One who makes it a busi- ness to procure the passage of bills pend- ing before a legislative body. One "who makes it a business to 'see' members and procure, by persuasion, im- portunity, or the use of inducements, the passing of bills, public as well as private, which involve gain to the promoters." 1 Bryce, Am. Com. 156. A contract for the employment of per- sonal influence or solicitation to procure the passage of a public or private law is void; 21 Barb. 861; 16 How. 314; 34 Vt. 274; 15 Ore. 330; as contrary to sound morals and tending to inefficiency in the public service; 93 Wis. 393; if by its terms or by necessary implication, it stipulates for, or tends to, corrupt action or personal solicitations; 69 U. S. 45; 98 Ind. 238; 86 N. Y. 235; 40 id. 543; 127 id. 370; 18 Ohio St. 469; 149 Pa. 875. And if the contract is broad enough to cover services of any kind, either secret or open, honest or dishonest, the law pro- nounces a ban upon the contract itself; 2 McArth. 268. It is not required that it tends to corruption. If its effect is to mis- lead, it is decisive against the claimant. It may not corrupt all, but if it corrupt or tend to corrupt some, or if it deceive or tend to deceive some, that is sufficient to stamp its character with the seal of rep- robation before a judicial tribunal; 5 W. & S. 315; 7 id. 152; 59 Pa. 19; 100 id. 561. But it has been held that though the con- tract contemplates the use of personal so- licitation, yet if no personal influence is brought to bear upon the members, and no dishonest, secret, or unfair means em- ployed, to accomplish the object, it is not illegal; 86 Cal. 542. Where the agreement is for compensa- tion contingent upon success, it suggests the use of sinister and corrupt means for the accomplishment of the desired end. The law meets the suggestion of evil and strkes down the contract from its incep- tion; 69 U. S. 45; 98 Ind. 238; and see 60 Minn. 26. But if the contract does not by its terms or by necessary implication con- tain anything illegal or tend to any viola- tion of sound morals, the fatal element should not, through an overzealous desire to fortify against the deplorable effects of lobbying contracts, be injected into it by mere suspicion and conjecture that the party intended to do an illegal act or a legal act by illegal means. Presumptions in human affairs are in favor of innocence rather than of guilt, and this rule applies in testing a contract; 93 Wis. 393. In the last two cases, brought by the same plain- tiff, the contracts were somewhat similar; but in the first the decision was based mainly on what was done under and before the contract was entered into, whilst that of the latter was upon the construction of the contract. A contract for services as an attorney be- fore a legislative body is valid; 22 Kan. 692; and where it contains an agreement to labor faithfully before such body to effect the desired end, it is not necessarily illegal; 84 Vt. 275. It is allowable to em- ploy counsel to appear before a legislative committee or the legislature itself to advo- cate or oppose a measure in which the in- dividual has an interest; 36 N. Y. 241, fol- lowed in 52 How. Pr. 144; and an agent may be authorized by the legislature to prosecute claims on behalf of the state which require the procurement of legisla- tion, for a contingent fee; 164 Mass. 241. Services which are intended to reach only the reason of those sought to be influenced rest on the same principles of ethics as pro- fessional services and are no more except- tionable. They include drafting the petition which sets forth the claim, attending to the taking of testimony, collecting facts, pre- paring arguments and submitting them or ally or in writing to a committee, and other services of a like character; but such ser- vices are separated by a broad line of de- marcation from personal solicitation, and though compensation can be recovered for them when they stand alone, yet when they are blended and confused with those which are forbidden, the whole is a unit and in- divisible, and that which is bad destroys the good; 21 Wall. 441. In Massachusetts by statute lawyers or agents endeavoring to secure the passage of a bill must file written authority from their principal; in California, lobbying, openly practised, is declared by the constitution a felony, and in Georgia, a crime.