Melville Fuller

“ Undoubtedly the rule that a bill may be retained for the purpose of granting full relief when jurisdiction exists should not be abused by being employed as a mere pretext for bringing into chancery causes proper for a court of law; but under the local law this could not be predicated of a petition which the petitioner was entitled to file under the 'Burnt Records Act,' and, as already stated, we administer, where diverse citizenship gives us jurisdiction of a case, the equitable relief which state legislation accords. ”

“ The character of the litigation sufficiently indicates that the petitioner legitimately invoked the aid of the statute. It is strenuously insisted that the remedy at law was adequate, and that as the right of possession was purely a legal question, and for a jury, the court of chancery should have declined jurisdiction; but inasmuch as the case came within the provisions of the statute, and equity could alone afford the entire relief sought, the fact that legal questions were also involved could not oust the court of jurisdiction. ”

“ By numerous decisions of the supreme court of the state of Illinois it has been determined that a petition to establish title under what is known as the 'Burnt Records Act' need not show that the petitioner was in possession of the land, or that it was vacant and unoccupied, as required in a bill to quiet title, the act authorizing the petitioner to make all parties in possession or claiming an interest in the land parties defendant to the petition, creating a clear and marked distinction between a case of this character and such a bill ”