 The numerous public transportation lines servicing Meester Cornelis indicated the significance of this area at that time.Meester was, at first, governed by an Assistant-Resident, overseeing a traditional bureaucracy with separate administrations for the Europeans, 'Foreign Orientals' and indigenous population of the territory.In 1905, Meester Cornelis was chartered as a town with its own council, similar to Batavia; then sometime after 1922, a Mayor replaced the Assistant-Resident.