Opinion of the Court. was that in force at the time of these transactions. This statute may be found in the Laws of 1885, p. 43, and in the first volume of Mills' Annotated Statutes, p. 453. The only portions of that statute having any bearing on the matters here in controversy are sections 1 and 3 and the last half of section 18, which are as follows: "Any person may make a general assignment of all his property, for the benefit of his creditors, by deed, duly acknowledged, which, when filed for record in the office of the clerk and recorder of the county where the assignor resides, or, if a non-resident, where his principal place of business is, in this State, shall vest in the assignee the title to all the property, real and personal, of the assignor, in trust, for the use and benefit of such creditors." "No such deed of general assignment of property by an insolvent, or in contemplation of insolvency for the benefit of creditors, shall be valid, unless by its terms it be made for the benefit of all his creditors, in proportion to the amount of their respective claims.” 66 But nothing in this act contained shall invalidate. any conveyance or mortgage of property, real or personal, by the debtor before the assignment, made in good faith, for a valid and valuable consideration." This statute, so far as we are advised, has not been before the Supreme Court of Colorado for construction; at least, not for any question involved in this case. The first section, it will be perceived, gives permission to make a general assignment. There is no compulsion. There is neither in terms nor by implication any duty cast upon an insolvent to dispose of his property by a general assignment, or anything which prevents him from paying or securing one creditor in preference to others. On the contrary, the last half of section 18 plainly recognizes the right of a debtor to prefer by payment or security; and, in the light of this statute, the quotation which we have made from the Supreme Court of Colorado becomes pertinent, which clearly affirms the right of a debtor to do with his property as he pleases, except as in terms restrained by statute; and a statute which simply permits a debtor to Opinion of the Court. make a certain disposition of his property works no destruction of his otherwise unrestrained dominion over it: And, further, when we look at section 3 we find that when a conveyance is made which is a general assignment, it is void unless by its terms it is made for the benefit of all creditors. The rule thus declared is not that the preferences fail and the assignment stands, but that the assignment itself fails unless it be in terms free from preferences. So, if this conveyance were in form unquestionably a general assignment, as it contemplated the payment only of May and Hirsch, it was not only not for the benefit of all creditors, but avowedly for the benefit of these two, and it would, therefore, have to be adjudged a void instrument, and could not be upheld under that rule which prevails in some jurisdictions of, in such cases, upholding the conveyance and avoiding the preferences. So it follows that either this is a chattel mortgage given as security to two creditors for their debts, a transaction in no manner forbidden by the statutes of Colorado, or, if it be a general assignment, then it was an assignment with preferences, which preferences by those statutes, avoid the conveyance. We think, therefore, the Circuit Court erred in the conclusions which it reached, so far at least as this aspect of the case is concerned. As we have heretofore noticed, the burden of the complaint was that this conveyance was fraudulent and void because, as alleged, made in pursuance of a conspiracy between Rich, May, and Hirsch; a conspiracy by which Rich was to go east and buy goods, and, when those goods had been purchased and brought to Leadville, transfer them to May and Hirsch. So far as this charge is concerned, we agree with the Circuit Court that it is not established by the testimony. Rich evidently would like to convey that idea, and yet he does not directly testify to it; and May and Hirsch clearly deny it. Obviously there was no conspiracy, between the parties, and all talk between them was only to the effect that, if Rich should succeed in buying what he talked of buying, May and Hirsch would help him to carry the burden. He largely failed in that; and they, when he became pressed by the bank, Names of Counsel. simply took measures for their own protection. It being conceded, as it is, that the debts from Rich to May and Hirsch were bona fide, the transaction amounted to this, and this only that the debtor used his property to prefer certain bona fide creditors. This, the laws of Colorado allowed, and therefore it cannot be avoided at the instance of the unpreferred creditors. The decree of the Circuit Court is reversed, and the case remanded, with instructions to dismiss the bill. LEHNEN v. DICKSON. ERROR TO THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE UNITED STATES FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF MISSOURI. No. 125. Argued February 2, 3, 1893. - Decided March 6, 1893. When the record shows that the case was tried below by the court without a jury, and there is no special finding of facts, and no agreed statement of facts, but only a general finding, this court must accept that finding as conclusive, and limit its inquiry to the sufficiency of the complaint and of the rulings, if any be preserved, on questions of law arising during the trial. No mere recital of the testimony, whether in the opinion of the court or in a bill of exceptions, can be deemed a special finding of facts within the scope of the statute. In Missouri in an action of unlawful detainer, the defendant put in evidence a lease of the property by the then owner, who had since died, which had been assigned to him. The plaintiff offered evidence of a judgment cancelling and setting aside that lease, which was admitted under objection, and the admission excepted to. Held, that the ruling was right. THE case is stated in the opinion. Mr. D. P. Dyer, (with whom was Mr. David Goldsmith on the brief,) for plaintiff in error. Mr. James O. Broadhead for defendant in error. Opinion of the Court. MR. JUSTICE BREWER delivered the opinion of the court. On February 6, 1886, defendant in error commenced an action of unlawful detainer, before a justice of the peace in Montgomery County, Missouri. The complaint charged an unlawful detention by the defendant, since January 2, 1886, of a tract of land of 800 acres situated in that county. By certiorari, under the provisions of the state statute, the case was removed to the Circuit Court of Montgomery County, and thereafter, upon application of the defendant, on the ground of diverse citizenship, from that to the Circuit Court of the United States for the Eastern District of Missouri. There the case was tried without the intervention of a jury, and, on January 30, 1889, a judgment was entered in favor of the plaintiff for the restitution of the premises, for double damages, amounting to $5940, and for $220 per month, double rent, from and after the entry of judgment. The opinion of Judge Thayer is found in 37 Fed. Rep. 319. To reverse such judgment the defendant sued out a writ of error from this court. The first matter to be considered is, whether the record is in such shape as to present any question for determination. The case was tried by the court without a jury and the journal entry shows simply a general finding that the defendant is guilty in manner and form as charged in the complaint, the amount of damages sustained by the plaintiff, and the value of the monthly rents and prof 3, and thereon the judgment for restitution of the premises, double damages and double rent. There is no special finding of facts, and no agreed statement of facts. Obviously, therefore, inquiry in this court must be limited to the sufficiency of the complaint and the rulings, if any be preserved, on questions of law arising during the trial. Sections 648 and 649 of the Revised Statutes, while committing generally the trial of issues of fact to a jury, authorize parties to waive a jury and submit such trial to the court, adding that "the finding of the court upon the facts, which may be either general or special, shall have the same effect as the verdict of a jury." But the verdict of a jury settles all questions of fact. As said by Mr. Justice Blatchford, in Lan Opinion of the Court. easter v. Collins, 115 U. S. 222, 225: "This court cannot review the weight of the evidence, and can look into it only to see whether there was error in not directing a verdict for the plaintiff on the question of variance, or because there was no evidence to sustain the verdict rendered." The finding of the court, to have the same effect, must be equally conclusive and equally remove from examination in this court the testimony given on the trial. Insurance Co. v. Folsom, 18 Wall. 237; Cooper v. Omohundro, 19 Wall. 65. Further, section 700 provides that "when an issue of fact in any civil cause in a Circuit Court is tried and determined by the court without the intervention of a jury, according to section six hundred and forty-nine, the rulings of the court in the progress of the trial of the cause, if excepted to at the time, and duly presented by a bill of exceptions, may be reviewed by the Supreme Court upon a writ of error or upon appeal; and when the finding is special, the review may extend to the sufficiency of the facts found to support the judgment." Under that, the rulings of the court in the trial, if properly preserved, can be reviewed here, and we may also determine whether the facts as specially found support the judgment; but if there be no special findings, there can be no inquiry as to whether the judgment is thus supported. We must accept the general finding as conclusive upon all matters of fact, precisely as the verdict of a jury. Martinton v. Fairbanks, 112 U. S. 670. It is true, if there be an agreed statement of facts submitted to the trial court and upon which its judgment is founded, such agreed statement will be taken as the equivalent of a special finding of facts. Supervisors v. Kennicott, 103 U. S. 554. Doubtless, also, cases may arise in which, without a formal special finding of facts, there is presented a ruling of the court, which is distinctly a ruling upon a matter of law, and in no manner a determination of facts, or of inferences from facts, in which this court ought to and will review the ruling. Thus, in Insurance Company v. Tweed, 7 Wall. 44, where on the argument in this court counsel agreed that certain recitals of fact made by the trial court in its opinion or "reasons for judgment," as it was called, were the facts in the case, and |