Most props are designed to load at or near the UNIVERSE origen. Somtimes you want to place a prop near a figure but the figure is a long way from the origen, and the origen is outside the cameras view, you can use Copy and Paste from the edit menu to paste the coordinates from the figure into the prop, the prop will then move to the same position as the figure. Which actors coordinates to copy depends on wether the figure was moved by translating the BODY or the hip. Why is the rotate tool the default? Because it is usually the best tool for posing figures, generally you need to rotate joints, not translate actors.