From its beginning the bank had been operating illegally. A state law fixed the penalty for such an offense at a thousand dollars and guaranteed informers a share of the fine. It was inevitable that one of the prophet’s enemies should set the law upon him, and on February 8 a writ was sworn out by Samuel D. Rounds. When the court convened on March 24, Joseph’s lawyers tried to prove that the statute had not been in force at the time of the bank’s organization, but they lost the case and Joseph was ordered to pay the thousand-dollar penalty and costs.f
