) wilful desertion for one year; (5) when either husband or wife has become a habitual drunkard; (6) extreme cruelty; (7) neglect of the husband for the period of one year to provide the common necessaries of life, unless such neglect is the result of poverty which he could not have avoided by ordinary industry; (8) indignities rendering the condition of either spouse intolerable; (9) conduct on the part of the husband constituting him a vagrant within the meaning of the law; (10) when before the marriage or its solemnization either person shall have been convicted of a felony or infamous crime in any state, territory, or count[r]y without knowledge of the fact by the other at the time of the marriage; (11) when the intended wife at the time of contracting the marriage or its solemnization is pregnant by any man other than her intended husband, and without the latter's knowledge at the time of the solemnization.
Although there is no limited divorce in Wyoming, the law in certain cases allows separate alimony to be granted to the wife without a formal decree of separation.[470]