In Re Campbell

The appellant, who is the father of Fannie Marie Campbell, an infant of two years of age, applied to the lower court by petition to be appointed guardian of. her person and estate, the last consisting of personal property of merely nominal value. The application was contested by the respondents, John and Mary Wright, the maternal grandparents of the minor, who made a counter application for the appointment of John Wright, the grandfather, who was accordingly appointed by the court. The appeal is from this order.

The petition—or as it is entitled, “answer”—of the respondents contains no allegation that the appellant was in' any way unfit for the office of guardian. Nor is there anything in the findings (or indeed in the evidence) that can be regarded as tending to show such unfitness. But the petition of the respondents, in effect, alleges, and the court in its conclusions of law finds, that “it is for the best interests of the said minor child, in respect to its temporal, mental, and moral welfare, that .... the custody of said minor child be awarded to said John Wright.”

The language of the court is taken from section 246 of the Civil Code, which was apparently construed as…