Procurator

3840

don. lie lectured in ifis.i and ISK;, and re-
moved ivilh bis family in tht: hitler year
to Florida. Proetor's researches into the
theory of UK- solar corona anJ the rotation
period of Mars proved of great value. His
numerous \\orks, ahlv and lucidly written,
include Stiturn tinti his System (1805), //«///-
/r0//r.? willr lit? Stan (18X7), and The Orbs
Around L's (iSyj).

Procurator. The name commonly used in
Glasgow and the surrounding (listrids for
a law-agent or solicitor.

Procurator Fiscal (Scots law), a public
prosecutor.

Procyon, the Lesser Dog-star, -- <i Canis
Minoris, a star of 0.48 magnitude, with a
.spectrum intermediate between tho<e of
SiriuR and of the sun. The bright star is five
times more luminous than the sun.

Prodicus, ancient Greek sophist, was a na-
tive of Ceos, and lived probably from about
480 to a little after 400 u.r. He appears
prominently in Plato's Protagoras.

Professor. A title among the Romans ap-
plied to public teachers of grammar and
rhetoric, and in tht! universities of the mid-
dle ages synonymous with doctor or magis-
trate. In the modern university the profes-
sor is the head instructor in a department,
responsible for its conduct, and holding a
seat in the faculty. With the growth of the
colleges, the ranks of adjunct, assistant, and
associate professor have been created, differ-
entiated by their responsibilities and func-
tions from tutors, assistants and instructors,
who usually have no voice in the manage-
ment ;»i the department,

Profit a Prendre. A right to enter on the
land of another, and to take some profit
from it. It may be a right incident to the
ownership of land, or it, may be held in gross
without any estate to support it. It may be
created by prescription. See EASEMENT;
consult Jones, Easements.

Pro6ts, according to common usages de-
note comprehensively the return obtained
from business enterprise, after deduction of
the gross expenses. Adam Smith, writing be-
fore the industrial revolution, naturally re-
garded profits as varying strictly according
to the amount of stock or capital employed,
and as wholly distinct from the wages of
inspection and direction. It was no less
natural that the American economist, F. A.
Walker, writing toward the end of the XQth
century, should wish to confine the term
profits to the reward for the work of the
employer as such, and to establish a rigid

___ _ Profit Sharing

distinction between the remuneiation f(Jr
business enterprise and interest on the ( -jp-
ital used. J. S. Mill, on the other hand,
\vhoM.1 hook appeared in the middle of the
igtli century, stated that there were three
component element in profits, which were
interest on capital, insurance again^ risk,
:<nd uages of j-upm'ntcndenre, or earnings of
management. Recent studies in economic
theory distinguish another element in profits
viz., the gains that acrrue to certain employ-
r-r* through the introduction to ne\\ methods,
or through sudden expansion of the demand
for goods. Profits from sutli sources are
temporary in their nature, the general adop-
tion of improvements with the resultant fall
in j ) rices, reducing profits to a minimum. See
CAFUTAL; INTTKRKST; MONOPOLIES; PROMT
SIIAIUNI;.

Consult Walker's IlVjjrv Question; Hage-
hot's Economic Studies; Clark's Distribution
of Wealth; Carver's Dislrilmtwn of Wealth;
Seligman's Principles of Economics; Kpstcin
& Clark, Source-Rook for the Study of In-
dustrial Profits (U. S. Dept. Com., fo^) ; A,
H. Adams, Profth, Progress and Prosperity
(19.17); Fairchild, Profits or Prosperity?

Profit Sharing, a modification of the wage
system, under which the workman receives.
in addition to ordinary wages, a stipulated
proportion of the profits of the enterprise.
In true profit sharing the amount to be dis-
tributed varies with and depends upon the
net "sroiits or upon the amount of dividends
paid to stockholders; the proportion of prof-
its to he distributed is definitely determined
in advance; the benefits of "the plan are ex-
tended to at least one-third of the total num-
ber of employees, and employees other than
executive and clerical are included; and the
method of determining individual shares is
known, at least in a general way, to the. par-
ticipating employees,

The term Profit Sharing is also applied,
though less correctly, to plans whereby the
profits are rhured with less than one-third of
I lit; total persons employed. As a rule, the
distribution among the several employees is
in proportion to tht' annual wage received by
each. Tn the earlier profit-sharing experi-
ments, the dividend to labor was made in
the form of a cash payment or bonus; and
this form is Hi ill largely employed. However,
many profit sharing firms have adopted the
policy of crediting a bonus to the workman,
to be withdrawn by him only after a stated
period of service. lit the plan most favored