######################## FILE 1 #######################
use strict;
use warnings;
use States;

my $s = States->new();   

######################## FILE 2 #######################
package States;

use CGI qw(:standard);
use strict;
use warnings;
use Switch;
use diagnostics;

sub new {
   my ($class) = @_;

   print "Hello\n";

   my @states;
   while (<DATA>) {          
      chomp;
      print "$_\n"; # only for debugging purposes
                    # prints nothing currently

      my ($code, $abbr, $proper, $state) = split /\t+/;

      push @states, {
         CODE   => $code,
         ABBR   => $abbr,
         PROPER => $proper,
         STATE  => $state,
      }
   }

   return bless \@states;
}

1;


__DATA__
01      AL      1       Alabama
50      AK      1       Alaska
02      AZ      1       Arizona
03      AR      1       Arkansas
04      CA      1       California
05      CO      1       Colorado
06      CT      1       Connecticut
07      DE      1       Delaware

##</code><code>##

Hello