Schaefer

There is but one question in this case. Plaintiff contends he was deprived of a jury trial, to which he was entitled in virtue of the Seventh Amendment to the federal Constitution. The cause was tried in the District Court upon specified issues by the judge alone, sitting without a jury. The judge entered findings of fact and conclusions of law in favor of defendants and against plaintiff, and dismissed the suit on the merits. Before this Court, plaintiff emphatically states:

Baldly, plaintiff contends that, although there was a perfectly fair and impartial trial, where he was allowed to present all the evidence he desired on the segregated issue, and where he lost, the whole trial must be held again before a jury. Since trial by jury is guaranteed by the federal Constitution, in “actions at law” we must perforce deal with the ancient distinction between such actions and “suits in equity,” 1 notwithstanding *13 the fact that, for purposes of pleading and procedure in the federal courts, the distinction has been nullified.

The parties are in agreement that this question can be determined at the threshold on the face of the complaint.

If this be the test, the trial court was…