After Russell died in 1916, the Watch Tower Society's lawyer, Joseph Franklin Rutherford, was elected as its next president. But within a few months most of the seven board of directors complained that he was behaving like a dictator and not sharing information. A major fight broke out, and Rutherford told the four directors who criticised him that they were no longer on the board. In June 1917, the society published a book called "The Finished Mystery" and said it was the last of a series of Bible study books by Russell. The book made some very strong statements about the leaders of Catholic and Protestant churches and said they were wrong for taking part in the Great War. As a result, the Watch Tower Society's president and directors were jailed as traitors under the "1917 Espionage Act", although they were allowed to leave jail and the government dropped the charges.